22/02/2025
Great advice for puppy parents ❤️🐶
🐕 TIPS ON HOW TO APPROPRIATELY & HEALTHILY SOCIALISE YOUR PUPPY /DOG WITH OTHER DOGS 🐶
If you want a dog who interacts well with other dogs, follow these easy to remember guidelines.
1️⃣ Help them learn that not every dog is available for social interactions.
By considering how suitable BOTH dogs are, you will naturally create a balance of avoid vs approach.
For example, if you have an exuberant young dog, then it’s unlikely a senior dog will enjoy their efforts to play. Recall to create space and reward to make avoidance more valuable.
Similarly, if your puppy/dog is nervous, avoid exuberant dogs who may be too invasive of personal space and escalate existing fears.
Instead, orient closer to relaxed, ploddy dogs as and when your puppy/dog is ready.
Don’t force or rush your nervous puppy/dog into close encounters and interactions.
Even friendly and social puppies and dogs can have low confidence/fearful days, due to stress, tiredness, pain and brain development phases.
Adapt your approach to exposure to dogs based on where they are at that day (or the day before).
Being mindful that many dogs on lead or a longline may need space and maintaining appropriate distance will further manage the expectations of highly social dogs. If the handler communicates all is well (the dog is on lead to improve recall but socialises well), then an interaction may not be off the cards! But do consider whether it’s practical to allow interactions if your puppy/dog is also on lead!
2️⃣ Teach your puppy /dog to not approach dogs from great distances!
Consider how quickly you can intervene from the distance you are, should there be a problem such as a fight or attack.
Interactions should generally happen within 15 metres of you, not across the meadow.
If you’re nice and close, you can monitor and manage (if needed) the quality of the interaction.
3️⃣ Teach your puppy/dog to approach other dogs at a steady pace.
High speed approaches can be perceived as threatening and trigger defensive behaviour. Fast and chaotic behaviour may also trigger a dog’s prey drive.
Polite approaches involve a walk, trot or slow canter that slows further as they drawn in closer. Ideally they should move in curve on approach or stand still to invite the dog to close the final distance.
Stalking or lying down and then firing at the dog at speed is not appreciated by the vast majority of dogs and will set the interaction off on a bad foot.
4️⃣ Teach your puppy/dog to not expect play from every dog.
The majority of their interactions should be mooching along and exploring with calm dogs or a brief “Good morning! Have a nice day!” with suitable passing dogs.
High intensity play should be less frequent and carefully monitored!
5️⃣ Help them read the room. They should learn to recognise invitation (consent) to approach, disinterest or requests for space.
But equally, you need to know what these signals look like in order to guide your puppy/dog into making appropriate decisions when they can’t do so on their own, such as recalling them away and moving on.
You should be close enough and paying attention so that you can see that your dog’s approach is anticipated and welcomed by the other dog as well as see easily what communication is going on between the dogs as they interact.
📝 What you need
-Awareness
-A proactive attitude
-Understanding of dog body language
-Time to practise recall in lower distraction situations
-A variety of high value treats
-A longline
-Their favourite toy to occassionally reward recall (don’t engage them with toys close to unfamiliar dogs).
There are two webinars on play and body language under education in our website aswell as handouts (with videos) on managing longlines and teaching recall.
⚠️ Even super friendly dogs can develop problem behaviours. For some, all it takes is one dog to give them a strong bollocking for their unsolicited and intrusive approach and a fear of dogs can develop.
‼️ Remember, your puppy/dog doesn’t have to do socialise on every walk, not every day in order to be socialised.
Make sure you take time and space to help teach them to think about you and respond to you.
But also, a nice ploddy walk exploring the environment calmly can help prevent walks becoming a thrill seeking experience that leaves you with an over aroused dog that’s difficult to manage.
🌟 It’s easier to build these foundations early on in a young puppy / dog, rather than waiting until they are more confident, experienced and exuberant, and/or bigger and stronger.
Photo of a slightly deranged looking Mohawk by Matt Elliott Pet Photography 💕
