Socialisation Period: What do you need to know and do?!
So you’re thinking of getting a puppy or new dog or recently got one, here’s what to do and how I can help with that.
Choosing your Dog
See my page Choose a puppy for tips to get a dog that is suitable for you and your lifestyle, what to look out for at the breeder/ rescue and about what a pup needs prior to getting it home at 8 weeks however Genetic pre disposition and what happens 0-8 weeks is so important that I highly recommend booking a consult to help you choose the right Pup! After all prevention is better than Cure.
House Training
As soon as they get home, take them outside and show them where they can go and praise them for it. Get off to the right start!
For more info see House Training.
Crate Training
As soon as you get home (Gently) start to Crate Train your Puppy ( or similar steps for the pen or room your dog may eventually be left alone in.
It is important to build security in your dog and learning to be left alone in little small increments is a skill which needs to be built up.
According to Lindsay (2001) Puppies that in clinical trials, were not exposed to separation until 12 weeks of age appeared to panic and unable to cope effectively with such experiences.
I would be prepared to be home with them without too much work to do for the first - 2 weeks whilst you build them up to being left alone for longer amounts of time and perhaps get them into a routine of puppy visits from a walker.
For more on crate training click here.
Socialisation
0-16 Weeks
The most important time in your pups life is 0-12 (0-16) weeks covering, birth, the neonatal period, transition period and into the primary & secondary socialisation window.
Its important puppies experience a really positive world at this time to stop them from becoming anxious adults.
“It is shown by research that a dog that has had no experience of a specific stimulus at the completion of the sensitive period will always be fearful of it, a dog that has had slight exposure will be slightly better and not quite so fearful, but a dog that has had lots of positive experience of a stimulus during the sensitive period will express no fear at all. Although it is possible to help an adult dog overcome a fear of a stimulus, prevention is better than cure. Especially with dogs, as anxiety or fear may be expressed as aggressive behaviour, and a dog exhibiting aggressive behaviour is not likely to be wanted as a family pet.” (Animal Behaviour Centre, 2020)
Primary Socialisation/ Canine Socialisation
3-6 weeks
Your breeder should have been handling them from birth and introducing them mild stressors environmental enrichment such as noises, toys, surfaces, ambient temperatures etc. This should be continued in the primary socialisation window. Dogs handled regularly at this age have been shown to cope better with stress, disease, learn better as an adult, be less fearful as an adult and cope with stress better. They should also be with their litter during this period learning bite inhibition through play.
If you have a breeder who is keen for ideas of how they can help send them this:
https://thatdogguy.co.uk/guides-articles/socialisation-research-advice
Secondary/human Socialisation Period
6-12 weeks
This is the human socialisation window when your dog forms bonds with people and the world they are living in. You should aim to have your dog gradually positively handled by literally loads of different people by the close of this window. Though make sure that any touch is on your dogs terms, i.e they come to the person by choice. Person gives them a little gentle stroke under the neck then backs up and waits to see if puppy wants more. If your puppy moves away or offers calming signals, like a yawn or tongue flick, listen and stop touching them.
NOTE gradual exposure; Taking your pup to a kids birthday party would be sensitising not desensitising, so is putting them in a day care with 20 dogs!
Also make sure your dog is not just running up to everyone and jumping up to say hello, it should be via your permission or your dog will likely start running up to every stranger in the future. Perhaps let them meet every 3/4 people for offering a sit or watch me.
Your dog will learn more in this period than any other time in their life and what they learn in this period really sticks. If your dog doesn’t meet lots of adult and young dogs by the end of this period they very likely will form reactive behaviours around other dogs which are really hard to undo so crack on and socialise them. DO NOT WAIT until after third vaccine. Just be sensible about who and where you socialise, so make sure they are with other vaccinated dogs.
This view is supported by the American Veterinary Society who recommends socialisation after the first vaccine and so BEFORE a puppy is fully vaccinated.
You can teach your dog new behaviours at a later stage but this is the time when all the wiring of the brain happens and you can’t get this time back so start socialising now.
