Karen Davison's Blog - Posts Tagged "puppy-development"
PUPPY SOCIALISATION - How to help your puppy mature into a well adjusted, confident and well behaved adult.
The early stages of development have the greatest influence on temperament and learning ability. Experiences gained (both positive and negative) during this period will have a lasting affect on your dog's ability to interact with people and other species, and determines how well your dog will cope with everyday life. The first three months are when rapid learning and development occurs.
The following suggested socialisation program is suitable for all breeds, with explanations of the benefits of each element.
SOCIALISATION PROGRAM FOR PUPPIES
People
Invite people of all ages and both genders to visit and encourage them to greet your puppy only when s/he has got over their initial excitement. Children should be supervised by a responsible adult at all times. It is important to supervise and encourage children in gentle handling, as a bad experience at this point may cause nervousness and fear biting with children.
This will build confidence and prevent nervousness with unfamiliar people.
Not interacting with the pup until he/she is calm, will help to prevent overzealous greeting behaviour.
Exposing to children of all ages will help your puppy get used to the noisy and sometimes unpredictable nature of children.
Stimulating Environment
Provide an interesting and stimulating environment. Provide boxes to explore, different types, sizes, shapes and texture or toys as well as obstacles to climb and explore. Change regularly. Let your puppy experience different types and textures of flooring.
This will encourage your puppy to explore his surroundings and build confidence when faced with new experiences.
It also helps develop coordination and physical dexterity.
Continued Socialisation with Animals
Allow your puppy to interact with other vaccinated dogs of all sizes and ages and introduce to other species. This should be done in a controlled environment and under strict supervision. As with children, it is important to make these experiences positive.
This will encourage continued sociability and develop correct approach/interaction with different species.
Feeding
Encourage all family members to feed your puppy. Keep a small portion of food back and add to the dish while the puppy is eating.
This will prevent food aggression/resource guarding.
NEVER take food away from your puppy, always add food while they are eating. We want hands near dishes to be positive, not negative or threatening.
Grooming/Examination
When your puppy is tired and relaxed, rub down gently with a towel and introduce to grooming. Just a few strokes with the brush to begin with, if your puppy is inclined to bite the brush, give them something positive to occupy them as a distraction. Begin basic examination - check and handle ears, lift the lips to look at their teeth, handle the tail and feet, check their pads, nails and webbing between their toes. Once the puppy is happy to accept this type of handling, ask other people to do the same.
This will get your puppy accustomed to being groomed and dried and used to general handling.
Veterinary examination will be less traumatic for your dog and much easier for your vet!
Travel
Take your puppy out for very short car rides. The inner ears are not fully developed, so puppies can suffer from motion sickness. It is important therefore to keep travel very short to begin with, just a few minutes out and back.
This will get your puppy used to car travel, and allow him/her to observe the outside world.
By keeping the trips short, it will help to prevent feelings of nausea, which can form a negative association with going out in the car.
Positive Controlled Separation
Making sure you use a safe room (i.e no chewable wires etc.) leave your puppy alone with toys and safe chew items for very short periods of time, gradually increase the time that s/he is left alone. If your puppy gets distressed, try using a baby gate, so that they can still see you, leave a radio on in the room and try not to respond to vocalisation during this alone time and where possible wait until they are quiet (even if it is only for a few seconds) before letting them out.
This will get your puppy used to being left alone and prevent separation anxiety.
Visiting your Vet
Take your puppy in to visit your veterinary practice before their first appointment for vaccinations. Keep your puppy in your arms to prevent any risks of exposure to disease and ask your vet and support staff to make a fuss of your puppy and give a few treats. This should be an ongoing event even as your dog matures. Whenever you are passing the practice with your dog, pop in for a few minutes of positive interaction.
If your dog only goes to the vet for treatment, they will form negative associations and can become very stressed each time you have a veterinary appointment.
Positive interactions with the vet and support staff will take the trauma out of the situation when you do need to take them in for treatment.
Varied Walks
When the full course of vaccinations is complete, allow your puppy to explore as many different environments as possible, starting with quieter locations and progressing gradually to busier places. Country locations where they may see livestock, forest, beaches and lakes, playgrounds and town parks, dog shows and country fairs, car parks and shopping centres. Get your puppy used to traffic on very quiet roads to begin with and move up to busier locations gradually.
Exposing your puppy to different environments will build confidence, supply interest and mental stimulation.
Continued Interaction and Socialisation
When out and about, allow your puppy to interact with other dogs. It is best not to let them meet and greet every dog, choose carefully the dogs that you allow them to interact with. You want experiences to be positive. Always ask the other owner if their dog is friendly with other dogs and ask permission to let them greet each other. Check your local area for puppy training and socialisation classes (making sure that the trainer is qualified and uses positive reinforcement methods)
While puppies learn their social skills when in the litter, it is important to allow them to continue to develop these interactions with different dogs.
If you do not allow your dog to interact in this way, these skills can diminish and lead to fear and they can become over reactive and aggressive when they meet other dogs.
By controlling which dogs they are allowed to interact with, prevents bad experiences and teaches your puppy that they can't always interact with every dog they see.
Handling a Fear Response
Remember, your puppy has a limited life experiences. Although puppies are inquisitive by nature, you may get a situation where they seem hesitant or afraid. It is quite normal for puppies to show an initial fear response to something new.
It is important that you do not react to this by making a fuss and trying to reassure your puppy as this will reinforce the fear response, making it more likely to occur. Instead just observe your puppy, s/he should recover quite quickly and then move in to investigate.
If your puppy does not recover however, reduce the stimulus to an acceptable level i.e move further away from the object or situation to a distance that they can cope with. Work gradually closer in increments that your puppy can cope with, rewarding confident behaviour with positive reinforcement.
