The window for socialisation
We have seen that wild dogs need to have a natural fear of strange and therefore potentially dangerous creatures, items and events. But dogs are social animals, and nature needs a mechanism to provide puppies with sufficient time to get to know and bond with all the members of their social group, before this fear of novelty kicks in.
In a wolf family, it is vital that each cub learns to recognise, and regard with affection, all those adults on whom his safety depends. Consequently, nature has provided a brief window of opportunity during which cubs are unafraid of new objects and experiences. Dogs have inherited this developmental window and the process of domestication has expanded it a little. During this period, puppies will readily bond with those who show them friendship and take care of them. Once it is ended, a natural wariness, and even fear, of novelty sets in.
This short time is the critical period for socialisation. Most puppies are right in the middle of it at the age when they leave for their new homes, which is why puppies are able to move in with total strangers and settle in relatively easily.
The critical period provides time for the puppy to acquaint himself with various aspects of the environment in which he lives, as well as enabling him to bond with his family. A wild puppy gets to know the wind and the rain, rivers and rocks, and to crawl among the undergrowth and feel at home in his natural world. The domestic puppy needs to do the same, though probably in a more urban context.
Used properly, this window of time during which your puppy will accept all newcomers into his life with equal enthusiasm is your ticket to a friendly puppy. This is when we can introduce a puppy to all manner of experiences and he will accept them readily. By the same token, the puppy that is isolated and shut away from new experiences during this important period is likely to be fearful and suspicious of many aspects of normal life. This can take a great deal of work to overcome and is quite a handicap for the dog concerned.
Most importantly, fear in dogs can have serious consequences.
Triggers for aggression
In most cases, the catalyst for aggression in any dog is fear. Dogs do not normally use aggression to manipulate others. Aggression is triggered when the dog feels vulnerable or threatened.
In the natural world, wild carnivores are often exposed to danger. Aggression in the face of fear is sometimes needed for survival, but a wild dog or wolf has choices. When placed in danger, he can usually choose whether to fight or to run. He makes that choice based on what is of most benefit to him and those that share his genes. He may choose to fight to protect the resources he needs in order to survive, access to food for example. He may choose to run from predators much larger or heavier than he is in order to avoid death or injury.
A domestic dog, on the other hand, rarely needs to fight for resources, such as food, because we provide those for him. Most of the time, his best option when afraid would therefore be to run. But life is not that simple, and a domestic dog is frequently placed in situations from which he cannot escape.
A nervous dog may be faced on a daily basis with events and experiences that frighten him badly while being completely prevented from separating himself from the source of his fear. Some dogs are afraid of children, some are afraid of men, others of old people, vehicles, cows, things that flap in the wind, or even of being outside. In most cases, this fear is due to a lack of exposure to the source of his fear during the critical window. Unfortunately, if a dog cannot run away from the source of his fear, and is sufficiently afraid, he may well feel that he has no option but to fight.
The purpose of socialisation
Since we know that aggression in dogs is largely based in fear, getting rid of that fear is a top priority. That is the purpose of the process that we call socialisation. A significant factor in creating a fearless puppy is the breadth and extent of the experiences he is exposed to during his fearless phase. Socialising a puppy means deliberately ensuring he is exposed to as many new experiences as possible.
Your puppy will need to meet people of all shapes and sizes, old and young, male and female. He will need to be exposed to cars and lorries, trains and tractors, dogs and cats, and various other sights and sounds of human civilisation. It will be a busy few weeks.
Breed differences
Over many generations of selective breeding, we have bred dogs in all shapes and sizes. Our breeding programmes have also influenced the temperament of our domestic dogs. We have bred some dogs that have a reduced fear of novelty when adult. These are less likely to be suspicious of strangers, even if the socialisation process has been somewhat brief, or less than thorough. You will be aware that some breeds of dog are particularly known for their friendly temperaments. Most of us know a happy-go-lucky Labrador or a bouncy and affectionate Golden Retriever. But there are many exceptions to this rule.
Unfortunately, we have not bred these characteristics into our dogs consistently or accurately enough to rely upon them. Some dogs will be indiscriminately friendly simply through growing up in a normal home environment and getting out and about with the family. Others will have a friendly temperament only if extensively and deliberately socialised by their owners. Identifying which dog is which is problematic, and there may be differences between individuals of the same breed.
