Dog Socialisation
January 11, 2010 in Dogs
Hello My name is Paula O’connor and I run a company called Paula’s petsitting which specialises in pet sitting, dog walking and dog psychology. Many of my customers ask me about antisocial behaviour from their dog be it with people, children or other dogs. So I put together the information article below which I give them and I thought I would share it here with you 
What is Socialisation?
Socialisation means habituation or getting used to environmental elements through exposure to them. In a natural setting it is highly adaptive to increase distance between yourself and anything unusual and then to proceed with extreme caution when approaching, this is relevant for people or animals. This is because anything unusual and new are potentially very scary and bad news, the main reason for this is that the new and unusual are not necessary to survive as you (animal or person) have made it this far without them! We all adhere to rules governing social distance. Sometimes it is acceptable for someone to be standing close to us like in a shop queue but other times like in the middle of an empty field it would not be acceptable! Animals and people can be weird about being touched when not expecting it or when we do not know the person or thing doing the touching.
Animals including dogs work on a default setting of avoidance, when you think about it that makes sense, excessive curiosity could result in exposure to danger and hence a life and death situation which the animal would want to avoid, survival and reproduction is what counts. As it would not be adaptive for a animal to be continuously spooking at rocks and trees for example a mechanism is wired in to ensure the animal habituates to normal environmental features, this is the socialisation period of any animal, which is a finite time when young animals are much less fearful and more likely to approach and investigate new things and when the young animals readily form social bonds. It is possible for older animals to habituate to new things but it takes longer. The window of socialisation has to close at some point or animals would be going up to people and other animals all the time. Each animal species is different and has an average time to assimilate and accept things in their environment. After this window they will increase distance to new things using fight or flight mechanisms, from anything to which they have not been socialised. Some animals may become fearful of something they encounter in the critical window but then seldom see after that.
In the case of dogs the socialisation window closes somewhere between the ages of 3 to 5 months, this depends on breed and individual makeup, with easy habituation drying up by about 4 and half months old. As time goes on people are leaning more and more toward early socialisation with puppies – the earlier the better between say 8 and 11 weeks old (this was unheard of 20 years ago when it was thought puppies of this age could not learn or be trained at all). It is becoming increasing important to balance the need for socialisation with the need for avoidance in puppies with inadequate immunity to disease. The main thing to remember about socialisation is the importance of it can never be overestimated – a puppy who is never socialised with men with glasses on for example can grow up with the risk of fear and aggression being directed at men with glasses. With this is mind it is advisable to go overboard with socialisation choosing all ages, sizes, genders and colours of people for example to avoid issues when the dog is adult. You must remember though that the experience for the puppy should be made positive through the use of play and treats and nothing scary. This positive experience should include a wide range of patting and movements for the humans in question but more about that later.
Puppies development from birth to 8 weeks old when they arrive at their new home are made up of different periods of time during which the puppy will learn certain things. Certain elements to what and how they learn are more important than other times of their lives. This period is set out below in detail to understand how important socialisation is.
Socialisation Periods in Dogs – 4 to 12 weeks
The period from roughly 21 to 49 Days, or 3/4 to 7 weeks is the Canine Socialisation Period, when the puppy learns to use their senses – specific behaviors that make him a dog.
To reach his genetic potential, the puppy must stay in the nest with the dam and littermates throughout this time. During this period he will practice body postures, facial expressions and vocalisations, and will learn their effects on his siblings, the dam and any other dogs he meets. He learns how it sounds to bark and be barked at; how it feels to bite and be bitten.
During these 2 months the puppy’s relationships are adaptable and impressionable. During this period the pup’s relationship with the dam changes to one of dominance-submission and the puppy will be learning to accept discipline. The puppy starts to waggle its tails, yelp, lick the dam’s face, jump up, paw and follow the dam around. At about 5 weeks old the puppy tends to stay awake for longer periods of time during the day, although they still sleep a lot!
