Puppies Social Behavior

After developing itself "mechanically", the puppy will begin to present specific behaviors and other more personal ones depending on the situation. The mother begins to drift apart. As we have seen socialization is the stage in which the puppy learns to socially relate itself to the other animals and the owner. When the puppy is born it doesn't know what species it belongs to. Therefore, it must learn to know who it can communicate with safely, and how to do it in order to be understood.

Socialization: In dogs this period of time begins at three weeks and lasts until it is three months old. This stage covers different moments in which different fundamental notions are discovered: self control, communication, hierarchical structuring, etc. It is a very important stage, through which the puppy will have intense learning that will allow him to adjust to the environment where it is living. The period of socialization is defined in different ways, even though the most important concept is that the puppy has a normal behavior in its social life after everything he has learned. On the other hand the lack of socialization results in an abnormal social behavior.

Primary Socialization: A division has been established within the period of socialization. Some scientists distinguish between primary socialization: short period of time during which the puppy acquires the self-control mechanisms, it learns to communicate and receives what is known as impregnation phenomena; and a second phase, called juvenile period, in which the puppy takes conscience of the separation and hierarchical structuring notions. The primary socialization lasts only nine weeks, but it's fundamental for the animal's equilibrium as an adult.

The Sensitive Period: Primary socialization is developed through out a sensible period, in which the puppy must have the maximum time to learn and discover its surroundings. The puppy's learning capacity and memorization are the best. Past this period of time the puppy's criteria are not the same.

During this phase, learning is fast and easy. The puppy has to learn everything:

• That it is a dog
• It must live with a human
• It must communicate
• It must also control the desire of biting

Two Fundamental Notions: Attraction and Aversion: We have seen that socialization starts after three weeks in every breed and that it ends at three months. The juvenile period comes right after. Let's see the importance of the attraction and aversion phases. The attraction phase: at three weeks, the puppy discovers the happy surroundings with no apprehension. It is important to place the dog in contact with numerous species, so that they can be identified as friends for the rest of its lifetime. This period of attraction diminishes when the puppy is about five weeks old. It will keep the social relationships that it has acquired, but will not try to make new ones. The owners mission will be to increase the number of contacts and experiences that the dog will have during this period. The aversion phase: at five weeks, the puppy will run away from people that it doesn't know because it fears new things. All the new species that have been discovered during this period will be considered enemies to it. If the primary socialization has not been developed successfully, you can try another type of socialization called secondary socialization. This will apply to the juvenile dog, but it comes with major difficulties. Dog Muscular Tone