To be safer you can do this at home or at puppy classes where you know Puppies are checked for vaccinations and avoid dog pens where there has been a high concentration of dogs who’s vaccination status you don’t know.
As above think about letting your puppy meet every three or four dogs they see on walks, so they don’t expect to meet every dog and develop bad habits as a result. They could offer a behaviour such as watch me to be allowed to do that, once you have taught it.
Try and choose dogs that are calm and relaxed around your puppy and if that changes (stiff body posture, hard staring, excessive vocalisation, jumping around and not listening to the owner), thank the owner and move on.
You should aim to have your dog fully socialised by 12 weeks!
Following my puppy starter exercise sheets that I include in your first consultation or pre training package is a great way to do this as well as finding other nice puppies, dogs & children for your dog to meet. You also want make sure your puppy has plenty of suitable chew toys to promote appropriate chewing. A fresh raw bone is actually the best. Check out Diet for more info.
Seniority Classification Period
‘age of the cutting teeth.’
12-16 weeks
Keep going with environmental enrichment and the environment as whilst most of the wiring is now done in most breeds there is still valuable time to be had meeting dogs and people positively and nailing your foundation training.
At sixteen weeks the fight instinct period is going to kick in and you puppy is going to be more truant and less likely to stick with you, what they learn after this point won’t stick as well and will be harder to teach.
Therefore get your recall and essential alternative, foundation behaviours nailed now. Control resources with structured play and training sessions.
Fear Imprint period 1
8-10.5 weeks
Please note that with all puppies, between 8 weeks until about 10.5 weeks they are going through their first fear imprint period which started around 5 weeks but is now peaking. Thus they are more likely to find things scary and what they do find scary, now, will can have long lasting effects.
Therefore avoid your pup getting a fright during this time.
When approaching new stimuli keep in mind the idea that new things bring good things. Do not force your pup into scary situations but praise them when they navigate something new with confidence.
If they do have a fright calmly back away, ask for a behaviour you have taught such as eye contact or a down stay and praise the confident behaviour you have now got. Do not pick up your puppy and start cooing and coddling them. If you do they will think you like the anxious behaviour they are displaying and you will develop and anxious adult.
By 12 weeks you should see that fear turn to curiosity and more independence and assertiveness kicking in.
So in summary crack on and socialise your dog. Give them time and space to learn and take things in. Reinforce what you like, ignore what you don’t like. No scolding. Plenty of environmental enrichment.
Hormones:
From 18 weeks to 18 months your puppy’s hormones will change and this can affect their confidence and behaviour. If you find that your dog is easily distracted it could be due to the raging hormones going through your dogs’ body. Training games can help to overcome this and teaching your dog to make the right choices is really important.
If your puppy is particularly nervous or has come from abroad please book an appointment for about a more tailored plan which would suit their needs.
Foundation Training
Training is important to teach your puppy important skills and life lessons, tire them out mentally, create predictability in their lives and prevent future problems E.g they aren’t running off with your slipper if they’ve been taught a retrieve. They won’t be chasing a cyclist if they can do a fluent down stay and or recall.
If you are confident with crate training and socialisation you can relax a little otherwise let’s do your first one asap. Otherwise let them decompress a little and feel confident in their surroundings ( allow lots of sniffing) and then let’s do five appts a week or two apart.
Your pup will learn more in this 0-16 week period than any other time in its life so ideally we will do them then.
However it is never too late to teach so don’t distress if we start later. I will however send you socialisation exercises to start with right away.
Please book in to start learning.
Exercise & Joining Walks
Whilst their bones are still growing/ plates closing they will not be suitable for large group walks. Smaller dogs growth plates will close quicker than larger breeds. 10 minutes per month of age is a good, rough estimate so the earliest we are likely to take your dog into a 1hr group is 5 months and then not every day until 6 months. Though we are really talking about limiting high impact exercise, jumping, roughing and tumbling rather than gentle exercise.
In the meantime we offer 40 min Puppy visits and if there is a suitable other booking that day we will join up to four together for socialisation/ Puppy group.