During week 4 or 5 the dam will start to walk away from the puppy and paw the puppy into submission and some dams even punish their puppies with an ‘inhibited bite’ if they try and nurse during this period she will also start to play with her puppies. Research (Bruce Fogle-Eric Wilson) has shown that puppies who received lots of ‘inhibition bites’ are often more socially introvert and less likely to play especially later on in life. Contrary side of this research has shown that puppies that were under non-punishing conditions by the dam were impossible to train later on in life. By the time the puppy is 7 weeks old the care relationship with the dam has evolved and changed to a dominance-submission relationship.
From 4 week to 6 weeks is mostly a Social period to other dogs. During this time play with littermates is very important and has the main functions of creating social bonds with other dogs, by learning communication skills (molding social behaviour). Play also defines the dominance relationships between the ‘pack’, promotes mental flexibility and physical dexterity, enhances coordination and allows the puppies to experiment under safe conditions. During this time puppies also learn how to maintain balance, learn to carry out events in a sequence, problem solving and this is all learnt by allowing for safe exploration of all these things within the litter. Play such as chase games, bringing each other down, greeting and fight games make the puppy learn how to be a dog later on in life. This also makes the puppy part of new situations and new experiences and therefore helps the puppy to evolve. A puppy which has grown up without playing with its littermates is often a poor learner, introverted, hyperagressive with other dogs, afraid of people, animals or noises and reluctant to explore anything.
During this stage a puppy learns to send signals to his littermates such as dominance, friendliness, submission, tolerance and cooperation. He also learns other activities with his littermates such as sleeping together, feeding together, walking, running, investigating together, barking or howling together, grooming each other and sniffing, nosing or licking each other.
By about 8 weeks of age a puppy is very well developed mentally and capable of learning from experience and more formal training, although an 8 week old puppy’s attention span is short and his capacity for concentration is not as good as an adult dog’s. During this time puppies are very receptive to new experiences and tolerate changes much better than at any other times during their lives.
It is during this phase that puppies learn what it means to be and how to be good members of a ‘human pack’ and they develop an acceptance of the world and environment around them. This is the time most puppies leave the breeder and go to their new homes.
The basics of house training should have been laid down in the nest and by the end of this period, with correct encouragement/reinforcement puppies should be well be on the way to becoming clean in the house and easy to house train completely.
From 6/7 week to 12 weeks is mostly a Social period to humans. The best time to bring a puppy into it’s new home is during the Human Socialisation Period, from 7/8 to 12 weeks. It is also the best time to introduce him to those things that he will come into contact with in his future life. For example, if he has not already been exposed to cats or other animals and it is necessary for him to live peacefully with them, it is at this age that he should meet them in a positive, non-threatening manner. If the breeder has not already introduced him to the sounds of the vacuum cleaner, car engines and traffic, etc. he needs to be exposed to these now. The puppy also needs to be exposed to children, men and women of all ages and descriptions wearing all sorts of different things, as people all appear different to a puppy. His education and socialisation should include exposure to many types of people, animals, sounds, objects, obstacles and training. This socialisation will make the puppy confident and familiar with all the different situations and people he will come into contact with in his life.
I would just like to point out the ‘Fear Impact Period’ from 8 to 11 weeks old. During the Fear Impact Period, from eight to eleven weeks, any traumatic, painful, or frightening experience will have a more lasting impact on the puppy than if it had occurred at any other time. The puppy’s perception of the experience/incident is very important, it is really important to remember that what the owner thinks about the experience or incident is not relevant by comparison to what the puppy thinks. For example, a trip to the veterinarian during this period, if unpleasant, could forever make a dog apprehensive about going to the veterinarian. By taking along a toy and some treats to the veterinarian and making the experience pleasant and fun, the potentially negative impact is alleviated.
How do we go about Socialisation?
Socialisation can be upgraded from neutral to positive experiences and from passive to active. It is better for an owner to actively seek out people and things for the puppy instead of hoping that the puppy will come into contact with ‘enough’ of everything and all bases will be covered. Note also that some puppies are more at risk from lack of socialisation such as puppies that are timid or sensitive, where owners are overprotective, or puppies that come from litters that are not whelped, or raised in a human infested home, even puppies that are raised in a rural location can be at risk of not enough socialisation. Consider a large guard breed dog like the Rottweiler – strangers will probably stay away from this dog, so easily the puppy could be under socialised with people as it gets older.
