The first thing any reputable rescue, trainer, behaviourist, vet or indeed any good breeder will tell you when you first bring home your puppy is that socialisation is incredibly important. They need to get used to lots of strange people, dogs and situations…and even ‘scary’ objects such as bikes, hats, large coats and so on.

And being puppies, they tend to absorb everything like a sponge and can learn very quickly that lots of different people, children, adults, grandparents mean more treats and cuddles and aren’t very scary at all. Going to training classes or on socialisation walks also helps them realise that other dogs are fun and are there to be played with (and if the adult dogs are teaching them doggy manners in the process then even better! It means they can learn to control their ‘play bites’ and learn how to approach strange dogs in a polite and friendly way.)

The importance of continued socialisation throughout a dog’s life is supported by Estep and Hetts who argue ‘Don’t underestimate how important it is to continue to socialize your dog well into adulthood. We’ve seen quite a few dogs that seem to have been well socialized early in life, were friendly and accepting of people and other dogs and then began to react with threats or aggression during social encounters. These dogs had no traumatic or frightening experiences but became fearful and/or aggressive later, usually beginning around 8 months to 2 years of age.’ (Estep & Hetts, 2010)

But what about an adult dog who is no longer in the critical socialisation period (for socialisation with humans it is at about 8 to 16 weeks old although there are varying periods that are important to a puppy’s social and emotional development) and has already learnt to be scared of these *very bad things*?

It is important to be sensitive to a nervous or fearful adult dog and work slowly and patiently with him to build up his confidence with whatever it may be that he is reacting to. For example, if the dog is nervous of new people, invite visitors to your home (who are infact bombproof stooges!) and ask them to ignore your dog and let him approach them on his own terms.

You could ask the visitors to drop some tasty tidbits a few feet away from where they are sitting, but continue to ignore the dog, even if he approaches. Don’t fuss him, speak to him or make eye contact and let him back away to where he feels safe if he needs to.

Don’t under any circumstances force the dog to interact with these scary beings by holding him there by his collar (yes, some people DO, and then can’t understand why Fido reacts so aggressively in his attempts to flee…)

Imagine if you were afraid of spiders and someone kept trying to make you hold one all the while saying “But look! Spiders aren’t scary at all!” In reality, it would probably only serve to terrify you more…(and don’t forget you have the use of logic to understand why said person is waving a spider in your face…dog’s don’t have a clue why we are as weird as we are!)

It would be the same for the dog. Not being able to get away from the scary thing would only make it worse and in most cases, cause the dog to ‘shut down’ which not only inhibits learning but could cause an even worse response the next time the dog is confronted with the scary thing!

This is supported by Dakins who states that ‘Flooding occurs when a dog that is reactive to a stimulus is forced to be near an overwhelming amount of that stimulus until he collapses. It’s like a scene out of “Fear Factor,” with the confused – and incorrect – pop psychology being that your dog will get over it if he is exposed to enough of it……The emotional collapse is mistaken for rehabilitation. The dog is actually even more horrified and likely to bite in the future.’ (Dakins, 2010)

So the slow and steady route is the way to go! Eventually the dog will begin to build up confidence to approach…and then maybe to have a sniff…and then maybe to take food from the strangers hand…and eventually he might feel happy enough to let the stranger stroke him gently under his chin.

Have a look here to see a brilliant trainer showing you how to work with handling shyness.

The point is you need to change the dog’s emotional response to the scary thing so that rather than a fearful response, he has a positive response.

This might take an extremely long time. So be patient. And don’t try to push your dog too far, too fast.

To give you a personal example, I adopted a very nervous, hand-shy collie from Ireland. He had been dumped on a motorway and has obviously had some rough treatment in his life.

He was very nervy and didn’t know that anything could be his – toys, bed, food…but after some time he began to play with tennis balls…and squeaky balls…and he loved them!

So, as a result, balls have been incorporated into his training…he doesn’t like the hoover and gets nervy. He is entirely free to back away or head to his bed but if I get a ball out, it’s like the positive response he has to that, manages to overpower the negative response to the hoover to the extent that we can enjoy a game of fetch in the house whilst the hoovering is being done.

