GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - Dogs go through a couple of developmental stages of which the weaning phase is the first. It is important not to take puppies away from their mother and siblings too early.
The next stage starts at four weeks old and ends at around sixteen weeks. This limited period is the puppy's critical socialisation phase, and might be the most crucial part in a dog's life.
Everything the puppy experiences during this time will affect him later. During this time, brain development happens very rapidly, and any experience will impact your puppy later in life.
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In this article local animal behaviour practitioner George van Huyssteen, explains what is it all about, and why is it so important.
Should we throw a bunch of puppies together, or what should we do to socialise our puppies? Socialisation does not just mean exposing your puppy to many things; you must ensure they have positive experiences.
For example, taking your puppy to school with lots of children around is not socialisation. All the children might want to pat your puppy at the same time and it might become a terrifying event creating a fear of children.
It would be much safer to set yourself up a small distance down the street from the school so that your puppy can meet the children in small groups as they walk by. Be sure to bring treats and toys with you to help ensure that your puppy has a good time.
Let your puppy go at their own pace
Forcing your puppy into situations before he is ready will negatively impact their experiences. Instead, let your puppy explore the world at his own pace. In particular, avoid dragging your puppy up to things by his leash, carrying them and putting them down in the new situation, or even luring them in with food.
For example, to get your puppy used to the water, you should not pick him up and place him in the water or try to get him to jump in for a treat. Instead, find a place with a gradual incline, like a riverbank or ramp, and let him explore in his own time.
Play fun games around the water, and don't stress if he refuses to go in immediately. Wading pools are another excellent way to ease your puppy into swimming and a perfect way to help him cool off in the summer.
If in doubt, add some space
Your puppy doesn't have to be right in the middle of something to have a positive socialization experience. If you're ever worried that a situation may be too much for your puppy, move further away and give him a chance to acclimatize.
An excellent example of this is socializing puppies to traffic. Standing right next to a busy road with large, noisy cars can be frightening for many dogs. So avoid busy streets at first. Next, start somewhere like a park where you can walk away from the road. Then, as your puppy's confidence improves, you can try coming closer and closer.
How much socialising
Your puppy needs to have as many high-quality socialization experiences as you can fit in before their critical socialization window ends.
Let's say you took your puppy to the vet once for a socialization visit – no needles, and lots of fun, and once for their vaccinations and to check a sore leg. That puppy might think that there is a 50% chance that going to the vet is unpleasant.
If you took that same puppy on plenty of fun vet visits, they're much more likely to think of the vet as a good place.
What should I socialise to
Animals: Depending on your puppy's personality and breed, you need to ensure your puppy has as many positive experiences with other dogs as possible. However, not every encounter should be a nose-to-nose greeting. Fifty percent or more of the dogs you socialise your puppy with should only be at a distance.
If you allow your puppy to greet every dog they see, they will expect to be able to do so in the future and will struggle to pay attention to you. You can also socialise your puppy with cats, rabbits, birds, and any animal you want your puppy to get along with later in life.
People: As with other animals, you should socialise your puppy with a wide variety of people. Try to introduce your puppy to people of different ages, ethnicities, and sizes. In particular, dogs often have trouble with anything that changes a person's silhouette. Common examples include facial hair, sunglasses, bulky clothes, hats and helmets, walking aids, or people carrying bulky items.
Handling
Throughout their lives, dogs have to put up with being handled by humans. So they must learn to love being touched and restrained by humans for their safety.
Noises
Remember that puppies have far more sensitive hearing than we do. So socialise them to various noises, ensuring they make positive associations by paring with fun things like food or play.
Thunder, construction noises, traffic noises, music, lawnmowers, vacuum cleaners, and sirens should all be part of your puppy's socialisation sessions.
What about contagious diseases
As the research into puppies' critical socialisation window is only relatively recent in the history of veterinary science, many vets and breeders are still advising new puppy parents to lock their puppies away until they have finished their vaccinations.
Unfortunately, by the time a puppy is fully vaccinated, his critical socialization window has usually closed. Thus, while it is essential to be careful about contagious diseases like Parvovirus, avoiding socialisation during this period is a more significant risk.
What if I refuse to socialise my puppy
Should you not socialise your puppy, he might react to people and other animals with fear and aggression later in life, and he might become petrified when hearing fireworks or thunder if he has never made a good association with these sounds.
The bottom line is, you can teach a dog to sit, stand and roll over at any age, but you only have a small window of opportunity for socialization. Therefore, socialization should take preference over obedience training at that young age.
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