Category: Socialization

So you have found a great adult dog to add to your family, now what?

5/9/2020

Harley the Great Dane and one of his many friends.

A decision has been made! You have decided to take in a new adult dog into your family. Before this action was taken:

You have already looked deep into whether you were ready for any dog.
Your lifestyle was analyzed so as to list the qualities in a dog that would fit well within your every day activities.
Breeders, Rescues, and ads to re-home adult dogs were looked at very carefully and vetted.

Now your new family member has arrived or will be arriving shortly. The next two or three weeks are for your new adult dog family member to learn they are in a safe and predictable environment. What are the immediate actions you can take to let that happen without the common pitfalls of many new dog owners or dog owners that have had no experience with a brand new adult dog. That is what we will be talking about in this blog.

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Socialization strategies for pet dogs and puppies

7/11/2017

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Puppies (and some adult or adolescent dogs) are in need of much learning and guidance. One of the most important things to do is to socialize your puppy well in the critical early weeks and months.

The first thing that you want to check is that your vaccinations are up to date, and that it is safe to take puppy out to areas with other dogs and puppies. Take a moment to have a discussion with your vet about the best plan.

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Tips to avoid creating or encouraging fearful behavior in your pet dog

6/13/2017

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For the purposes of this article, I am talking about fear (not fear [with] aggression, which has both positive and negative definitions in dog training, behaviors OR aggression behaviors). Nor the fear that a resource is going to be taken away, and not dominant behaviors (which in my definition are not necessarily undesirable). A dog's personality or temperament, IMO, can not be described as simply "fearful", "dominant", "abused", or "aggressive". Dogs have rich lives (or should have) just as we do, and are not put into one simple box definition. They may have behaviors that fit that definition (and will have other behaviors and characteristics beyond those), but dogs (themselves) can not be IMO defined this way.

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Potential dog park dangers and problems

5/28/2017

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Some dogs socializing in the winter at Mannerly Mutts Dog Training.

Dog parks can be a dog owning city dweller's solution to a space challenged environment so they can provide for their canines exercise needs. Urban budgets usually do not allow for dog park supervisory staff. There is no one in most parks checking on the doggie guests coming in, whether people are cleaning up after themselves, or available to safely and knowledgeably break up an inevitable fight. Vaccination or pest control medical records are not checked before people come in.

The population of individual dogs and personalities changes all the time in these parks. Not all dogs are going to get along with any strange dog that walks up to them, even if they get along with most dogs. Some dogs are reactionary around toys and strange dogs, some dogs just don't like certain other dog personalities, and some dogs are jealous of attention taken away from their owner or live in canine companion. Combine with this the changing pack order that happens, and dog wanting to naturally maintain or protect their status. The changing of the pack alone can cause problems of aggression and fights. This might not be a problem with your dog, but remember you are surrounded by other strange dogs that this might be a problem with. No one wants their dog to get in the mix to simply defend themselves.

Most dogs that go to dog parks are not trained. Here I am using my definition of trained, not the mere assuming the position of sit for a second and then releasing. Training (and a prosocial temperament) is what makes a dog more likely to be controllable when unpredictable situations occur. Training allows most of us to keep our dogs safe, and it's why most trained dogs don't need the confines of a dog park to get their exercise. Untrained dogs have no one to follow but themselves when a problem arises. The communication between the owner and dog for direction is non existent. This will only add to the problem above if a dog to dog or person to dog problem breaks out.

Finally, as intimated above, disease and pests come into the dog park. Even waste that is picked up can leave behind germs, which can be a problem if you don't know what the many dogs that come through there might have. Because of the lack of supervision, sometimes these parks are nasty and dirty. Fleas are a pest that is common to be picked up at a dog park. An owner will never know if a dog has been fully vaccinated or potentially exposed to something like rabies (if there is a supervised dog park, this issue might be solved).

The best solution is to train your dog so that you don't need a "dog park" to visit. Also, have friends whose dogs you know get together with you and your dog. Be sure that your dog is in control through training, when you walk them around strange dogs. This is the kind of socializing dogs need, not instances that increase danger to your dog. I would love to hear about supervised dog parks, please e-mail me or comment if you know of any.

Need help training your dog so you can both have more fun and adventure? Call, e-mail, or fill out the client interview form. We can get you and your canine partner moving in the right direction.

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So you have found a great adult dog to add to your family, now what?

Socialization strategies for pet dogs and puppies

Tips to avoid creating or encouraging fearful behavior in your pet dog

Potential dog park dangers and problems

Author, Robin Rubin

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