Dog Socialization – How to Make Your Puppy More Sociable
Teaching your puppy social skills is critical and should be started while your dog is still between four weeks to four months old. The period before your puppy reaches 4 months is a crucial time when he could learn new skills and acceptable dog behavior.
A puppy’s brain gets to be fully developed when he reaches his 12th week of age. This means anything taught to him beyond that age may take more time because he may need to unlearn his conditioned inappropriate responses. If you expose him to different people, other dogs and new environments at an early age, your dog will learn how to interact with others in a positive way. The process of teaching dog socialization may be a tedious one, but it is necessary for your dog to learn this skill as early as possible.
Puppy training at home should help improve your dog socialization skills. These skills are necessary to prevent your dog from developing aggression or reacting unfavorably in strange situations. If your dog fails to learn social skills while he is young, he may develop fear and may resort to biting when dealing with strangers or being in unfamiliar situations.
You can help your puppy adjust more to his new environment by exposing him to new experiences and teaching him how to respond to these stimuli without fear. Here are 3 ways you can help your puppy learn social skills:
Encourage interaction
When you take home your puppy for the first time, try to integrate him into the family right away. Put his crate or play pen where you would usually have family time together. Never tie him in a place where other dogs may try to agitate him. This is not a good experience for a young pup and may lead to him developing aggression towards other dogs.
Make opportunities to socialize with other dogs
If you have friends who have trained puppies, you can let your pup join in active play with them. Make sure though that none of the dogs start bullying your pup, otherwise he may learn aggression as a reaction to fear from a bigger or a more dominant dog. It is best to separate the bully dog from the rest of the pack, rather than trying to rescue your pup all the time. Make sure you present your puppy rewards if he showed good dog behavior during play time.
Introduce him to the neighborhood
One way to teach your puppy to socialize is by taking him out on walks where he would get to meet other people and dogs. You should keep him on a leash, however, although you can loosen it a little bit. A very tight leash may be telling your dog that it is not safe for him to go on his own.
Never force your dog to socialize. Instead, watch his reactions every time you take him out, and if he seems hesitant to try a new experience at first, do it in stages until he gets familiarized with it. Find time to encourage dog socialization with your pup and you’ll be the proud owner of a happier and friendlier dog.