Excerpt from Companion Huskies, Understanding, Training and Bonding with Your Dog!
Now available at a reduced price for pre-order! Due to be published 27th May 2016. Price increase after release.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Companion-Hu...
The following suggested socialisation program is suitable for all breeds, with explanations of the benefits of each element.
SOCIALISATION PROGRAM FOR PUPPIES
People
Invite people of all ages and both genders to visit and encourage them to greet your puppy only when s/he has got over their initial excitement. Children should be supervised by a responsible adult at all times. It is important to supervise and encourage children in gentle handling, as a bad experience at this point may cause nervousness and fear biting with children.
This will build confidence and prevent nervousness with unfamiliar people.
Not interacting with the pup until he/she is calm, will help to prevent overzealous greeting behaviour.
Exposing to children of all ages will help your puppy get used to the noisy and sometimes unpredictable nature of children.
Stimulating Environment
Provide an interesting and stimulating environment. Provide boxes to explore, different types, sizes, shapes and texture or toys as well as obstacles to climb and explore. Change regularly. Let your puppy experience different types and textures of flooring.
This will encourage your puppy to explore his surroundings and build confidence when faced with new experiences.
It also helps develop coordination and physical dexterity.
Continued Socialisation with Animals
Allow your puppy to interact with other vaccinated dogs of all sizes and ages and introduce to other species. This should be done in a controlled environment and under strict supervision. As with children, it is important to make these experiences positive.
This will encourage continued sociability and develop correct approach/interaction with different species.
Feeding
Encourage all family members to feed your puppy. Keep a small portion of food back and add to the dish while the puppy is eating.
This will prevent food aggression/resource guarding.
NEVER take food away from your puppy, always add food while they are eating. We want hands near dishes to be positive, not negative or threatening.
Grooming/Examination
When your puppy is tired and relaxed, rub down gently with a towel and introduce to grooming. Just a few strokes with the brush to begin with, if your puppy is inclined to bite the brush, give them something positive to occupy them as a distraction. Begin basic examination - check and handle ears, lift the lips to look at their teeth, handle the tail and feet, check their pads, nails and webbing between their toes. Once the puppy is happy to accept this type of handling, ask other people to do the same.
This will get your puppy accustomed to being groomed and dried and used to general handling.
Veterinary examination will be less traumatic for your dog and much easier for your vet!
Travel
Take your puppy out for very short car rides. The inner ears are not fully developed, so puppies can suffer from motion sickness. It is important therefore to keep travel very short to begin with, just a few minutes out and back.
This will get your puppy used to car travel, and allow him/her to observe the outside world.
By keeping the trips short, it will help to prevent feelings of nausea, which can form a negative association with going out in the car.
Positive Controlled Separation
Making sure you use a safe room (i.e no chewable wires etc.) leave your puppy alone with toys and safe chew items for very short periods of time, gradually increase the time that s/he is left alone. If your puppy gets distressed, try using a baby gate, so that they can still see you, leave a radio on in the room and try not to respond to vocalisation during this alone time and where possible wait until they are quiet (even if it is only for a few seconds) before letting them out.
This will get your puppy used to being left alone and prevent separation anxiety.
Visiting your Vet
Take your puppy in to visit your veterinary practice before their first appointment for vaccinations. Keep your puppy in your arms to prevent any risks of exposure to disease and ask your vet and support staff to make a fuss of your puppy and give a few treats. This should be an ongoing event even as your dog matures. Whenever you are passing the practice with your dog, pop in for a few minutes of positive interaction.
If your dog only goes to the vet for treatment, they will form negative associations and can become very stressed each time you have a veterinary appointment.
Positive interactions with the vet and support staff will take the trauma out of the situation when you do need to take them in for treatment.
Varied Walks
When the full course of vaccinations is complete, allow your puppy to explore as many different environments as possible, starting with quieter locations and progressing gradually to busier places. Country locations where they may see livestock, forest, beaches and lakes, playgrounds and town parks, dog shows and country fairs, car parks and shopping centres. Get your puppy used to traffic on very quiet roads to begin with and move up to busier locations gradually.
Exposing your puppy to different environments will build confidence, supply interest and mental stimulation.
Continued Interaction and Socialisation
When out and about, allow your puppy to interact with other dogs. It is best not to let them meet and greet every dog, choose carefully the dogs that you allow them to interact with. You want experiences to be positive. Always ask the other owner if their dog is friendly with other dogs and ask permission to let them greet each other. Check your local area for puppy training and socialisation classes (making sure that the trainer is qualified and uses positive reinforcement methods)
While puppies learn their social skills when in the litter, it is important to allow them to continue to develop these interactions with different dogs.
If you do not allow your dog to interact in this way, these skills can diminish and lead to fear and they can become over reactive and aggressive when they meet other dogs.
By controlling which dogs they are allowed to interact with, prevents bad experiences and teaches your puppy that they can't always interact with every dog they see.
Handling a Fear Response
Remember, your puppy has a limited life experiences. Although puppies are inquisitive by nature, you may get a situation where they seem hesitant or afraid. It is quite normal for puppies to show an initial fear response to something new.
It is important that you do not react to this by making a fuss and trying to reassure your puppy as this will reinforce the fear response, making it more likely to occur. Instead just observe your puppy, s/he should recover quite quickly and then move in to investigate.
If your puppy does not recover however, reduce the stimulus to an acceptable level i.e move further away from the object or situation to a distance that they can cope with. Work gradually closer in increments that your puppy can cope with, rewarding confident behaviour with positive reinforcement.
Excerpt from Companion Huskies, Understanding, Training and Bonding with Your Dog!
Now available at a reduced price for pre-order! Due to be published 27th May 2016. Price increase after release.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Companion-Hu...
