Here is the second article adapted from the thesis that I wrote for the Canine Principles Puppy Development, Care & Coaching Accredited Diploma course.
Socialisation is a vital part of preparing a puppy for a long and happy life through adolescence and beyond to an adult dog. Socialisation is the process of introducing a puppy to the things that he will encounter in his life, in a safe and positive way, so that the puppy learns to have a positive outlook on life. The aim of socialisation is habituation – the puppy becomes used to new things in his environment and never has a chance to become sensitised to them or scared of them, and accepts them as a matter of fact part of his environment. A puppy that has been well socialised will grow up to be a resilient dog through their adult life, able to recover quickly if they encounter a tough situation, and with a positive outlook meaning that they expect good things to happen. A good breeder will start the socialisation period very soon after the puppies are born, including gentle handling and introducing the sights, sounds, and smells of everyday life in a human family home.
There are a number of important periods within the overall socialisation period that must be taken into account when planning to raise a puppy. Missing these socialisation periods increasing the risks of the puppy growing up to be fearful and worried by new things in their environment and socially impaired or To give the best chance of the puppy growing up to have the perfect life, the mother will ideally spend her gestation period and the time between the birth and weaning living in a family home, with all of the typical sights and sounds of life in a family. The process of socialisation, the act of educating puppies about the world and to be comfortable in it can begin before they are even born, along with the rest of their development.
Nature gives the puppy their genetic material, which goes some way towards deciding their personality, although the discussion on how much comes from the nature side of the equation has been running for a long time. Nurture also has a part to play in shaping personality, and how the mother is cared for and the puppies are raised and handled from the time they are born will play a large part in deciding their attitude to and experience of their lives.
Socialisation is a vital part of preparing a puppy for a long and happy life through adolescence and beyond to an adult dog. Socialisation is the process of introducing a puppy to the things that he will encounter in his life, in a safe and positive way, so that the puppy learns to have a positive outlook on life. The aim of socialisation is habituation – the puppy becomes used to new things in his environment and never has a chance to become sensitised to them or scared of them, and accepts them as a matter of fact part of his environment. A puppy that has been well socialised will grow up to be a resilient dog through their adult life, able to recover quickly if they encounter a tough situation, and with a positive outlook meaning that they expect good things to happen. A good breeder will start the socialisation period very soon after the puppies are born, including gentle handling and introducing the sights, sounds, and smells of everyday life in a human family home.
There are a number of important periods within the overall socialisation period that must be taken into account when planning to raise a puppy. Missing these socialisation periods increasing the risks of the puppy growing up to be fearful and worried by new things in their environment and socially impaired or incompetent, either around other dogs, people or both. The critical learning period, the time in which puppies learn these vital lessons quickly extends through to approximately 14 weeks of age, although dogs continue to learn from their environment throughout their lives.
Primary socialisation is the period during which the puppy learns social skills with other dogs, learns how to be a dog. It occurs between days 22 and 49 after birth, when the puppy is with his mother and littermates. The puppy learns how to communicate and use appropriate body language, and learns about bite inhibition, as his mother and littermates will end play or possibly rebuke a puppy that bites too hard. This includes social learning, learning by watching his littermates and mother and copying what they do. Social learning is a common way in which animals that live in social groups learn, including humans, and social learning will continue through the dog’s life.
Secondary socialisation is the period in which the puppy will learn social skills with humans. It is typically thought of as being between 7 and 14 weeks of age, starting around the time that puppies leave the litter to go to their new homes. This is the period which most people think of as the ‘socialisation period’ when talking about puppies. A puppy that is carefully socialised with as many different kinds of people, things, and environmental factors in a positive, gentle way by the time they reach 14 weeks has the best chance of being a happy, optimistic dog in their adult lives. A complicating factor with secondary socialisation in the outside world is that this period is when the puppy’s essential vaccinations are often given, along with the advice to keep puppies inside and away from areas where other dogs many have been. This can be tackled by carrying the puppy when out where dogs of unknown vaccination status have been, and setting up ‘playdates’ with vaccinated dogs that have excellent social skills. Puppies can see, hear, smell, and experience the world whole being carried, so socialisation can carry on while being aware of the need to keep them safe.
The list below shows a week-by-week breakdown of suggested socialisation activities from before birth to the end of the critical learning period at 14 weeks. As the new activities are included, the activities from previous weeks should be repeated. This means the range of things the puppy experiences and is exposed to grows and is reinforced by repetition, and his resilience grows as he develops an optimistic attitude to life and new things.
Before birth:
- Keep mother healthy, happy and relaxed.
- Play a desensitisation CD of noises that the puppy will encounter in their life.
Weeks 1-2:
- Early stimulation has been seen to kick-start the working of the neurological system and encourage development and early learning. At this age, puppies can sense movement, temperature changes, pressure changes, tastes and smells. Exposure to changes in these has been shown to result in more confident adult dogs.
- Handling the puppies in the mother’s presence three times a day for one minute each time, applying gentle pressure over their bodies for the stimulation as mentioned above will start getting them used to humans and make health checks easier as the puppy gets older.
Weeks 2-4:
- Begin introducing the typical sights and sounds of family household life.
- As the senses develop more – in this time the eyes and ear canals open – let the puppies explore new sights and smells but always at their own pace.
- Increase the amount of regular handling the puppies are receiving. Get them used to the basic regular health check motions such as examining the teeth, gums, eyes, ears, nose and paws.
- Let the puppies hear as wide a range of human voices as possible to get them used to a variety of people early on.
- Keep introducing new sensations to the puppies like different kinds of floor surfacing so that the puppies can learn to be confident and move around on different floor types. Give them new types of toys, let them experience different locations around the home, but let them explore at their own pace to keep the socialisation happy and positive.
