Early Development and Exposure

A dog’s fear of strangers may be inherited, but some studies have shown that the experiences in early development and socialisation can trump the effect of genes. Neglectful or aggressive mothering, and relationships between siblings can influence your dog’s later psychological development. 

The critical period of social imprinting occurs within the 3 -12 week window. Although the ideal age to transition a puppy into a forever home is 7-9 weeks and the ideal training commencement age is from 6 weeks.

What happens during the critical period may dramatically affect your adolescent and adult dog. Expose your puppy or rescue dog to 100 new things in the first 100 days, enrich the environment with gradual, gentle exposure to new people, places, things, other friendly dogs, and moving objects. Encourage early training, playtime with toys and housetraining. 

Take your dog with you every other time you go out and make sure that your dog’s socialisation is a series of positive experiences. Dogs often behave one way with their family and household pets, and differently with strangers. 
So with more exposure, the easier it will be!

~ T R A I N I N G ~ 

The ideal age for starting socialisation and training is 6 weeks, taking them with you as much as possible, keeping in mind that they need to be fully vaccinated before introduction to unknown dogs or unknown high dog traffic environments. This allows your pup to gain exposure and to build tolerance to new things. 

Every new environment, new learning or new training requires a positive situation. Give your puppy lots of rewards, treats, pats and praise when they are doing something new. Always make it fun and exciting when you are doing activities together. This will help build confidence, acceptance and aid in creating a well-rounded, well-socialised and compliant dog.

If your puppy is older, it’s never too late to start socialising and training them! You will want to introduce them to new people, dogs, and things. Avoid walking your dog the same route every day so they can see and experience new places and things. But remember to leave your dog on its own when you can to reduce the chances of your dog developing separation anxiety. NEVER PUNISH FEAR!

Try and make your environment as predictable as possible. Fear aggressive dogs do not like surprises so keep your dog’s surroundings as calm as possible until she is more confident and able to deal with unexpected situations.

When socialising an adult dog, it becomes more a matter of tackling problems and fears individually as they arise and preventing further issues you may need the help of a professional trainer. 

As always contact the clinic for behaviour advice, consultations and referrals.