I try to play ball with him each time the hoovering is being done to try to countercondition his fearful response so that he begins to learn that the hoover noise signals a ball game – which is something he enjoys!

If you know what makes your dog happy and brings out a positive response / emotion, you can try to use that when dealing with stimuli that cause a negative response / emotion in your dog.

So what about adult dog socialisation with other dogs? It’s all a case of building confidence and making positive associations.
For example, initially you can reward your dog with a high value treat (liver cake yum!) for just looking at another dog without a negative reaction (if you are into clicker training, then using the clicker for this is great!)

Don’t push the dog over his threshold so if you need to stand 100 feet away, so be it. And if your dog does start to react, walk away so he can get out of his *scared zone* and away from the stimulus. It doesn’t matter if you start off halfway across a field, gradually you will be able to get closer and closer and reward all positive interactions. For example, if your dog has a quick sniff then turns away, GREAT!!! Reward time!!! Always reward your dog for a nice meet and greet as this will reinforce the behaviour in a positive way and increase the likelihood of future happy greets.

It also helps if you can read the body language of the strange dog and try to encourage greets with those that have quite positive ‘happy’ body language as it would be better to try to ensure all meets go well.

You can also keep the greets short and sweet, at least in the first instance – the more positive outcomes, the greater the confidence and positive associations built up for your dog.

Don’t forget you can also take your dog to obedience and agility classes to introduce lots of strange dogs (find a reputable trainer who can help you so that it is not too stressful for you or your dog!) as well as going on walks with other dog owners – I wouldn’t recommend stopping and chatting whilst the dogs are on the lead as this can sometimes be too stressful for the dog and can result in a spat…but walk alongside each other (even a few paces apart if necessary) so your dog can see the other dog without having to directly interact…and ALWAYS reward good/desired behaviour!

Very handy training vid here

Lastly, with regards to strange and scary objects, I suggest you have a look here.

The importance of socialisation is reiterated by a Dog Time article which explains ‘Skateboards, bicycles, lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, and the like can frighten a dog who’s not used to them. Nail trimming, being grabbed by the collar, getting touched on the rump or other potential “hot spots,” and having people around his food bowl won’t get a warm response either. The solution is to expose your dog to all these experiences, ideally during puppyhood. If you have an adult dog, be sure to move slowly and keep the mood positive, with food treats to reward him at each step.’ (Dog Time, 2010)

So, tips for adult dog socialisation:

1 – Treat his socialisation (for the most part) the same way you would a puppy – try to meet lots of people / dogs / ‘scary objects’ on walks, at training classes etc.

2 – Don’t push your dog over his threshold. It doesn’t matter how slow going progress might be, DO IT AT HIS PACE…not yours.

3 – ALWAYS make your training (socialisation) session fun and end on a positive.

4 – BE PATIENT. Imagine trying to deal with one of your own fears and don’t expect your dog to be instantly ‘cured’.

5 – RESEARCH! Check out the wealth of information in books and on the net from experts like Patricia McConnell, Ian Dunbar, Jean Donaldson…and find positive trainers like Kikopups (and zsianz1 who is another favourite of mine!) who can give you tips on how to work with your dog.

6 – IF IN DOUBT, ASK!! If you really feel like you need help, approach a trainer or behaviourist (R+ only please!) to help you work with your dog.

Bibliography

Dakins, J. (2010). Retrieved May 13th 2010 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Flooding-Dog-Aggression&id=3885830

Dog Time. (2010). Dog Socialization. Retrieved May 13th 2010 from http://dogtime.com/socialization.html

Estep, D. & Hetts, S. (2010). Socialization: It Isn’t Just for Puppies Retrieved May 13th 2010 from http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogTip_SocializationAdultDog.php

Videos

Kikopup – Handling Shyness Retrieved May 13th from http://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup#p/u/1/AElTVoIPlOw

Kikopup Barking At Strangers Retrieved May 13th 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup#p/u/19/LXCELHDT2fs

Kikopup Barking On A Walk Retrieved May 13th 2010 from http://www.youtube.com/user/kikopup#p/u/27/JY7JrteQBOQ

Special thanks to C. Langdell for her inspiration on this post! You should follow her on twitter @CLangdell