Many people contact me regarding group classes because they want their dogs to be more socialized. Social skills are of the utmost importance for well mannered dogs. There are some things to consider however, before enrolling your dog into a group class. Social skills are learned when puppies are very young, before they even come into your home. Puppies learn social skills from their mother and litter mates. How hard is too hard to bite? Where should I go potty? What are the "rules" about eating and playing with toys? By the time your dog is ready to leave it's litter, it has already had a multitude of experiences. Some may have taught your pup proper behaviors, some may have had a negative effect on your pups behavior. We don't know for sure what the pup's upbringing was prior to coming into your life. Some breeders do try to let puppies have many positive experiences with new people and environments. Your puppy is an individual and how he/she reacts to new experiences is based on his/her personality. Some pups are outgoing and adventurous, while others are shy. This is the natural order in the dog world, each puppy has it's place among it's litter and learns it very early in life. Once puppy arrives in your home, all the rules he/she knew before will change. Most of us just love & cuddle the new puppy for the first few weeks and don't do a great job of establishing rules right off the bat, after all, the pup is just a baby and so cute! Young puppies that aren't fully vaccinated, we are told, should stay home and away from other dogs for risk of contagious diseases. This is sound medical advice, however, it doesn't allow puppy to have interactions with it's own species during a very critical time in your dogs development. Most veterinarians start vaccines at 8 weeks, but your puppy won't be fully protected by the series until he/she is 3-4 months old. That's a lot of time to keep a young pup from learning about the world! At this age your pup has developed into an adolescent and we all know how hard adolescence is! So what should we do? We don't want to risk puppies health. What if we just adopted an older dog?

How do we begin to socialize an under socialized dog?

The first thing you will need is a great relationship with your dog. Your dog needs to trust you, to look up to you and to enjoy interacting with you. Basic training using positive reinforcement is a good place to start. Training sessions should be like game time for your dog. Each new learning experience is a game that you play with your dog. Each time Fido gets a right answer, he wins a reward. Rewards come in many forms. Your dog may enjoy a smile, a pat and happy tone of voice from you, a tasty treat or a game of fetch or tug with a favorite toy. In any great relationship, spending time together is always the ultimate reward. Once you and your dog have a foundation of trust built on fun interactions, you can start "playing" training games in new environments. We can't expect our dog to know that he should sit at the curb, if we only taught him to sit in the Kitchen. We can't expect him to feel calm around new people, new sounds, other animals or any other new experience unless he is calm and engaged in learning with you. Taking your dog to the dog park and letting him romp with other dogs does not teach him proper social skills. In fact, letting your dog figure out that kind of social scene on his own is like dropping your teenager off at a night club, in the bad section of town and assuming he/she will make all the right choices without any guidance from you.