Real Estate Innovation

5 Helpful Tips To Socializing Your Dog

Far too many dogs these days end up in shelters or pounds because their owners did not understand their behavior and were not able to deal with it appropriately. Many of these dogs end up being euthanized when they could have been rehabilitated. Here are a few ways you can properly socialize your dog and avoid this fate.

#1: Start Early

It is crucial the you understand that a dog learns better as a puppy. As soon as your puppy is ready to come home at about 7-8 weeks, this is when training should start. Everyone should be gentle with puppy. Don’t rough house with them. This only teaches them that rough play is OK, and as an adult dog, rough play isn’t so cute anymore.

#2: Understand the Pack Order

Dogs have a natural instinct to make a pack. In the wild they lived in packs, and in your home they will create the same hierarchy of pack dogs. You and everyone who lives in your home is included in the pack. So it is crucial that you and everyone else in the house establish themselves as a more dominant pack member. This doesn’t mean you have to be mean to the dog. It’s the subtle things you do that the pack leader would do in the wild. Such as the pack leader will eat first, and sleep in a higher area of the den. Also, avoid your dog growling at you, sitting on you, or putting their paw on you since this is a dominant action. Plus, table scraps are a big no-no. The pack leaders always eat the better food. The other dogs get everything else.

#3: Dog Parties

First make sure your dog is up to date on their shots. You don’t want them catching anything, just as when a kid is taken to school. There are a lot of germs out there, and your dog needs to be protected. Then, as often as you can, take you dog to dog parks, or take them to a doggy daycare. They need to see other dogs as fun and not as intruders, or as a threat to themselves or any of their pack members. After time passes they will get comfortable and enjoy going to these places.

#4: Don’t Chase the Mailman

You need to acquaint your dog with the idea of visitors coming to the house every so often. Your dog needs to understand that it is not appropriate for them to bark at or bite people such as mailmen, repairmen or delivery men. Despite this, your dog will instinctively know when the stranger does not belong and will still react appropriately to intruders.

#5: Exercise

Often, aggression or other social problems in dogs arise from a lack of exercise. Your dog naturally has a lot of energy that needs to be expended. Bound up energy in your dog ends up being taken out in inappropriate ways otherwise. Try taking your dog for a walk or light jog everydaythis will be good for your health too. If that doesn’t fit your schedule, you can also train your dog to use a treadmill. You should at least play catch or something similar with your dog every day; they are not meant to be sedentary animals.

In the end, just remember that your house is your dog’s world unless you let them know that more is out there. Your dog doesn’t have the everyday opportunities to learn more like you do, unless you show them. Your dog has to be shown the ways of the world to be properly socialized.

Need to solve dog behavior problems or learn how to house train a puppy? Go to http://www.dogbehaviorexpert.com.

- Thomas Turner