Tips For Socializing Your Dog

Socialization for a dog is very important and it's something that must be done when the dog is young. Quite often people think they're doing the right things when it comes to socialization but they are actually not because they don't know exactly what socialization means.

I will start off by telling you that the period of socialization for a young pup is from birth to 20 weeks of age. If your dog doesn't get socialize with other people, small children, dogs and strange environments during that period you may have a dog that never gets socialized. This is the dog that then exhibits aggression or fear sometime between 12 and 24 months of age.

Let's start off with what is socialization. Socialization means that your puppy is exposed to all types of people, kids and dogs in all kinds of environments. This isn't something to do only at home this should be done in as many areas as possible away from home.

As far as a dog is concerned kids are a different creature than an adult human being, so exposing your dog to little ones while it is a young puppy is a plus. Now that doesn't mean your children, it means other children that are not part of the pack.

During this period of socialization, your puppy should be exposed to other dogs and again not just at your home or with your current dog but with other dogs as well. Of course you want to make sure that the dogs that your puppy meets are dog friendly and are current on all their vaccinations. A good source for this type of dog is through family, friends and neighbors.

Be sure to get your puppy out of the house. Take your pup to as many places as possible. In fact I recommend that a new puppy owner take their puppy to three new places each week so that it can experience lots of new sites, sounds and smells.

Taking the time now to socialize your dog will be very much worth the effort when your dog reaches maturity. If you don't socialize your dog properly you will begin to experience aggression issues or fear usually sometime between 12 and 24 months of age. Once your dog reaches that age it may be too late for socialization and you will possibly end up with an aggressive dog.

So take the time now to take your dog to strange places meeting lots of new people and dogs so that you can have a well-socialized dog that you can enjoy for the rest of its life.

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