The Importance of Socializing your Puppy
Bringing home a new dog requires a period of adjustment, and inexperienced dog owners often focus first on obedience training. A new dog is rewarded for good behavior and taught to sit and lie down on command; however, very little thought is given to the importance of socialization. While obedience training is crucial and may accelerate the training process, it shouldn’t be a puppy owner’s first priority.
Prioritize Socialization before Obedience
As the founder of Pet Central DFW, Michael Polakoff has successfully trained dogs of all ages across the Dallas-Fort Worth area — asserting that there is truly no time limit for obedience training.
Rather than focusing efforts on obedience training, a dog owner’s first priority must be on socializing the puppy — a process which entails facilitating positive experiences to help prepare the dog for a successful life in the human world. Michael Polakoff suggests this can be done by introducing the dog to new people, allowing him to encounter other dogs, or participating in dog park outings such as the one offered by Pet Central DFW.
The Developmental Window for Socialization
Unlike obedience training, puppies have a critical developmental window in which they’re able to acquire social skills. The duration of this developmental window varies slightly from dog to dog, but for most it closes somewhere between twelve and eighteen weeks of age. During this brief time frame, puppies must be introduced and acclimated to any object or situation they will be required to navigate comfortably as an adult.
What happens (or doesn’t happen) during this well-defined period of crucial development will inevitably have a tremendous impact on the dog for the rest of his life. For this reason, effective puppy-raising involves the formation of crucial deadlines to actively socialize the dog.
The Socialization Checklist
In his work at Pet Central DFW, Michael Polakoff has noted that many owners are reluctant to allow their dog to socialize with other animals — a practice that severely damages a puppy’s development and behavioral health. Instead, allowing a puppy to encounter and play with other dogs of all ages, sizes and breeds is the only way to ensure they mature into well-trained, well-behaved adult dogs.
While socialization is most often associated with a puppy’s ability to interact well with other dogs, true socialization extends to other animals, people, situations, and objects. Anything an adult dog may potentially find intimidating (loud noises, large vehicles, varying terrain) can become a potential for behavioral problems if the dog is not familiarized with it early on.
The Consequences of Isolation
The consequences of failing to socialize a dog before its developmental window closes are tremendous. Michael Polakoff cites that under socialized puppies will have behavioural problems ranging from frequent over-excitement to fearfulness, aggression, and other anti-social behavior. In many cases, puppies that are isolated (either do to neglect, laziness, or fear of disease) will never develop the social skills necessary to act warmly towards humans, regard other animals in a friendly manner, or ward off excessive nervousness.