Predicting temperament
Sadly, we simply cannot accurately predict the outcome of a dog’s temperament based on his breeding or parentage. How fearful a dog becomes when exposed to novel situations, and the way in which he reacts when afraid, will vary even between members of the same litter. It is always a good idea to pick a dog whose parents have a great temperament, from a breed that has a reputation for good temperament, but this is just tipping the balance in your favour. You have no way of knowing how much the good nature of your puppy’s parents was influenced by their environment (i.e. by the way in which they were socialised) and how much of it was inherited.
The only way virtually to guarantee an indiscriminately friendly dog is to socialise him thoroughly and effectively. Don’t forget, isolating a puppy of any breed during the window for socialisation, no matter how great their inherited potential for good temperament, is likely to result in a fearful and potentially aggressive dog.
Your options therefore are limited. You do need to put some effort into deliberately socialising your puppy. And here is the really important point: you need to do it quickly.
Time is short
By the time your puppy is twelve weeks old the window for socialisation is beginning to close and by sixteen weeks it is all but shut. This means you have a relatively short space of time in which to achieve quite a lot.
Hopefully, the socialisation process will have been started by your puppy’s breeder, but you cannot rely on this. You will need to be methodical about socialising your puppy thoroughly, starting when you bring him home at eight weeks old and covering the next four weeks of his life. In Part Two you will find information and suggestions for getting this process under way, and to make sure that you cover all the bases.
Whilst we all want our puppy to be friendly to the children and adults that he meets during the course of his daily life, some people also like the idea of a dog that protects their home. Let’s have a brief look at how that works.
Guarding your property
You will naturally want your dog to be friendly to your guests. However, you may also hope that when he is grown up, your puppy will guard your home against intruders. In my opinion, achieving this dual objective is very difficult and in attempting to do so you may be treading a dangerous path. To persuade a dog actually to guard your property, he needs to be afraid of anyone who invades what he considers to be his territory. Guard dogs are incapable of being selective. The toddler who slips through your hedge looking for his ball will be treated in the same way as your midnight burglar. It really is not worth the risk.
Some perfectly friendly dogs will bark when your home is approached, or when someone knocks on the door. However, many friendly and well-socialised dogs bark very rarely. Teaching or encouraging dogs to bark can cause more problems than it solves, because barking can easily escalate and become a nuisance. I talk to many people who cannot stop their dogs from barking. Constant barking can be very stressful to live with, and can even impact on a dog’s chances of staying with his family in the long term.
Raising a quiet and friendly dog is simply too important a priority to risk jeopardising with attempts to raise a guard dog, too.
In a wolf family, it is vital that each cub learns to recognise, and regard with affection, all those adults on whom his safety depends. Consequently, nature has provided a brief window of opportunity during which cubs are unafraid of new objects and experiences. Dogs have inherited this developmental window and the process of domestication has expanded it a little. During this period, puppies will readily bond with those who show them friendship and take care of them. Once it is ended, a natural wariness, and even fear, of novelty sets in.
This short time is the critical period for socialisation. Most puppies are right in the middle of it at the age when they leave for their new homes, which is why puppies are able to move in with total strangers and settle in relatively easily.
The critical period provides time for the puppy to acquaint himself with various aspects of the environment in which he lives, as well as enabling him to bond with his family. A wild puppy gets to know the wind and the rain, rivers and rocks, and to crawl among the undergrowth and feel at home in his natural world. The domestic puppy needs to do the same, though probably in a more urban context.
Used properly, this window of time during which your puppy will accept all newcomers into his life with equal enthusiasm is your ticket to a friendly puppy. This is when we can introduce a puppy to all manner of experiences and he will accept them readily. By the same token, the puppy that is isolated and shut away from new experiences during this important period is likely to be fearful and suspicious of many aspects of normal life. This can take a great deal of work to overcome and is quite a handicap for the dog concerned.
Most importantly, fear in dogs can have serious consequences.
Triggers for aggression
In most cases, the catalyst for aggression in any dog is fear. Dogs do not normally use aggression to manipulate others. Aggression is triggered when the dog feels vulnerable or threatened.
In the natural world, wild carnivores are often exposed to danger. Aggression in the face of fear is sometimes needed for survival, but a wild dog or wolf has choices. When placed in danger, he can usually choose whether to fight or to run. He makes that choice based on what is of most benefit to him and those that share his genes. He may choose to fight to protect the resources he needs in order to survive, access to food for example. He may choose to run from predators much larger or heavier than he is in order to avoid death or injury.
A domestic dog, on the other hand, rarely needs to fight for resources, such as food, because we provide those for him. Most of the time, his best option when afraid would therefore be to run. But life is not that simple, and a domestic dog is frequently placed in situations from which he cannot escape.
