Edward Hoagland very rightly said, “To really enjoy a dog, one doesn’t merely try to train him to be semi-human. The point of it is to open oneself to the possibility of becoming partly a dog.” Having worked in the dog training field for several years, I can truly vouch for this. When we refer to a person being well socialized, we think of them to be friendly with other people, almost bordering on being a social butterfly. But, when I say dog socialization, I want you to think beyond just getting your puppy to have other dog friends. A dog can still be called well socialized even if he doesn’t have a single dog friend. The puppy socialization checklist entails a whole universe in itself!
A puppy is most likely to have one or multiple of the following responses to a stimulus. I’ve divided the responses into desirable and undesirable ones.
Here’s how you should be reacting in case of a desirable or undesirable response from your puppy.
In Case of Desirable response –
- Verbal and physical praise for the puppy
- Reward confidence
In case of undesirable response –
- Try redirection with high-value rewards
- Comfort only once the puppy manages to calm down on his own
- Take the puppy out of the situation if he’s not able to calm down despite giving him ample time and space
- Don’t punish the puppy for an undesirable response
- Don’t force your pup to “face his fears.” That’s not a thing in the dog world.
- Repeat exposure after a few days and build positive association towards the trigger with treats
- Socialize in a controlled environment. Eg- if your puppy is scared of other dogs, don’t let him run free in a dog park full of dogs
FURTHER READS : WHAT EXPERTS WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT RAISING A PUPPY
Convertkit –
PUPPY SOCIALIZATION WINDOW | WHAT IS THE SOCIALIZATION PERIOD FOR PUPPIES?
The puppy socialization timeline is hands (or paws) down critical and time-sensitive. Between the ages of 0 to 16 weeks, a puppy is like a sponge, willing to absorb anything and everything he is exposed to, in adequate quantities and appropriate methods. At this age, they’re more open to new experiences.
The fact that the puppies are with their mother and littermates up to the age of 8-10 weeks is an important contributing factor too. They learn important life skills like bite control and social interaction skills.
A puppy’s socialization period ends at 16 wks. After that, the brain chemistry changes and you’ll never be able to achieve what you could have. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of puppies do well in terms of response to first-time stimulus exposure even after 16 wks. However, if you’ve completely isolated your puppy from the world till the age of 16 weeks, you might have a lot of work to do!
THE ULTIMATE PUPPY SOCIALIZATION CHECKLIST
PUPPY SOCIALIZATION CHECKLIST – CLICK TO DOWNLOAD
Here is the same checklist with columns to mark your puppy’s responses. Consider this as your training assistant while taking your puppt though the process of socialization.
Puppy socialization checklist + Responses – Printable
ARE PUPPY SOCIALIZATION CLASSES A GOOD IDEA?
As a certified trainer with ample experience in running group classes, I would say puppy training classes provide puppies and pet parents with excellent learning and ample socialization. However, pet parents often come in with the wrong expectations.
Puppy classes are not a place for your puppy to just play and hang out with other dogs. It’s a place to teach your puppy to have a desirable response to other people and dogs while training them to focus on you on cue.
Failure to train a puppy to control their excitement around other people and dogs can result in hyper obsession around dogs, which is usually the starting point of leash reactivity.
HOW TO SOCIALIZE A PUPPY BEFORE VACCINATIONS?
Several vets recommend limiting outside exposure for puppies before completing all vaccinations. However, it can take up to 20 weeks for that to happen. Isolating a puppy from the world for so long can really damage a dog’s social persona. This is exactly what happened with so many pandemic puppies (puppies adopted during the pandemic). Owing to social distancing and home quarantine, many puppies did not get exposed to the outside world. We now have a plethora of dogs with behavioral issues due to lack of socialization.
Your dog’s vet has asked you to be careful about exposing your puppy to the outside world so that he doesn’t accidentally come in contact with non-vaccinated animals. Moreover, ingesting animal waste is a common way to pick up an infection. However, socialization is so much more than just meeting other dogs and people.
FURTHER READS: 11 Ways to Safely Socialize BEFORE Your Pup is Fully Vaccinated
HOW TO PROPERLY SOCIALIZE A PUPPY? IMPORTANT STEPS TO REMEMBER –
- Carry low and high value treats to encourage desirable response to a stimulus
- Heavy verbal and physical appreciation if the puppy is confident around new places, entities and experiences
- Reward your puppy for wanting to interact
- If your puppy is scared, don’t make a big deal about it. Don’t try to coddle him at every whine.
- Do not force your puppy into uncomfortable situations. If you notice avoidance behaviors like turning away repeatedly, shying away, unwillingness to explore, etc, consider giving your puppy some space and time
- Don’t overdo it. Take it slow. When starting with the puppy socialization process, don’t try to tick off every item on the checklist in one go.