When there are socialising it is important to identify and prevent ‘bullying’ from other dogs so they don’t have to learn to fight back. Keeping on the move and avoiding pens where they have no flight option is a good start if you’re unsure.
“Trained proactive handlers can pay attention to the environment around them so they can diffuse situations before they arise.” Brenda Aloff, (APDT)
Food
I recommend raw as kibble is essentially junk food.
You can feed via training and food puzzles which will tire your dog out mentally without having a physical strain on the developing bodies.
I like the rubber Kong for wet food and kong wobbler if you use any dry food. For smaller dogs the Nina Ottoson Maze is sometimes better for dry food and / or the snuffle mat.
You can crate an assault course of various puzzles for any pup/ dog which needs a bit of help calming down.
Here is a video I made on food puzzle for more info:
Juvenile Period
(3-4 months to sexual Maturity 6- 8 months)
Four to Eight Month’s:
Play Instinct Period. Flight Instinct Period:
So you’re pup was sticking by you and being so good and now they are not? Yes that’s normal, this is the time when fear subsides some what, curiosity takes over and they start to wander and test you and training may regress a bit, thus you want to have your puppy foundation behaviours well taught and now really keep them up. A harness and longline is often required.
This if also the worse chewing phase. Try Antlers, fresh raw bones, cow hooves and pigs ears.
It is also time to start thinking about neutering.
For more help book an appointment.
Adolescence
(Sexual Maturity 6-8mths to Adulthood 18 - 24 mths)
This is the time when your dog will start to challenge and test you more.
Bold dog’s may become overly confident. Sleep patterns may also be affected with them sleeping all day and then boundless energy when you least want it, leading to destructive, boredom behaviour.
Previously well-established training cues may regress, such as toilet training, recall or loose lead walking
Bitches may become more playful and flirtatious around male dogs as her first heat cycle comes on and thus you may see increased licking of her vulva. She may also have an increased inclination to roam. She may mark / need to urinate more frequently. Aggressive behaviours may be seen particularly toward other female dogs.
In males you may see them start to lift their leg, hump & mark more and engage in more roaming. There may also be more fighting, competitiveness, and aggression due to older males ceasing to be so forgiving of them and instead starting to hold them accountable for their behaviour.
You therefore really want to have good foundation training in hand by this point and then get back on your harness and longline if you need to, to be firm & consistent to work through it. I don’t mean punish when I say firm, I mean make sure you set the situation up so you can always get the behaviour you want and don’t let them find out something else works. More on that in our sessions.
Six to Fourteen month’s:
Second Fear Imprint Period
Within this period your dog may be more fearful of people, places and things again and so you may see reactivity levels rise.
Hopefully we have already had many an appointment by now, so you will know to REINFORCE WHAT YOU LIKE, IGNORE WHAT YOU DON’T LIKE, i.e don’t coddle and accidentally praise anxious behaviour or you’re telling you’re pup you like that and its the right thing to feel.
What can you do?
Remain calm as though whatever it is, is no big deal. Back away and praise the calm confident behaviour.
Counter Condition/ desensitise by giving treats around scary stimuli at a distance which is far enough away that reactive behaviour does not occur/ whilst asking for an appropriate alternative that we have taught.
Help them get it right and comfortably transition through this period. This means don’t throw your dog into new, overwhelming and scary situations e.g a plane ride or a party.
Maturity Period
1.5- 4yrs
Again your dog may be more of a challenge now. You may see increased reactivity as your dog finds ways to keep and maintain the resources (you, play, locations, food etc) it wants. Keep up with your training. REINFORCE WHAT YOU LIKE, IGNORE/ (Re-direct, with what you’ve taught) WHAT YOU DON’T LIKE. Ask for an alternative behaviour if you can’t ignore. More on this in our sessions.
You can hope your dog starts to settle down around 12 to 18 months but you may be talking up to four years to really settle into adult hood.
“Trained proactive handlers can pay attention to the environment around them so they can diffuse situations before they arise.” Brenda Aloff, (APDT)