A nervous dog may be faced on a daily basis with events and experiences that frighten him badly while being completely prevented from separating himself from the source of his fear. Some dogs are afraid of children, some are afraid of men, others of old people, vehicles, cows, things that flap in the wind, or even of being outside. In most cases, this fear is due to a lack of exposure to the source of his fear during the critical window. Unfortunately, if a dog cannot run away from the source of his fear, and is sufficiently afraid, he may well feel that he has no option but to fight.
The purpose of socialisation
Since we know that aggression in dogs is largely based in fear, getting rid of that fear is a top priority. That is the purpose of the process that we call socialisation. A significant factor in creating a fearless puppy is the breadth and extent of the experiences he is exposed to during his fearless phase. Socialising a puppy means deliberately ensuring he is exposed to as many new experiences as possible.
Your puppy will need to meet people of all shapes and sizes, old and young, male and female. He will need to be exposed to cars and lorries, trains and tractors, dogs and cats, and various other sights and sounds of human civilisation. It will be a busy few weeks.
Breed differences
Over many generations of selective breeding, we have bred dogs in all shapes and sizes. Our breeding programmes have also influenced the temperament of our domestic dogs. We have bred some dogs that have a reduced fear of novelty when adult. These are less likely to be suspicious of strangers, even if the socialisation process has been somewhat brief, or less than thorough. You will be aware that some breeds of dog are particularly known for their friendly temperaments. Most of us know a happy-go-lucky Labrador or a bouncy and affectionate Golden Retriever. But there are many exceptions to this rule.
Unfortunately, we have not bred these characteristics into our dogs consistently or accurately enough to rely upon them. Some dogs will be indiscriminately friendly simply through growing up in a normal home environment and getting out and about with the family. Others will have a friendly temperament only if extensively and deliberately socialised by their owners. Identifying which dog is which is problematic, and there may be differences between individuals of the same breed.
Predicting temperament
Sadly, we simply cannot accurately predict the outcome of a dog’s temperament based on his breeding or parentage. How fearful a dog becomes when exposed to novel situations, and the way in which he reacts when afraid, will vary even between members of the same litter. It is always a good idea to pick a dog whose parents have a great temperament, from a breed that has a reputation for good temperament, but this is just tipping the balance in your favour. You have no way of knowing how much the good nature of your puppy’s parents was influenced by their environment (i.e. by the way in which they were socialised) and how much of it was inherited.
The only way virtually to guarantee an indiscriminately friendly dog is to socialise him thoroughly and effectively. Don’t forget, isolating a puppy of any breed during the window for socialisation, no matter how great their inherited potential for good temperament, is likely to result in a fearful and potentially aggressive dog.
Your options therefore are limited. You do need to put some effort into deliberately socialising your puppy. And here is the really important point: you need to do it quickly.
Time is short
By the time your puppy is twelve weeks old the window for socialisation is beginning to close and by sixteen weeks it is all but shut. This means you have a relatively short space of time in which to achieve quite a lot.
Hopefully, the socialisation process will have been started by your puppy’s breeder, but you cannot rely on this. You will need to be methodical about socialising your puppy thoroughly, starting when you bring him home at eight weeks old and covering the next four weeks of his life. In Part Two you will find information and suggestions for getting this process under way, and to make sure that you cover all the bases.
Whilst we all want our puppy to be friendly to the children and adults that he meets during the course of his daily life, some people also like the idea of a dog that protects their home. Let’s have a brief look at how that works.
Guarding your property
You will naturally want your dog to be friendly to your guests. However, you may also hope that when he is grown up, your puppy will guard your home against intruders. In my opinion, achieving this dual objective is very difficult and in attempting to do so you may be treading a dangerous path. To persuade a dog actually to guard your property, he needs to be afraid of anyone who invades what he considers to be his territory. Guard dogs are incapable of being selective. The toddler who slips through your hedge looking for his ball will be treated in the same way as your midnight burglar. It really is not worth the risk.
Some perfectly friendly dogs will bark when your home is approached, or when someone knocks on the door. However, many friendly and well-socialised dogs bark very rarely. Teaching or encouraging dogs to bark can cause more problems than it solves, because barking can easily escalate and become a nuisance. I talk to many people who cannot stop their dogs from barking. Constant barking can be very stressful to live with, and can even impact on a dog’s chances of staying with his family in the long term.
Raising a quiet and friendly dog is simply too important a priority to risk jeopardising with attempts to raise a guard dog, too.
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