Positive proactive socialization – process of exposing puppies and dogs to novel environmental and social stimuli in a positive way.
Empower dogs to confidently approach the situations they encounter daily.
Prevent fearful, aggressive, and/or reactive behavior.
In positive proactive socialization stack the odds in our favor, pairing new things with happy things such as food and toys
Life-long activity
Novel stimuli + Good things = Proactive socialization
- Give the opportunity to watch many different types of people and other things
- Encourage to explore many different objects and situations as possible
- Different surfaces
- Sounds
- Types of weather
- Kinds of vehicles
Allow progress at their pace, be positive and supportive.
Stimuli-
- People: children/seniors, tall/short, bald/with hats, sun glasses, racially diverse, wheelchairs and other medical equipment
- Other dogs: tiny/huge, long hair/ short hair, floppy ears, cropped ears, smoosh face, and no tails
- Other animals: cats, birds, livestock, rabbits, squirrels
- Sounds: thunderstorms, fireworks, buzzers/alarms, hairdryer, vacuum, lawn care items
- Surfaces: grass, concrete, snow, puddles, stairs, grates, and rocks
- Places: vets, training class, other homes, hotels, and outdoor cafe
Stress signals to look for:
- Lip licking
- Averting gaze
- Tucked tail or hind end
- Yawning
- Scratching
- Turning body away
- Whale eye
Recent Comments