One of the first important parts of a puppy’s socialisation (or even an older dog that needs it) is training classes. In the puppy’s case this is puppy classes. It is a real loss to wait to take the dog to a class when he is an adolescent as we now know puppies can learn and be trained as soon as they arrive at their new homes. Ian Dunbar has paved the way in the last 20 years for other trainers to carry on with dog training in a more positive nature. In 1981 after buying an 8 week old dog of his own and looking far and wide for training classes for the dog but being unable to find anything, Ian Dunbar developed Sirius which is the original and leading provider of off-leash puppy classes worldwide. Before this time there was no training offered for puppies – dogs under 6 months old, as it was thought they could not learn as they were just too young at this age and not capable of understanding and carrying out commands. These puppy classes taught owners and dogs so much from sit to down, to heel work which was just unheard of before Dunbar developed the Sirius classes.
The other advantage to puppy’s classes is the instant provision of age mates for the developing pup. This is providing the class is a true puppy class, limited to vaccinated puppies under the age of say 18 weeks rather than a beginner’s level obedience class. Of course if your dog is older and has ‘problems’ and needs to be socialised a good and reputable class should be found which includes only dogs with similar problems and is being run by a experienced and or qualified dog trainer who the owner has checked out by going to watch the class. If the owner has received recommendations for the class before attending with the dog this is also good. This class should then run an X amount of weeks at one class per week and the instructor should provide support and advice along the way.
Types of Socialisation
This can be split into several different categories like people, dogs, other animals and objects.
Dog Socialisation
Dog to dog socialisation can be a difficult subject and some owners fear for their puppies and therefore overprotect them and do not allow them access to other puppies and this can lead to all sorts of problems for the puppy (of course puppy socialisation should always be done in a positive way with supervision at all times and removal of the dog from the situation if he shows signs of stress or fear, but fuss should not be made at any time by the owner). Dogs that do not regularly play with other dogs usually have the poorest social skills of all. As you would expect they have difficulty in both delivering and reading dog body language. These dogs tend to fall into 2 categories one is the tense antisocial and nearness sensitive type that can be shy and snappy when approached by other dogs, and can evolve into lunging on the lead and aggression as they learn what display keeps the other dogs away and works for them. The other category is the dog that is hyper motivated and keen but still with extremely coarse skills, these dogs are often described by their owners as ‘too excited’ when they meet other dogs and they are frankly annoying with their gross play and rude investigations all of which can evoke defensiveness in other dogs. The main advantage to regular play with other dogs is that it improves the dog’s communication and maintains the dog’s soft mouth. The more the dog interacts the better his social skills will be and then in turn he may be able to coax even the most worried or asocial dogs into play, appease tough dogs and defuse potential fights with subtle body language – the possibilities are endless for a dog with good social skills.
Considering dogs are basically social animals created to bond with any living thing they have sufficient contact with before 4 months of age it is a tragedy that any dog should be fearful or aggressive with other dogs just because they are basically under socialised with their own species. Unfortunately restricting access to other dogs only makes this situation worse but owners often do not know what else to do and are too afraid to try anything else. Well socialised dogs will be extremely attracted to and enjoy playing with other dogs so owners should be prepared to make sure the dog is well trained in obedience to come away from other dogs when he needs to, this means training well using positive reinforcement on recall with the dog, the owner needs to be more attractive than the other dogs and this is no small feat!
People Socialisation
It is critical as stated above that puppies are socialised between 4 and twelve weeks of age to interact with people because otherwise if puppies are raised in isolation they will remain shy throughout their lives and possibly become aggressive with people or children. A timid dog will require more of his owner’s attention and patience during each situation it encounters from meeting new people to going out for a daily walk and this obviously will cause a potential problem and cause of anxiety for the owner. This is again the obvious advantage of getting a dog as a puppy but if you get a older dog all is not lost if the dog has not been socialised to people or children and patience, time and treats (or other rewards) are required. Also through a structured selection of positive and rewarding experiences for the puppy or dog with strangers and/or children who give the puppy or dog space and act calm and allow the dog to approach in its own time and then give the dog a tasty treat, or praise. This will build up the confidence of the dog and meeting people will become less of a fearful and stressful situation for the dog, owners just need to remember that it just takes a little longer with older dogs than it does with puppies but they will get there with praise, reward and consistency. It is important for an owner to remember that more socialisation is better than less as it cannot be overdone, make sure the puppy or dog meets all ages, sizes, colours, sexes of people wearing all sort of different clothes, accessories and carrying different things.
