Last weekend I went to Iceland Ward (my favorite place in the city) to relax at the beach. The best thing about this beach is how they are relaxed about dogs. They are literally everywhere, floating in the water, play fetch and just a great time. When I was there this weekend, I saw something that made me literally crawl ... You know those moments where you think, forget social appropriateness and something to say? This was, hands down, one of those moments.
It was this super sweet young couple and they had a brand-spankin 'new Golden Retriever puppy. This puppy would have no more than 9 weeks of age. He still had perfectly round puppy belly, that I love so much. I could tell you how much this couple just adores her new little puppy, but what she did to him traumatizing. They were repeated he it into the water (which was cold and not-so-quiet) and just putting it in the water. He had no choice but to swim for his little life back into shore. When he arrived there, they would pick him up again, go out of him and throw it back. Swim with everyone, I could see the fear and anxiety increase in his little face. He was just screaming for someone to help him. It made me realize that this couple was just doing what she had been told:
"Socializing your dog". It is one of the most important things we can ever do for our puppies, and yet I fear that, although we have successfully get the message out there, we have failed to get the entire message out there. Socialization does not just "pop your dog in the middle of every single scary situation that you can imagine, so he will get used to it." Around the age of 8 weeks to 11 or 12 weeks (some coaches say up to 20 weeks) puppies experiencing what is sometimes called a CRITICAL TIME FEAR, FEAR and also a PRESSURE POINT. The timing of this step is discussed by coach, but at least it is generally accepted that puppy show in this phase are particularly sensitive to their environment and are likely to increase fear reactions. During this time, the smallest thing can scare your puppy a flutter garbage bag, broken glass, fireworks (as I'm sure many of you know, am). The experience that has your puppy at this time in his life can literally affect him for the rest of his days. Often do. In fact, when the puppy is thrown into the water, I said to my sister, "that's the quickest way to ensure that your dog hates water for life."
So now is the part where I tell you how to do it right. It's not all doom and gloom here, my friends ... do not worry. The best advice I can give you is to take your puppy a puppy class! Surprised? I know it seems a bit like a shameless, and it sounds a bit, but I promise that I usually think about the dogs ;) The beauty of a puppy class is that your teacher is in control of the levels of stress that Your puppy below. We can how do you know if your dog is stressed, and what to do when he has to coach. We can slowly expose your puppy to all these scary things in life, but at a level that your puppy can handle ... and you know what? We couple these things with treats! This is the most effective way to ensure that your puppy thinks scary things are actually pretty awesome. If I give you a $ 20.00 bill every time you saw flashes, you can only start to hope for the flash.
The most important part of proper socialization is to go to your dog pace. If your puppy does not want to do something, please do not force him. I promise you that if you give him enough space, it is scary to approach people and things in his own time. When he finally does, you can shower him with praise and hotdogs. Not all dogs want to personally welcome each and every mud hole jump in to see them. If he is shy, let him be shy ... it is not the same as fear. Be respectful of your puppy personality and accept him for who he is, even if he is not going to feel like swimming :)...
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