Is it really important for my dog to get exposure?

Few people understand what proper socialization is, and how critical it is to reducing dog bites.

Proper socialization- the act of teaching the dog to not react by de-sensitizing him to those things he will encounter in daily life.

The positive exposure of the puppy to many situations and environments that the puppy may encounter. All exposure needs to be introduced at the dog’s pace in order for them to be a positive experience and inhibit any negative reaction. Another term for socialization is de-sensitization.

Un-socialized dogs over react to many common things. The de-sensitization is done by exposing the dog to the environment in small increments and by helping the dog make positive associations to the things we are de-sensitizing him to. It is important not to overwhelm the dog by over-exposing him to new things. This may cause the dog to be sensitized. By forcing or overwhelming the dog, we cause him to make a negative association to things in the environment and cause him to make a negative association to things in the environment and cause the dog to become more fearful and /or aggressive.

The un-socialized dog: More apt to bite, be banished to back yard, taken to the pound or euthanized. Will tend to be shy and over-reactive. May flinch, freeze or withdraw when petted. May startle easy by things considered routine like children squealing, cars, bikes, etc. May become fearfully aggressive when people do things like: make direct eye contact, make direct frontal approaches, smile, make movements over the dog head, neck, or shoulder area when trying to pet the dog. The unsocialized dog mistakes these behaviors as they are similar to some very threatening canine behaviors. The optimum time to socialize a dog is before he is 5 months old. After 5 months, socialization occurs at a slower rate.

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