- If your puppy is terrified, take him out of the situation. This is important for trust-building. Your puppy is depending on you for his safety. Hence, if your puppy fails to feel safe in your presence, he will slowly lose trust in you.
DEALING WITH THE SCARY STUFF
It is normal for any puppy to feel overwhelmed or scared in certain situations. Exposure to mildly uncomfortable situations is an important aspect of the puppy socialization checklist. What’s more important is how you and your puppy deal with it.
Comforting a scared puppy comes naturally to every puppy owner. However, make sure that the activity of comforting your puppy is not adding to or encouraging your puppy’s anxiety in any way. You may keep getting more of the behavior that you let your puppy indulge in.
It’s important that your puppy feels safe and secure in your presence, so, encourage and reward confident behavior in new environments and try not to coddle him at every small bark. When dealing with scary situations, learn the difference between your puppy mildly flinching at the sight of something and downright trembling.
Give your puppy ample time and space to open up at his own pace and start interacting with a stimulus.
SOCIALIZATION VS DESENSITIZATION
I often get asked if the age of 5 months and above too old or late to socialize a puppy?
The answer usually depends on your puppy’s personality and willingness to explore and interact. A puppy’s mind is more open up to the age of 4 months as he’s still a virgin to everything around him. However, by the time a puppy hits 5-6 months of age, he starts becoming set his own ways and does not have the same reaction to a new entity.
Sometimes this reaction could be positive and friendly. But sometimes, your puppy could be apprehensive and may have undesirable responses like barking, lunging or growling. In this case, we don’t socialize the puppy. We desensitize him.
Socialization involves taking your dog to new environments and exposing him to new entities. Desensitization involves making sure the puppy has an appropriate reaction to meeting all those new people, dogs, and environments. Desensitization has to begin keeping in mind the dog’s threshold and has to be started at a distance the puppy is comfortable with.
A classic example of this is a puppy scared of big dogs. There could be a lot of reasons why a puppy might be scared of big dogs – a prior bad experience, too boisterous for the puppy, etc. While desensitizing a puppy towards a big dog, don’t start with a super friendly, high-energy big dog who would be right in your puppy’s face. Start with a calm, possibly indifferent bigger dog who doesn’t really care much about playing with your pup. That’s a dog your puppy would probably open up towards.
FURTHER READS: HOW TO STOP YOUR DOG FROM BARKING AT OTHER DOGS
THE RIGHT APPROACH TO PUPPY SOCIALIZATION
Figure out your goals for your dog
Do you want a calm dog? A traveling dog? An indoorsy dog? Are you raising a therapy dog? The kind of world you expose your dog to should depend on the kind of life he will be living. Adopt an approach that best suits your lifestyle and the things you plan on doing with your dog.
Start involving your puppy in your daily life.
If your profession involves you working from home, or maybe allows you to take your dog to work, start by getting your dog used to that kind of a lifestyle right from puppyhood. Eg – If you’re a painter, expose your dog to the smell of paint, your paint workshop, freshly painted walls, etc from a very young age. Customize the checklist to suit you and your dog. Puppy socialization can never be a one-size-fits-all thing.
CAN YOU OVER SOCIALIZE A PUPPY?
A puppy socialization checklist can be daunting to look at. But it can be even more daunting for your dog as he has to actually expose himself to everything on the list. However, if your puppy is a born star and is confident around every little and big thing, your efforts have to be to make sure that you’re not overdoing it with your pup.
Over socialization happens when the puppy is given a chance to interact with several things at a time and has no control over himself while doing so. This causes overstimulation. An overstimulated dog has never learned impulse control and the ability to calm down around a stimulus.
While it may appear as happiness and normal excitement to pet parents, over-excitement quickly transcends happiness and enters the zone of anxiety. This anxiety then translates into behaviors like barking, lunging, leash reactivity, etc.
Over socialization is most commonly seen in dog-to-dog interactions and is evident from the fact that several puppies are reactive on the leash because “they just want to say Hi and play.”
FURTHER READS: POWERFUL TIPS TO CALM A PUPPY DOWN
Tips to prevent over-stimulation caused due to over socialization –
- Teach your puppy to calm down and settle on command in every situation
- Work on practicing impulse control commands like Leave it, Stay and Focus and actually use them in various situations
- Achieve a fabulous recall with your dog
- Redirect your dog in case he gets fixated and reward with high value treats if he’s able to focus back on you
- While it’s nice to have a puppy with a friendly attitude towards another dog, it’s also important to ignore dogs on walks and keep moving on cue. Your dog doesn’t need to say Hi to every animal and human that passes by. Teach him that.