Let me start out by saying the critical period for socializing any dog ends at 16 weeks of age.  What happens to the puppy before that age will have more impact on the adult dog he becomes, than anything that happens later.  So if a breeder keeps the puppies kenneled outside during that time, rather than raising them in the home and taking them out for various socializing and training opportunities, the puppies may never be able to reach their full potential. I can't stress this enough.  It is critical that a puppy in a home with his new owner, and any puppy still with his breeder, is properly and intentionally exposed to all sorts of people including children, to other pets, and to many different situations he will encounter in a normal life with humans!  But that doesn’t mean handing your puppy off to strangers, exposing him to random strange dogs on the street.

WHAT IF WE CALLED IT CIVILIZING A DOG, RATHER THAN SOCIALIZING IT? And say we are EXPOSING the dog to society rather than socializing it to society? I think those are more accurate terms.

 

 

 

​

   Even after 16 weeks of age, it is still very important to consider a well thought out socialization plan.

 

  What is socialization?  You hear that term tossed around a lot, but what does it really mean?  Raising a stable, well adjusted dog doesn't mean taking him in public, or exposing him to a certain number or type of people. I like what Jane from Puppy Culture says - "Socialization is a cultural understanding, not a cocktail party."   It means getting him used to all sorts of handling such as having his feet, mouth and ears touched, being restrained for grooming or medical treatment and many other things.  It means getting him exposed to a huge variety of situations, noises, people and other animals, and many other things, so he will be well rounded and confident in his life.  This means household noises like a vacuum cleaner, the TV or radio, noisy kids playing, and so on.  All this can be done while teaching him to ignore strange dogs and humans, just to learn they are a normal part of his world. HOWEVER, THIS PROCESS DOES NOT TRUMP GENETIC TEMPERAMENT SO YOU CAN'T TURN A GENETICALLY SHY DOG INTO A SOCIAL BUTTERFLY.  YOU CAN GIVE THAT DOG BETTER COPING SKILLS AND ALSO KEEP HIM FROM HAVING TO BE IN SITUATIONS THAT ARE SIMPLY TOO MUCH FOR HIM.  It helps a dog be the best version of himself but can't profoundly change a dog.

​

     I try to make sure my dogs see at least a few new people a week during the first year of life. I want to expose them around tall people, short people, men with beards, people in hats or shiny sunglasses, people who smoke (we don't), loud people, quiet people, people of different races, people in "funny" clothes, kids, older folks and so on.  Notice I say BE AROUND. They don't have to touch or be touched to learn people who look and act differently exist in their world.  I also try to let them see (not meet) different dog breeds and other animals, around busy traffic areas, in other buildings and homes.  I groom them regularly and make handling for medical treatment part of our regular social time.  By that I mean I may practice holding them in various ways such as they may need to have blood drawn and so on.  That way when it's time to actually have treatment at the vet, they are more used to it.

 

 

Aussie and Mini American Shepherd pups need plenty of sensible, controlled exposure from birth on, if they are to reach their full potential.  As a breed, as per the standard, they may be reserved with strangers and possess strong guardian instincts (see both the ASCA and AKC breed standard, the section on character.)  What does this mean to a pet owner?  If not well bred, raised and exposed, you may have a dog who is overly protective of it's home and family, or overly fearful.  This takes a lot of the fun out of owning a dog, not to mention is a major liability.  Even well raised and properly socialized Aussies may possess some of these qualities, but the purpose of this article is to help an owner minimize that to the point the dog is a joy to live with.  I hear some people say they don't socialize because they want the dog to be protective but a normal, stable dog that is well socialized may still be protective if the genes are there.  An under exposed dog may be fearful so what may SEEM like protectiveness is just fear aggression and that is very unstable and dangerous.  My two most stable protective dogs were also very social dogs.

  This process should start before your puppy comes home.  A good breeder will be hands on with the pups from birth to the point the pup is transferred to it's new home.  Ideally that would mean the pups are born inside and handled daily, and exposed to all sorts of sights, sounds, smells and experiences.  I am doing Early Neurological Stimulation, from days 3-16, and I handle them daily in other ways as well using modified Puppy Culture protocol. When they are mobile, they may  meet select visitors and other "puppy safe" dogs and even other animals.  You have to use caution in taking a young (and unvaccinated) pup out into the big world, but you can safely do it to some extent. I wait until my pup has his first shot, and then start taking him for truck rides, and visits to the local stores which allow pets to visit.  I don't put pups on the floor or let them come in contact with other pets in the store, at this stage. Instead I put them in a shopping cart with a blanket from home.  Same for vet visits, they are carried in to avoid being on the floor or ground, until they have completed their shots.  In the mean time, I take them places where the risk of coming in contact with other potentially disease carrying dogs is low, but where they can meet people and see other sights and sounds. If you have other puppy friendly, healthy dogs in your family, neighborhood, or circle of friends, the puppy can be introduced to them after at least the first, if not second shot.   The most critical time to expose your puppy to as much as possible, but in a safe, controlled way, is 8-16 wks.  I can't stress this enough, as this is what will determine a large part of how your puppy will turn out!  Your puppy does NOT have to touch and be touched by every person or meet other dogs to be “socialized” too.  You can just let them see from a safe distance, and teach them not to react strongly.  Meeting the wrong dogs or people can give a bad experience and make your pup MORE fearful versus more confident.

