Puppy Club Fact Sheets
Why socialise your puppy?
Introduction
Dogs today live in a very different world to that which they are genetically programmed for. There is no doubt that by asking dogs to live in an urban society we are asking them to adapt to a very different way of life. Socialisation aims to get them used to all aspects of everyday life so they can cope with them.
It aims to teach appropriate (as far as humans are concerned) responses to everyday things i.e. small children are to be tolerated not bitten. Bicycles, vacuum cleaners and cars etc are not dangerous - they do not need barking at, or chasing! Other dogs and people are generally friendly and should not be bitten.
The basic principle that the dog needs to learn is that these everyday things are not a threat and do not require defensive action.
Why Do It Now?
In the wild fear of new things is a valuable survival trait. It is better to err on the side of caution. If you do not know what something is, avoid it or if that is not possible attack it in case it attacks you!
However you can not go through life running away from every rock, tree and flower. At some point you need to decide what things are normal parts of your environment. In puppies this occurs between 2 and 16 weeks. During this period puppies learn to communicate with and bond to each other and other animals, including humans. They explore their environment and learn to deal with everyday stresses and strains, all the time under the watchful eye of the rest of their social group.
In fact, in the wild, wolf cubs are deliberately put in stressful situations in controlled doses to help them develop coping strategies. They are pulled around by pack members, abandoned for short periods of time, rolled down hills, pushed off ledges etc but it is all done very carefully so that the pups come to no real harm and do not become distressed.
This is basically what we are trying to do with socialisation. Not to torment the puppies, but to introduce them to a range of potentially stressful situations in a positive light - the aim being to have happy confident dogs who can deal with anything we throw at them!
Socialisation Never Stops
The important thing to remember is that dogs do not stop learning at 16 weeks. They continue learning throughout their life albeit at a slower rate. This means that they can be introduced to new experiences, though it just takes a bit longer. It also means that bad experiences can put them off something they were fine with as a puppy. This is particularly true of things they rarely see. Seeing a child once as a puppy does not guarantee that your 10-year-old dog will still like children! Frequent exposure is necessary.
Puppy Club
If you are a client of Parkvets and have a new puppy then as long as it has been checked/had its first vaccination and is younger than 16weeks then we stringly recommend you come to puppy club. Read more about this essential free service here.