Dogs notice all sorts of differences in people. With good socialisation, dogs learn to ignore the differences that are not important, such as beards, hats, skin color, and the like. If you react in such a way that your dog thinks there is reason to fear that type of person, though, you can inadvertently create fear, suspicion or defensiveness in your dog toward other people. That becomes inconvenient, and sometimes downright dangerous. So strive to treat people the same no matter what their differences when you are socialising your dog!
If you have been given the special challenge of socialising an older dog to strange people, it may not be as difficult as it sounds. There are rules to follow — try to bear in mind how YOU would feel.
Use common sense – do not allow the dog to become overwhelmed. Watch the body language — this will tell you all about how he feels/what his intentions are. If he approaches strangers with his head slightly down, tail wagging, this is good – it is submissive, but happy.
Do not allow people to pat the top of the dog’s head — this can be perceived as an ‘aggressive’ gesture. Have them offer their hand for sniffing then rub the chest area, a natural calming spot in all dogs.
Carrying extra-special treats (reserve the really good stuff for use when meeting strangers) will really speed the process up. If the dog hangs back from meeting people, do not encroach on his “safety zone” — allow him to approach in his own way, in his own time. Food treats will help.
Reward for appropriate behavior — appropriate behavior is interest only — no barking or growling. If the dog barks (not in a friendly way) or growls, you have forced him past his limit, stop and try again later.
On the subject of growling: growling at humans is inappropriate. In situations where the dog is fearful, though, it is a first-line-of-defense against the scary things, and the last thing you want to have happen is for someone to teach this dog not to growl, as this could mean the dog will bypass the growl and go straight to the bite instead!. If you find a human that your dog will growl at the best way to handle it is to teach the dog that this human means good things for him this means really good treats and profuse praise offered in conjunction with the presence of this person and this will help enormously.
Objects Socialisation
On the subject of environmental socialisation it is sometimes overlooked by owners and not thought of as important, obviously it is more distressing to have a dog that is a problem with people or other dogs than a dog with a problem with something like the hoover but nevertheless attention should still be made to the socialisation of puppies to all things that the dog will come into contact with in it’s daily life. Things like the washing machine, lawn mower, hoover, stairs, telephone, door bell, etc are everyday things that a dog needs to be associated with so they become used to them and do not grow up fearful or aggressive towards these unknown things. Owners often forget the importance of things like types of floor surfaces and furniture surfaces, consider indoors and outside, all these things will be new to a puppy and exposure to these things often and with praise and reward will allow the dog to be accustomed to them throughout their life. It can be upsetting for an owner that forever has a dog that is afraid of the hoover just because the dogs has not been correctly socialised to it.
Conclusion
Keeping the family dog out of trouble with the authorities is important but is not the only reason for socialising dogs. Socialisation is an important tool in building good relationships with other dogs, other pets, and people, and is essential in maintaining a healthy, happy, and balanced mental outlook for the family pet. Who wants to own a dog with a bad reputation with other dogs?
Proper socialisation is important for dogs of all ages, not just puppies. It exposes them to new environments and situations and allows them to develop skills to cope with new experiences in a positive manner, thereby reducing stress and fear. This can be especially beneficial for dogs that become easily excited or agitated. A poorly socialised dog or one with no socialisation at all, is a hazard to other animals, other people and even his own family for reasons mentioned above.
Socialisation reduces stress for the dog and the owner in the long run and makes life more pleasant and enjoyable for all involved and who come into contact with the dog. If you found this article of interest and need any further advice on puppy and dog socialisation or dog psychology please have a look at my website for more information and services.
