Socialising Your Dog

We provide a summary of issues for you to consider for caring for your dog in our free reference book which we provide with each one of our puppies sold.

Food, water, shelter, warmth, training, vaccinations and heart worm prevention are important and they are obvious. However, another equally important issue for dog owners is socialisation.

Socialisation

• From the first day your puppy was born it has been with its littermates and mother. The puppy has been picked up and handled by us which helps the puppy get used to being held and gives the puppy a bit more confidence when going to a new home and owner.

• However, if you do not continue to socialise you puppy during the first 12 months, your puppy will lack confidence in unfamiliar surroundings. Lack of confidence can and often will result in your dog acting in a manner which you perceive to be aggressive (for example, barking, staring people down, hackles raised on the back of the dogs neck and even biting people). This is important for all dogs of any size. Do not think that small dog cannot do any damage. Also, do not think that a Rottweiler will necessarily be confident just because its 55 kilograms and looks intimidating to guests.

• Your dog will not necessarily think it is behaving in an aggressive manner. You dog may consider that its behavior is necessary to protect itself (remember, lack of socialisation = lack of confidence = poor behavior in unusual circumstances). Here are a list of different things which you may consider to be everyday occurrence which your dog may be terrified of if it is not socialised and does not experience these things with you as it grows up. They include, motor vehicles, humans of different ages or humans with disabilities (for example a person in a wheel chair), rollerblades, skateboards, other animals, large crowds, prams/pushers, bikes, lawn mowers and whipper snippers, vacuum cleaners, brooms, radios and CD players.

• There are many ways that you can socialise your dog and have fun with it too. You can take your dog for a walk in the park or down the street, take it to training or to shows.