I had someone recently ask me why I don’t let all the puppies off lead at once in a puppy class to just get on with it, play & have fun, as opposed to just 1 or 2 off at a time, with me carefully monitoring? It’s a good question from a puppy owner who just wants to see their new baby having a great time & socialising with the others. Surely that’s socialisation isn’t it?? Or is it? Remember though, there are impressionable young minds at stake - what’s likely to happen when 6 or more puppies are all off at the same time? Chaos & a rugby scrum spring to mind! There would be puppies jumping on top of each other, puppies chasing an anxious puppy underneath a chair or into a corner - imagine how the anxious puppy being chased would feel, or being the puppy at the bottom of the pile? There’d be puppies getting squashed or injured by bigger more confident characters & generally puppies learning inappropriate behaviour – is this really fun? What would they be learning in terms of future behaviour & the subsequent emotional association with seeing other dogs? This sort of uncontrolled scenario can have disastrous ongoing behavioural consequences for a timid puppy, as well as for a confident puppy who could learn that it’s exciting to squash & intimidate puppies who are less confident. Over-arousal during play can also lead puppies to become too boisterous & over-excitable whenever they see other dogs, at the expense of any focus on their owners, as well as learning to ignore the body language of another dog, who just wants to be left alone! Therefore to promote healthy, ongoing associations & behaviour towards other canines, this is the reason young puppies’ socialisation experiences need to be carefully supervised & as positive as possible, whether at a puppy party or training & socialisation class, as well as out in the real world. With a puppy’s future behaviour at stake, don’t take any chances, as without immediate remedial action, once the damage is done, it’s done!!
|
AuthorSuzanne Bullworthy is a dog trainer and behaviourist who lives in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and works daily with owners to help them achieve the best possible life together with their dogs. Archives
December 2022
Categories |