Puppy Socialisation........it might not be what you think
- Inspired Canine Team
- Jan 20
- 3 min read
Often when people think about socialising their puppies and dogs it has many different meanings. It's also become a bit of a buzz word with the understanding and translation a little lost.
Some think that it's about being 'social' with other dogs - hanging out, playing, a zoomie chase here and there. And others may think it's about taking them to the dog park.
It's actually whole lot more and sometimes the term gives the wrong idea about how important this is, and how much involvement and responsibility their guardians have.
Socialising your dog is about giving them positive supported exposure and experiences that help shape their views and build their confidence. It's important that socialisation occurs safely to give them the best opportunity to thrive.
Remember everything is new to puppies. They need our guidance and encouragement and more importantly they need us to advocate for them.
Puppies and adolescent dogs are in a critical learning phase where everything is being processed in different ways, and we can help and support them by having patience and learning a bit about how their brains work.
Letting puppies or adolescent dogs run wild and 'work it out' with other dogs without us observing, advocating and helping them learn, may lead to undesirable behaviours, fears, and other experiences that may be unhelpful for them.
Yes, we want our dogs to be 'social', but giving them opportunities to learn how to behave, experience and explore situations with confidence and curiosity will help shape a dog that can experience noisy environments, different textures, a variety of people and situations - but remember - every dog is an individual.
Before you get your dog or puppy, or even afterwards (it's never too late to to help our dogs learn), it's helpful to think about what things matter to you as this can give you an idea about why socialisation is important and how it works. Some people would love to have a dog they can take everywhere, Bunnings, cafes & pubs, in the caravan around Australia, dog parks, beaches etc. What sort of dog does this look like to you?
Socialisation is key - This is important and it needs to be positive and supported. Socialisation is not taking a dog to a dog park, its about having exposure to a variety of things (places, people, animals, experiences, substrates, sounds, etc) in a positive and encouraging way which will help to build confidence. Remember every is new to them in this world, absolutely everything.
Monitor - Manage dog to dog interactions! - having an attitude of "letting older dogs sort out young pups", or "it'll do him good to be told off by another dog" or "he needs to learn let them sort it out" isn't good for either dog involved. Some dogs (just like some people) need a little extra help and guidance from us when it comes to being in social situations with other dogs and people.
We have a number of fantastic books to learn more about ways to help socialise your dog, how dogs brains work, and positive ways to support them in their learning and development. They are easy read books, designed to be fun and useful to all dog guardians, regardless of experience and great for first timers, or even if you have had several dogs in your life before.
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