THE BENEFITS OF EARLY SOCIALIZATION
Building the Perfect Puppy: 
by W Hunthausen, DVM

Although dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years, puppies are still not born into this world with a natural sense of social comfort with humans.  Trust must be learned by the puppies and earned from us.  This makes early social interaction essential for normal social development.  Timely involvement is the key, since pups go through a very sensitive period during the first few months of life of when they are exceptionally open to developing positive social attachments with humans.

The Socialization Period  – That Special Time in Life

Around the fourth week of life, puppies enter into a very sensitive period called the socialization period.  This phase lasts through the twelfth week of life, and many important changes occur during this time.  The beginning of this stage is closely associated with major maturational changes in the central nervous system.  All sensory systems become well developed and functioning by this point and learning capacity is rapidly developing. While previous, early periods involved changes in basic sensory and motor capacities, this period is one of rapid development of social behavior patterns.

The early phase of the socialization period is characterized by a willingness to approach new and moving objects.  Investigative behavior becomes apparent and puppies begin exploring away from the nest area.  Social following and early signs of pack behavior emerge.  During this time, there is a marked increase in interaction with littermates, the mother and the environment.  Gradually, as the mother spends less time with the puppies, the interaction and relationship between littermates strengthens.  This intraspecies interaction is important for normal social development, and that is why it is important to keep puppies with their mothers and littermates for at least the first seven to eight weeks of life.  

In regard to behavior and temperament development, this is absolutely the most important period in a dog’s life.  The experiences the pup has during this period are critical in determining primary social relationships.  It is a time during which relationships are easiest to initiate. A small amount of experience during this period will produce a major effect on later behavior. How comfortable and confident the puppy will be with members of the same and other species is directly related to the quality and quantity of social experiences it has during this time.  

Besides being an open window for development of social relationships, it also is a period of extreme sensitivity to traumatic experiences.  The sensitivity necessary to facilitate the formation of social relationships makes the puppy vulnerable to psychological trauma.  Fear responses are evident at this time, and startle reactions to sound and sudden movement may be pronounced.  With time, though, the puppies will learn to discriminate between stimuli associated with dangerous situations and those that are insignificant.  Frequent, gentle handling and avoidance of distressing events are important in order to prevent fear responses and avoidance of humans from developing.

Setting the Puppy Up to Succeed in Life

    Friendly interactions with a wide variety of people and other pets is the key to socializing young pups.  It is especially important for them to be around all types of non-family members in diverse situations so they will behave appropriately in all kinds of situations when they get older. This should be done gradually to avoid overwhelming the puppy.  An excellent way for you to facilitate socialization of your pup is to use “socialization treats.”  You should take the pet out to meet people armed with small biscuit treats or a bag of puppy kibble.  Whenever your pet sees someone new (e.g. jogger, cyclist, postal delivery person, etc.) and shows no sign of avoidance or anxiety, you should request it to sit and give a treat.  As the pup gets the hang of this game, you can give each person a biscuit treat to give to the pup.  If there are no children at home, it is particularly important that you frequently take the pet to homes with children or see that children are brought to your home for visits.  This is especially important for potential parents and grandparents.  Be sure to supervise closely to prevent the children from doing anything that might upset the pup.   

Socialization before twelve weeks of age is crucial but it should not stop at this age.  Social opportunities of various types should continue to be frequently provided throughout the first year of the pet’s life. Puppy training classes and basic obedience classes provide excellent opportunities for social exposure to continue.  Most early training classes allow puppies to attend, starting at eight to ten weeks of age, while they are still in the sensitive socialization period.  Socialization should also be done with other animals outside of class situations.   Pick dogs for the pup to visit that are healthy, vaccinated pets that do not leave their fenced-in yards, and have friendly, nonaggressive temperaments.

The care that you provide for your puppy during the first three months of its life is extremely important.  To raise the perfect puppy, you must not only provide necessary medical and nutritional care, but you must also satisfy the young pup’s social needs.

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