Socialization
What is socialization and why is it important?
For dog owners, we might tend to give a human answer and describe socialization as “going out to a party or event”.
Unfortunately, this might mean that dog owners might interpret this as taking their dog to the dog park. Indeed, I made that mistake when adopted my first dog.
What I ended up realizing was that dog parks were a great way to get into dog fights.
I’d define socialization as exposure to the world in safe ways that build up a dog’s neutrality and comfort. Meaning, this would be a dog who doesn’t bark when it sees dogs, people, bikes, skateboards, cars, cats, etc. This would be a dog who also doesn’t care if it is walking through a shopping mall with busy people running around.
Get Social Dogs, LLC’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Think of the first time you visited a big city. It gave you a head ache right? That’s the same for dogs when they go out for the first time. No wonder they go nuts. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t help them get used to things gradually.
Think of socialization as taking a wild child from the forest to the city — who over time has finally become comfortable with civilization.
As dogs must live in a civilized world with humans, it is up to us to give them the right experiences that they need (as puppies or adults), so that they learn that sometimes doing nothing at all, is the proper response. The first step is to start small, make it fun, and to keep trying everyday.
Growing a dog’s emotions is as important if not more important, than growing his or her roster of tricks!
Interested in getting help with socialization or public access training for your urban pup? Check us out at https://socialdogsllc.com!
