Kennel Kilvan : Socialization

Socializing the Mudi Puppy

WHAT IS SOCIALIZATION?

Socialization is the process during which the puppy develops relationships with the living beings in it’s environment. Propery socialized puppy is not frightened or timid of anyone or anything it may come across in it’s daily life.Puppy learns how to interact with people, dogs, and everything else it comes across. Socialization is important process that is started already by the breeder, and should be continued by the new owner of the puppy. Socialization reduces the fears the puppy might have towards unfamiliar situations, and it’s essential part of the puppy’s growth. It’s important to expose puppies to many kind of stimuli (people, other dogs, places, sounds, different surfaces etc.) during the first 2-4 months of the puppy’s life. Puppies that are not exposured to different environments and things may later develop pears or become timid or even aggressive. Socialization is an ongoing process that takes whole lifetime.

HOW TO GET A SOCIAL DOG?

Genetics: Very important factor is the puppy’s genetics. The are over 400 dog breeds, and they all have different temperament traits. Also there’s variation between the different individuals of the breed. Some breeds are in general more social than others. A puppy who has open and social parents is more likely to become open and social adult. Do also ask information of the siblings and half siblings of the puppy.

Puppy assessment: In the 6-to-8 weeks old puppies there’s already some temperament traits visible. One tool you can use to find the puppy that meets you needs is to use puppy assessment tests. There are several different kinds of tests, for example the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test (PAT) http://www.workingdogs.com/testing_volhard.htm The puppy test may give hints of the adult temperament, but the experiences and environment the owner can provide to the puppy play far more important role. Though the genetics set the limits within the puppy will develop, the environment may play even more important role in the puppy’s growth and development than the genetigs. Volhard and other tests provide information of how the puppy is at the moment the test was done; what the dog will be when it’s adult is your responsibility.

Environment: The environment plays important role. When the puppy is born, it’s first environmental exposures come at the breeders. Breeder raises the puppies for their first 8-weeks, the most important time of their life. Good breeder handles the puppies a lot, spends time with them so they will bond with the human, will exposure them to different stimulation, feed, groom and give all the attention and love they need. Choose a puppy from a breeder that is willing to not only to meet the physical needs of the puppies, but also their emotional needs. The breeder should be able to tell you much more of the individual puppies than any puppy test. Breeder who’s spent the first eight weeks with the puppies should be able to tell about the differences between the individual puppies; basic personalities, dominance, noise sensitivity, play drive, who is the initiative one etc. So don’t hesitate to ask about the puppies from the breeder, and listen what breeder has to say.

Socialization plays an important role in the dog's development. At age of 8 weeks, the differences you see in the puppies are mostly genetical, because the puppies are siblings and grown in same environment. Your role will be to determine what kind of environmental factors will have influence on the puppy's growth and development.

Our puppies grow in family environment with it’s normal sounds and events. Puppies are handled every day by all the family members. They are exposured to different sounds, lights etc., they have toys that they use to play alone, with their siblings and with the people. We also have adult dogs other than their mother, who also take part to the socialization of the puppies. We spend time with the whole litter, and each puppy individually many times during each day of their development, and do our best to imprint to the puppy’s mind that we human are the best thing ever, and everything we do with the puppies is done to prepare them to the experiences they will have later in life.

Primary socialization is a sensitive period in the puppy’s development. During the first 3-12 weeks of it’s life it will learn more than in rest of it’s lifetime. The puppy will bond with other dogs and with other species, including us, during this time. It’s very important that puppy gets lot of positive experiences during this time. Later important period of time will come at 6-8 months. The puppy should be kept with it’s mother and littermates until 6-8 weeks of age. We prefer to keep the puppies at home until 8 weeks of age. At the new home it’s important to get new social contacts for the puppy. Try to find other puppies of about the same age and size in your neighbourhood to play with your puppy. Also adult dog contacts are good, but mark that not all the adult dogs are friendly with puppies.

The age between 8-12 weeks plays important role in the puppy’s life. Make sure the puppy will have lot of positive experiences. Exposure it to all kind of sights and sounds it might not see at home. For example, if you don’t have kids, invite your friend who has. Make sure the new things are introduced so that the puppy will not get frightened. Puppies are naturally curious and will explore the new sounds, places and things. Use a lot of positive reinforcement. Keep treats and toys always at hand. If this age is wasted, puppy may later be harder to get used with people of different age, shape, size, color etc. Take the puppy to car ride, elevator, stairs, trains etc., let it walk on different surfaces – concrete, wood, tile. Exposure puppy to sudden noises – but not too loud to begin with. Make the daily life full of experiences, and get through them with positive reinforcement.

If your puppy gets scared or panics in unfamiliar situation, back off a little and try again when the puppy has calm down. Don’t aggravate the fear by getting nervous or timid. Calm the puppy down with calm voice, rather saying “don’t be silly, it’s nothing”, don’t pity it. Pitying the dog is reassuring it that there is really something to scare in the situation, and it might aggravate the fear. Back off from the frightening situation so much, that the puppy won’t show panic or escape reaction. Let the puppy take it’s time, and when it’s calmed, try make the situation less scary for it. For example, if puppy was afraid of a strange person, ask him to kneel down, not stare at the puppy but rather turn face bit away (calming signal), maybe fake yawning (another calming signal), maybe call the puppy with calm, silent voice and let the puppy take the initiative to take contact. When the puppy has taken the contact, person can touch it, offer some treat and play so the puppy will remember the situation ended in positive way.

Safety before all: Before the puppy is vaccinated, there’s always a risk it might be exposed to infection in the outside world. The benefits gained in the early socialization are significant. It’s in your responsibility to make sure the environment you take the puppy to is as safe as possible. Make sure the dogs you let your puppy to interact with are vaccined and healthy. One possibility is to keep the puppy at home, but allow visits of social, friendly and vaccined dogs. As long as the near-by neighbourhood’s dogs vaccines are OK, you can take the puppy for walk on the sidewalks, but avoid the parks and other areas where there are more dog urine and other sources of infection. Don’t let the puppy lick or eat anything it founds on the ground. Taking puppy classes is another safer option. Often these classes are held indoors where the facilities can be cleaned prior to classes, and participants are puppies of same age.