 

 

  Another concept with this process I want to discuss is HOW to do it.  Many people almost force their pup to meet new people, even when the experience is clearly overwhelming for the pup. I try to keep a close tab on how my pup is feeling, watching for signs of stress like calming signals.  I let them have some say in how much contact they have with new things, at first.  I think it builds confidence for them to decide how to relate to things, and I set them up to succeed by trying not to put them in situations they aren't ready to experience, but I reward them (often with food) for exploring and visiting. Once they've had their shots, I may take them in the local big farm store.  The employees generously hand out treats and it encourages dogs to view new people as benevolent vs threatening. I don't force them to accept petting if they aren't comfortable, but let them set the pace. Most of the time it's more about holding them back though, as they want to see people to get treats.  The reason I use caution and not force them is I have seen a number of dogs really damaged by that, by being flooded with more than they can handle.  You have to have a balance of positive experiences at this stage, to get an ideal outcome.  Your puppy needs to trust that you will not put him in a situation that is too much for him to handle.  If you damage that trust by forcing him at a young age, you may never fully get it back. 

 

     If I have a puppy that is scared of new things, I try to balance not overly rewarding it but also not ignoring it. What  I tend to do is pretend to ignore their fear, as if I am saying "I don't have a clue why you are acting like that, you silly thing, there's nothing to be afraid of."   It's sort of like being matter of fact rather than feeding the fear. I guess it's like if you have a toddler who is running across the floor and falls.  You can gasp in horror in which case the child will probably start crying, or you can laugh, in which case the child will also laugh.  Just like that child, your dog will feed off your reactions more than you will ever know.  I don't truly ignore the fear, I just don't tense up and panic myself, since that tells the dog there is a reason to be scared, and I don't overly reward while in a scared state of mind. Once we are out of that situation, I begin working with counter conditioning and desensitizing in a controlled situation.

  If I have a dog going through a fear period, I may back off taking the dog to new places for a while.  When we do see some hesitation, I keep an upbeat vibe and "pretend" I don't notice and we just keep moving, even if it's away from the "scary" thing. It's like again I am telling them I don't expect or anticipate them being afraid and that travels down the leash in a big way.  I just don't feed or reward fear, but will set things up for the dogs to succeed. I may walk them around people and carry on a conversation with the person, almost ignoring the dog, and the dog just picks up that it's no big deal to be near strangers.  If I approach a stranger anticipating the dog being afraid, they will be if they weren't inclined to be in the first place.  Aussies are so keen at sensing our emotions and reacting based on that.   I have used these methods with foster dogs with great success.

   Of course, if you can enroll your puppy in a reward based, quality training class, that is great.  I highly recommend it!    In some places those types of classes are easy to find, in others they are harder.  Find a trainer who is familiar with the breed and comfortable in working with them.  Watch a class before enrolling, if you can. If at any point you feel uncomfortable with the methods used, don't take your pup there.  Even if you have already started a program, the same applies. Never let a trainer do something to your dog, or instruct you to, that makes the dog afraid of you or other people, or damages the trust and confidence you are building. I STRONGLY recommend AGAINST the use of shock collars by any name, and overly forceful, fear based methods designed to suppress the dog. I don't mean we never tell our dogs no, but we don't use fear and suppression as a core of our training and interaction.   It's not nearly as effective as more reward based methods where the dog trusts you. I do verbally correct, often just a quick "no" or "uh uh" and move on to what we want to happen.  

​

    Another comment I have is if you start to see your puppy bark at people or things, try not to make too much of a fuss over it, in a good way or bad way. Your dog will naturally protect you, you don't need to encourage it in a young pup, nor do you want to correct them for that as it could be motivated by some uncertainty, and you don't punish that. And at that age, it's normally fear based anyway, not "protecting you."  If your pup starts to huff (that breathy kind of bark, usually indicating fear or uncertainty), try to change the subject by walking it off in a different direction. Next, plan ways to make the next similar encounter set up in a way to encourage your pup to react differently.   If he was barking at a person, set up a friend to come in from a distance, tossing treats to the pup, and maybe saying a mild greeting but not being too loud or excited sounding, then walking away again.  You want the pup to see the approach of a stranger as not a huge deal.   If you tense up and anticipate a bad reaction from your pup, you will get one. If you set up the training to make it possible for your pup to succeed, and picture succeeding, you will.  

​

    The other thing you must do is understand the concept of management.  Even a "good" Aussie may find situations or people he or she just doesn't like.  Rather than trying to force the dog to behave in such a situation, don't be afraid to simply remove the dog.  An example could be a rousing game of touch football in the yard.  If your Aussie wants to "help" you or "protect" you from your friends, or your children from their friends, it's better to just remove them rather than have the dog take matters into his own paws. You can keep working with the dog in that type of situation, but some may just find it too stimulating given their herding instincts.  It's better to remove the dog than have it bite!  In an Aussie, chasing moving objects is a very self rewarding behavior (meaning it feels good so it doesn't need an outside reward like praise or treats.)  The more they practice it, the more they will do it.  So the best thing to do is to remove the dog until you can train to have more control over the dog, and the dog can learn more self control in that situation.  If it can't learn that control, just don't have the dog loose in those situations.  It may be asking more than the dog can give.

​
 

  I also recommend you read this article by Turid Rugaas, on calming signals.  Learning to understand your dog's cues can help you assess how he feels about a given situation. You can then learn when to proceed and when to back off in training or exposing him to new things.  This is VERY good information and I highly recommend you read it.  I will have a page here with photos of examples of calming signals.

   http://www.canis.no/rugaas/onearticle.php?artid=1

 

    One really important concept I want everyone to understand is a dog is not a human nor should he be treated like one.  Also, just like some humans don't like EVERY person or situation he finds himself in, neither do dogs. This is normal and perfectly fine! So bear this in mind and realize your dog is a thinking, feeling creature who may just need some understanding in some situations.  Dogs never do things without a reason or without warning, but if their owners don't understand them they may be blamed for that.  It is the human who lacked the training or skill in observing and understanding.  Most dogs want to please as it gives them the positive feedback from their owners, but not all dogs will be "perfect" in all situations.  Love your dog anyway, and train him, don't blame him!