Socialization Maintenance

[TrishB]

Hi all,

After a couple of discussions with some friends - I was wondering about your take on this:

People that say: "Oh he never used to have any problems with other dogs / children / strangers / etc."

Why is it that people believe that once something is taught, that it doesn't need to be maintained? Because you simply socialized your puppy to other dogs / children / strangers / etc. doesn't mean that 2 years later, as an adult, that they'll still accept them! This is another misconception that I often run across.

When they say that training is for the life of the dog - so is socializing. Their social skills can get rusty - it is up to us to maintain them! I personally think should be incorporated into any responsible owners routine with their dog for the life of the dog.

JMHO!

[carolynnl4]

If you've socialized from the beginning, I don't see how you can stop yourself from maintaining it. I don't know about everyone else here, but Athena is a huge part of my life, and I take her everywhere I possibly can.
We go to parks (all kinds) constantly, we often take her to the grocery store with us (one of us will walk around the parking lot with her), I take her to work when I'm in on the weekends, we go to the petstore at least once a week, we go running with her ...

Who on earth keeps their dog at home all the time? I can't imagine Athena having to stay inside all the time except going outside to potty, you know?

[HerculesMomma]

Originally Posted by carolynnl4

Who on earth keeps their dog at home all the time? I can't imagine Athena having to stay inside all the time except going outside to potty, you know?

I think this was the case with Hercules when I adopted him. I noticed him being unsure/uncomfortable to some extent, in different situations. Drives me bannanas sometimes (not him, but the lack of socialization)! I too bring him with me every where I can. I can still tell he is very unsure sometimes, although he was never quite skittish or anything. But I do notice an improvement in his confidence each time we do something with regular frequency.

I think what happens is people have children and work full time and the dog almost becomes a piece of "art work" that stays in the house. They don't have the "time" to do anything with the dog.

[Brooke&Ryan]

I totally agree, Trish!

We have a family friend who used to have a German Shepherd. They did the socializing thing for the first year or so & then slacked off. The dog was still taken for walks around the neighborhood but not downtown or to the farmers market.

The dog finally had to be PTS for aggression!

Julius is out & about with us all the time. It's not "socialization time" persay, it's more...hey, lets go have fun Jules-time! But he gets his socialization in the process.


Brooke

[Sargeant_C]

I have a question about this. What do you guys/gals do when someone sees your puppy n goes oh how cute what is he and u say rott and OMG scared. I live in a tiny town and the rep around here is Bad rott Bad. Now I have Sarge in puppy school and I want to have ppl pet him. Do shelters allow you to take in dogs to visit? I should call about that. So what else can I do to make him ppl friendly besides placing a clown hat on him???

[Brooke&Ryan]

Julius has a bandana on him when we go out usually. For homecoming he wore a PSU tee-shirt. Anything to make him more approachable & make people smile.

But you still will get those people that will jump back & gasp at your dog. Just walk away. That's what we do. There will always be those people in the crowd. I can't imagine anyone jumping back & gasping from an 11 week old puppy but they did it with Julius. It's part of being a Rottweiler owner. You get used to the weird comments & mean ones as well.

As far as taking your dog to the shelter, why do you want to do that? I would be afraid of my dog getting kennel cough & other yucky things...

And by the way, I have been known to put a clown hat on Jules. Right around the holidays, we took Julius for a walk downtown wearing his antlers. We got so many laughs & Julius got to meet & greet quite a few people!


Brooke

[BostonRott]

Just a quick thought: in many training circles, a dog with a bandana is a dog with personal space issues (like tying a red ribbon on the tail of a horse who kicks). Were I out walking, and saw a dog with a bandana, I'd steer clear. I realize that most of the general public probably doesn't understand or follow this convention, but just wanted to add a friendly piece of info to your vast knowledge.

A breeder may do a lot to socialize a puppy, and then an inexperienced home thinks things are fine and doesn't continue the socialization. It's an issue that breeders really need to stay on top of with new owners.

[Dee]

Our dogs go everywhere they possibly can with us. I don't see the point of having a dog if it's not to be a part of our family. But I do know so many folks who work with their dog for the first year or so and then think they're done. Don't they miss having their buddies with them anymore? Or are there more important things to do? Are they like that with their kids too? Makes me wonder.......

[SABELLESMOM]

Originally Posted by BostonRott

Just a quick thought: in many training circles, a dog with a bandana is a dog with personal space issues (like tying a red ribbon on the tail of a horse who kicks).

