When to socialize training

We often hear a word, dog socialization. What does this mean? Dog socialization means that dogs can integrate well into our family life and will not be afraid of the living environment and people and things around them. In layman’s terms, we can understand it as “dogs see the world”.

Modern families increasingly regard dogs as family members, but some dogs are not so well socialized.

If dogs are socialized or well socialized when they are young, they will be easier to get along with.

Like some adult dogs, they may learn new skills quite quickly, but it is relatively difficult to improve their socialization.

Just like us, if we have been exposed to a lot of things since childhood, we may be more receptive to new things. The same goes for dogs. They are highly socialized from childhood and will be more receptive to new things when they grow up. I no longer feel that those new things are so scary.

So it is still necessary for dogs to have a certain degree of socialization, especially for some dogs with protective tendencies. For example, mastiffs or bullies are more likely to be suspicious of strangers. If they are properly socialized, your life with your dog will become more fun.

Why should dogs be socialized when they are young?

The critical period (or sensitive period) for dog socialization is usually between 3 and 16 weeks. In just a few weeks, your dog will be able to socialize with ease.

The puppy at this time is a bit "newborn calves are not afraid of tigers". Its brain is very active in understanding the world and what is safe. Many things that exist in society are more easily accepted at this stage.

On the other hand, if you switch to an adult dog that has never experienced something before, it may feel that everything is dangerous.

If the current family pet dog did not experience thunderstorms or long rides in the car when it was a child, then when it grows up and experiences these, it may have a greater negative impact on them.

How do we socialize our dogs?

Socialization is so important, so how do you socialize your dog? Some owners feel that taking their puppy anywhere can socialize the dog, whether it is a good or bad experience; while some owners feel that the dog should only be exposed to good things and only experience good experiences from an early age. .

Both of these starting points should be good, but neither is completely correct. The former only focuses on quantity and forgets quality; the latter is just the opposite.

If the puppy has a bad experience, it may cause the dog to be very fearful and timid in the future; from this point of view, it seems that the owner who only gives the dog good socialization experience is right , but it is also very easy to cause over-protection of the dog, and it may not be able to deal with some problems on its own when it becomes an adult.

Sound advice is to allow your puppy to interact with new things every day, but give him room to retreat.

For example, we can place hanging wind chimes, thunderstorm music or skateboards in the dog's enclosure, so that it can explore and interact at its own pace.

If we want to introduce our puppy to other people or dogs, we need to choose a good "interaction" partner. If the dog is naturally introverted and shy, we need to choose to introduce it to a particularly trustworthy person or a person with a very good personality. dog.

Let the puppy observe the new friend from a distance. When it bravely explores, we can reward it with some snacks, but we do not use temptation to make the puppy reluctantly hug the "stranger" in its eyes.

It is very important that we ourselves understand the things we need our dogs to be exposed to - sounds, sights, places, surfaces, people, dogs, cats, birds, strange movements, etc., as well as what you may encounter anything else. If your puppy is nervous, take him away from the "scary thing" and let them watch. The owner can join in and let the dog know that these "scary things" will actually lead to good things (for example, you will reward it with treats).