Weeks 5-7:
- Introduce as many different types of people as possible to the puppy, making sure not to overwhelm them or force them to interact. Include men, women, teenagers, children, babies, people in wheelchairs, people with sticks, men with beards, people wearing hats. Do not try to force interactions as this can backfire and lead to a puppy being frightened of people.
- Introduce more household noises and objects such as vacuum cleaners, TVs etc, at closer exposure but taking care to observe the puppy’s body language and slow down if they show signs of confusion or fear.
- Give the puppy lots of novel types of stimulation and individual attention.
- Begin to get them out and about outside to start seeing and experiencing the world, although carried at this point if in areas where other dogs have been.
Week 8:
- Keep up everything from the preceding weeks to ensure that the puppy is prepared to go and start a new life away from his mother and littermates and has the best chance of settling well in his new home if he is joining another family.
Weeks 9-14:
- Keep up the work of letting the puppy safely learn about the world.
- Get him used to wearing a collar and harness, and to being on a lead. Teach him to wear a muzzle – hopefully it will not be needed or at least very rarely, but being prepared removes stress if he has to wear one at some point.
- Start to take him to more places, carrying him if the area has been frequented by unknown dogs and he has not yet had his full course of vaccinations. Introducing him to the vet clinic widens his socialisation and reduces stress when visits are needed for treatment. Many vets will book short appointments with a nurse for quick handling practice, treats and fuss to remove fear from the clinic. Another good place to take puppies for exposure can be the pet store, and similar places.
- Keep him meeting a variety of people. Take him to social places – a dog friendly pub as an example, where he can sit and see lots of people and meet some in a safe, well-monitored way.
- Introduce him to known, healthy vaccinated dogs – arrange playdates for him to interact with well-mannered dogs from all different age groups as continuing his social learning is vital.
- Get him used to car trips and being safely restrained in the car, whether in a crate or a harness attached to a seat belt.
- Teach him to be left alone for short periods – not too long at this stage, and contained somewhere safe so he cannot harm himself. This will help avoid the horrible experience for dog and guardian or separation anxiety.
- Keep up the physical handling, particularly the basic health checks. This allows any problems to be spotted as early as possible and again removes some of the stress from examinations when required. Teach him to let you brush his teeth, and groom him a little, while also teaching him to stay calm while you are doing so. Teach him how to switch off and relax at times. Rest is vital, especially in a young dog, and teaching them to relax when you need to do things makes life much more pleasant and easier for both of you.
- Take him to meet other kinds of animals – horses, cattle, sheep etc. The more he becomes used to all types of animals when he is young, the less he is likely to chase and worry livestock as an adult dog, which is important for him and the livestock involved.
- Once he has completed his initial course of vaccinations, repeat all of the social steps above but this time letting him explore places and meet people from ground level on his own four paws as the world looks a very different place from the ground than it does carried in an owner’s arms.
- During this period, and for safety particularly once the puppy finished his vaccinations, introduce him to everything that will be part of his adult life in a careful and positive manner. As he starts walking outside of the home and garden, introduce him to traffic – cars, motorbikes, lorries, cyclists, skateboards and pedestrians. Anything that they may encounter in life that you can introduce them to, do so. The more new things they have encountered without fear by the time they reach the end of the critical learning period, the more likely they are to regard anything new they meet after that time with a positive outlook, expecting it to be safe and fine. This is the mark of a resilient, optimistic dog.
Sitting at around the same time as the puppy leaves the litter at between 8 and 10 weeks comes the first fear impact period. 8 to 10 weeks is usual, although the timescale can vary depending on breed and the individual dog concerned. During this time, the puppy must be supported very carefully. Their first reaction to anything new may be fear, and anything negative that happens in this period can, unless kindly and empathetically handled, lead to long term fear of a particular stimulus or group of stimuli. The body language of fear can be subtle and easily missed so careful observation and a knowledge of canine body language is needed. A puppy going through a fear reaction that is punished or forced to ‘face their fears’ in the outdated method known as flooding will have a high chance of being scared of that stimulus in the future. One scary experience can stay with a dog for life, known as single event or one trial learning.
At around 13 to 16 weeks comes the seniority classification period. This is when the puppy starts asking questions and finding his boundaries. It is the time that a dog trainer that does not understand may theorise that the puppy is trying to become dominant over the humans in the household. In fact the puppy is working out how the hierarchy in the house works and how he fits in with the others around him. It is part of a puppy’s social growth and is sometimes colloquially called the ‘period of cutting teeth and apron strings’ as the puppy is simultaneously teething and testing out where his boundaries are now he’s more settled in his home.
Another potentially tricky period in a young dog’s lifetime is what is known as the play instinct period or the flight instinct period. Coming in the time between 4 and 8 months of age, this is when puppies may be referred to as showing ‘teenage’ behaviour. The young dog is growing towards independence and obedience may start to break down, particularly recall. Dogs that have not been carefully socialised up to this point can become difficult to deal with and, as their adult teeth are coming in, this is when chewing can start and become potentially very destructive if not dealt with appropriately. Patience and a large amount of appropriate chew material to redirect the young dog to chewing will help get through this stage. Chewing can also be a result of boredom, so a guardian of a puppy should make sure they have plenty of suitable varied types of enrichment to tackle boredom and allow the puppy to fulfil the natural behaviour of chewing without endangering themselves or destroying the guardian’s belongings.
The final article adapted from this thesis covers the life lessons puppies need to learn and some useful cues to coach them, and preparing for adolescence and will be posted soon.
References used in creating this section:
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