Let’s take a moment to talk about the importance of puppy socialization and also to plug ‘Dog Star Daily’. Dog Star Daily (see Resources & Links) is an E-zine for dog lovers. It contains hordes of information on dog issues. On the ‘Dog Star Daily’ site, you will find downloads and blogs by some of the most reputable people in dogdom, including several veterinarians. One of the primary contributors is my all time favorite trainer/behaviorist, Dr Ian Dunbar. Dr Dunbar is one of the pioneers in the field of non-aversive dog training and puppy education. According to Dr Dunbar, by the time a puppy is 8 to 12 weeks old, he needs to meet and party with at least 100 people. In our modern world, this is an extremely difficult task to accomplish. However, I cannot stress enough the importance of positive socialization, not just with people but with different breeds and sized dogs as well. Below is the story of one of my own dogs that was not properly socialized. It’s one of those “if I knew now … ” stories.
About 20 years ago, I was living with my 12 year old retriever mix and a very large 2 year old Doberman. (I adopted the Doberman as an adult) Both of these dogs were wonderful and well balanced. But this is not their story; it is Toppie’s story. I decided that my Doberman needed a younger playmate and so I got him a puppy. In my limited experience up to that time, I felt that a mutt would be the best choice. And so, off I went to the country in central Florida to get a puppy. Since he was born on the banks of Lake Tohopakaliga, I named him Tohopakaliga, Toppie for short. Tohopakaliga is Seminole for ‘sleeping tiger’. The legend is that normally the tiger (lake) sleeps, but when it awakens it ROARS. The name turned out to be quite prophetic.
In raising Toppie, I followed all the conventional methods including crate training. He slept and stayed in the crate whenever I was not at home with him. I would rush home at lunch everyday to take him outside for a few minutes. Toppie was one of the best house trained dogs I have ever owned. However, he was NOT socialized. The only dog outside the household he was exposed to was his littermate who lived with my sister. About the time he was 4 or 5 months old, I discovered that he hated Rottweilers and was afraid of babies. He broke through my screen door and sent an adult rottweiler packing (the dog was not on our property). When my brother came over with his three month old grandson, Toppie ran terrified into his crate. By the time Toppie was 6 months old we had a serious fear problem. When I enrolled him in a basic obedience class, I discovered that we had serious fear aggression. The standard method of fixing the problem at the time was with a choke collar and a lot of ‘pops’. This only exacerbated the problem, resulting in Toppie’s never going anywhere except for late evening walks on deserted streets. When we moved to Georgia I met a wonderful dog trainer/behaviorist. She worked with Toppie and me for several years, but alas it was too late for poor Toppie. In my defense I will say there was a genetic predisposition for problems with his whole litter. His littermate Jennie also had severe fear issues. However, since my sister had children at the time, Jennie was socialized to a multitude of different people and animals. Consequently, Jennie’s fears, while still there, never turned into aggression. Had Toppie been properly socialized and not isolated as a pup I am confident he would not have been fear aggressive as an adult. This is not to say that fearful, aggressive, nervous adult dogs can’t be helped, they can. But it is far more difficult to help an adult with these issues that to fix a puppy. So the moral of this story is socialize, Socialize, SOCIALIZE!
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