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The Socialization Myth

EXPOSED

By Adam C. Stone

Socialization is a complex issue that puppies take seriously. Through socialization dogs learn to distinguish the critical behavioral properties each posses. They establish precise understandings of one another and use these understandings to guide their behavior when interacting with other dogs. One puppy, for example, may seem to possess many different temperaments. Each plays a vital role in communicating with a varying group of dogs. This is socialization at its best; when a dog can transform its behavior to survive alongside other animals, including humans.

You may have observed this temperamental flux with your own dog. With some dogs your puppy behaves like a kid, with some he is indifferent, and with another group he may be aggressive. These temperament, or attitude, changes are prime examples of normal socialization.

Socializing in nature does not invariability mean that all dogs will be friends, or even predisposed to friendliness. Moreover, natural socialization does not occur to create friendly dogs. Socialization only acts to establish clear understandings between dogs, and sometimes these understanding will not be friendly.

Healthy, mature dogs that encounter other adult dogs will not use past experience to prejudge the animals they are presently meeting. Rather, guided by healthy instincts dogs judge each other based on behavior displays and sounds emitted at the time. The idea that you can somehow cancel natural socialization and inculcate an I-love-everything attitude in your dog is highly questionable. Moreover, it inadvertently conditions owners to believe that something is wrong when their ‘well socialized’ dogs behave unkindly. Most dogs bite for justifiable reasons. The truth of the matter is that you cannot teach your dog cannot be forever brave, forgiving, or accepting; so do not try.

Another problem with common socialization theories is that they imply that the socialization processes starts in a matter of moments. Nothing could be further from the truth. Real socialization is a lengthy ritual that can extend for weeks before a dog reaches any judgment. And I have found that real socialization cannot occur between dogs that are not in steady contact with one another. This observation accounts for a commonly seen behavioral trait. It promotes what I call a skipping socialization pattern, where dogs are compelled to restart their socialization rituals each time they meet.

Because healthy socialization generally starts with sniffing and play, most dogs never move beyond they ‘play’ stage when meeting other dogs. Hence, the rituals of socializing are required to skip like an old record repeating a line over and over again. In cases where dogs that normally only meet in the park for a few hours at a time are introduced for extended periods, three to four days, dog owners are often surprised to discover that their pets do not get along.

Perhaps the greatest oversight in common socialization theories is that they fail to acknowledge and/or understand that pack animals only socialize amongst other members of their pack. Once a dog has established its territory, however big or small, it will be reluctant to leave that territory for anything other then food or water. This explains the common country dog phenomenon: dogs are left outdoors to roam but few seem to run away or even leave their owners property.

When dealing with urban pets we mistakenly allow them to believe that their territory is exceeding large, and that its population is incomprehensibly dense. Most of the dogs I encounter are wholly convinced that the local park and all the streets leading to are a part of their own territory. As a result we place a onus on our pets to become familiar with and protect a territory that is far too vast for their instincts to comprehend. The common dog does not have the mental capacity to deal with the forever fluctuating number of dogs in a single neighborhood. When such duties are placed on our pets, we disturb a natural ordinance designed to maintain a logical flow of behaviors. We compel our dogs to act too quickly or to slowly, bark when they should be silent and fight when there is no threat. We present our dogs with a problematic reality in which normal canine behaviour becomes so discombobulated that some dogs actually lose track of where they are or who they accompanying.

Socialization works on the assumption that dogs will remain together; therefore, they rarely benefit from the sporadic fragments of social contact we give them. This lack of understanding, however, does not dissuade them from attempting to oversee the chaos in which we have placed them. As a result, dogs become preoccupied with matters that are none of their business. Your dog, for example, should not be overly concerned with other dogs that it sees. However, if you have socialized your pet to believe that he may be exposed to a forever changing world of dogs, then it is only intelligent that he tries to socialize with most dogs he sees.

The common socialize-with-the-world view, although extremely popular does not correspond to what most dog owner’s want from their pets. The irony in asking our dogs to socialize is that once that start we quickly consider it a problem and want it to stop. Socialization involves fighting, growling, running off and many other behaviors that you will not enjoy. It makes little sense to request a social attitude in your dog and then complain because it has been provided in spades.

You may wonder, how a puppy will learn to be friendly without socialization? Simply put, puppies are friendly; they don’t need to become anything other than what they naturally are. This is why they exist, have existed, and will continue to exist along side the human race. They possess a genuine kindness that only becomes twisted when their lives become distorted by the human environment.

I do not believe that dogs need to learn anything about socialization, certainly not from a race that embraces war so readily. True, in an urban environment puppies will encounter hundreds of things that are not found in nature. However, I do not believe that a wild dog is any more prepared to meet a moose than a domestic dog is prepared to meet a car. The instincts that will guide a puppy through its first moose experience are the same instincts that will get him through his first experience with a stranger, automobile or Elvis impersonator. He will sniff, think and move on.

Ironically, problems that most pet experts feel is linked to under-socialization are often the result of over-socialization. Most puppies start out as normal, well-rounded animals. Then, somewhere during the socialization process, they become aggressive, shy, unresponsive, recalcitrant animals that can hardly be trusted. These are the facts, and, in the light of such facts we should be able to see that the usual socialization process imposed on puppies is dangerously flawed.

You may have even read something somewhere about the critical learning phases that puppy’s experience. One of these phases has been scientifically coined “ The Socialization Phase”. Here we are advised that if a puppy is not thoroughly socialized before six months of age it may develop irreversible temperament disorders. Not True! Academic fabrications, based on overzealous laboratory observations, that in our opinion have no bearing on real world animals. If, in fact, dogs only had several months to reach behavioral perfection, every dog alive would be mentally unhinged. Dogs overcome and accept new things in their lives as a matter of course. They are forever inquisitive and willing to learn if they have to presence of mind to see, smell, and here what is going on around them.

While I may be heartily opposed to the common idea of socialization, I firmly support the natural means by which socialization was intended to work.

Long before your puppy is required to understand the world, he should first learn to understand his own backyard. His innate desire to learn through social interaction should be entirely focused on you and your family. As a dog owner, you should not dilute your image by making yourself just another speck on a vast canvas. Your dog should not be wondering what is going on in the park when he doesn’t even know what is going on in his own living room. You can therefore start your training by removing the social distractions that have led your dog astray in the first place.

Here are some helpful tips.

► Keep your puppy far, far, far away from problem dogs. Puppies that are attacked by other dogs often develop serious behavior problems as adults.

►Your puppy should only be exposed to level headed
dogs that have something to teach. 

►Do not let strangers give your dog treats. This will teach
your puppy to be a pesky mooch. 

►Help your puppy when she looks fearful, don't let her work things out on her own, she is just a baby remember. She needs your help.

►Don't be afraid to be a protective parent. In this case it
is perfectly fine to be a bitch.

This Article Was Taken From Adam Stone's Best Selling Book
Dog Owners' Anonymous To Learn More About This Book...

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