Actually, I've been to a kennel club before that encourages owners to identify these dogs with a "red bandana" BUT...and it's a pretty big BUT: They also have a behaviorist there to help the owner help his/her dog get to a point they can downgrade to pink and eventually no bandana. I've only ever seen 1 dog who still had his bandana at the end of the year.

On the other hand for the general public...outside this particular facility, a bandana of any color is seen more as decorative, whimsical, festive. etc. It seems to helps break that "unfriendly" barrier exibited towards Rottweilers.

[Squeaky2004]

Our dog goes with us as much as possible also. I believe socialization should not stop once they mature. It should continue until they are gone.... IMO they don't need as much socialization as a young puppy does, but they still need alot.

[TrishB]

Originally Posted by BostonRott

Just a quick thought: in many training circles, a dog with a bandana is a dog with personal space issues (like tying a red ribbon on the tail of a horse who kicks). Were I out walking, and saw a dog with a bandana, I'd steer clear. I realize that most of the general public probably doesn't understand or follow this convention, but just wanted to add a friendly piece of info to your vast knowledge.

I didn't know that! I knew about red ribbons on horses tails - but I had no idea about bandannas on dogs! Thanks for the heads up!

Recently, I got a "Pet Blinker". This little 1 cm long cylinder flashes very bright Blue, White and Red (almost lazer strength). When I walk Parker at night (it's been really hot during the day), I turn this thing on so that I can see him while he's running around off leash in the park trails.

People LOVE it! They don't care about the boo-scarey-Rottweiler - they want to know about the cool dog with the disco lights around his neck!

[Brooke&Ryan]

Wow Gretchen! You learn something new everyday! I never knew that.

Most of the people that walk by us though giggle when they see Julius in his "dump truck" bandana.


Brooke

[BostonRott]

Yeah, as I said, I think the majority of the public is not aware of the convention. It's something I've seen around agility and flyball training/trials. Just know that if your dog is wearing a bandana and someone steers clear, there is a "rule" floating out there amongst a few people.

[frontierrots]

Originally Posted by SABELLESMOM

On the other hand for the general public...outside this particular facility, a bandana of any color is seen more as decorative, whimsical, festive. etc. It seems to helps break that "unfriendly" barrier exibited towards Rottweilers.

This is true for most of the "general public" If I take Bea out and about "au natural" people tend to avoid us like a plague. If however she sports one of her dozens of colorful bandanas, especially if she is also carrying her walking stick (1 foot long crowd version or the 2 1/2 foot long wide space version) then she is the center of attention and boy does she know it

I DO however reserve the red bandanas for space issue dogs. My late Xena always wore a red one when we were out or when we had dog parties and everyone understood immediately why just based on the color

[Sargeant_C]

Trish - where did you get that flashy thing. That is so cool. When I take Sarge out at nights that would help me big time keep an eye on him. It is so dark out and I can barely see him. He has a red white and blue identity tag and a red collar and a blue leash. So it would go great.
I live in a small town and there are a few other rotts here and they are mean as hell. I would not go near them. So Sarge has his work cut out for him. I take him everywhere I go, if possible, on hot days I carry a water bottle just for him. He gets to carry it when it is almost empty and ppl laugh at that.
He is only 10 weeks old and ppl step back when I say he is a rott. I then go do not worry he is going to be friendly not mean I have too many kids to make him mean and they still walk away.
Maybe I should buy him a floppy hat or something. I did attract attention when a vendor seen him and goes OMG how cute and asked if he could pet him and I said please do. I was so proud of Sarge he went up wagging his tail and did not jump on him he sat. A couple ppl noticed him and walked up and complimented me. I asked them to pet him too because I am working on his social skills.
As for taking Sarge to a rescue shelter we do not have a lot of nice dogs around here and the majority are well rude. And I am having problems getting him to play with puppies at puppy school. I am at a loss of what to do. The neighbor has a full size collie but something is wrong with him. His butt area is well sort of swollen and pink and his nose is well scabby. So there I am leary about Sarge going near him. But I must say that Sarge loves cats and plays with them really good. One of my cats lays down and lets him chew on him. When he gets too rough he slaps Sarge and jumps up high. I break it up but the cat goes right back to him. And get this when I lock him in his crate my cat lies beside it. Weird. LOL
So any suggestions on what I can do to help his dog skills would be appreciated. Cuz I am at a loss. To somewhat give you an idea on how big of a town I live in the entire school system has less then 400 students that is preschool to high school.