Socializing a dog by four months is important even if they aren’t being trained to be a service animal. A dog must be exposed to everything possible in the early months of its life in order to live a happy, confident life. This is important because a puppy has a “grace period”. Exposing your puppy to as much as possible during this period will hopefully diminish the amount of fear your pup will experience in adulthood.
Imagine, you are at a 4th of July party at someone’s house and you bring your dog. You are outside watching the fireworks with your friends and having a great time and you don’t even notice that your dog is nowhere to be seen. Once the show is over you walk inside to find that your dog has had an accident on your friend’s carpet (due to his fear of fireworks). Poor little pup! Most people don’t even realize this situation can easily be avoided. Socializing your puppy to fireworks and loud sounds early on is the solution.
One very important category to expose your pup to is different people: young children, elderly men and women, bald people, bigger built people, etc. This is important because if you’re anything like me, you want to avoid the possibility of your dog barking at an elderly or bald man in public because he is curious. This curiosity can easily be mistaken for aggression.
Getting your pup used to being around heavy machinery is definitely a good idea. What do you think would happen if you were walking your dog by a construction site and he hadn’t been exposed to heavy machinery and loud sounds? It’s quite possible that your dog would bolt in this situation possibly hurting itself or you in the process. Appliances used for assistance, such as wheelchairs and crutches, are important for your dog to be friendly to everybody. Imagine walking your dog by a person using crutches. If your dog has not been exposed to them before, he could wreak havoc out of fear relating to the big sticks in this person’s hands. It would be quite the scene if the pup went after them or tried to play with them because the pup thinks they are a toy.
Getting your dog used to riding in the car is a must. This is important because if your dog is afraid of car rides, you might not be able to get your dog to cooperate when it is really important. An example of this would be if your dog was vomiting up blood. You know you have to get him to the vet immediately, but your dog refuses to get in the car because he is afraid of the unsteady surface of the moving vehicle. This can easily be avoided by allowing your dog to grow comfortable in the car. As you can see, socialization is vital for a dog to live a happy, confident life.
Blog written by Karis Ladewig
co-author of Dogs In Vests
