Socialization for a dog
Just as the obedience training another factor that will ensure a happy dog with a good behavior is socialization. There are so many ways in which you can train a dog for basic obedience; socialization is very important part of training as well. Socialization makes the behavior of the dog in a lot of situations. A well socialized dog will be calmer and friendly to other people and animals.
It basically depends upon the kind of the training you want to give your dog, if it is a guard dog you want to train then too much socializing will take over his guarding instincts. It also depends on the breed, some breeds are more tolerant and friendly while others are very protective and territorial.
The dog should be exposed to new things in a way that he is not scared so that he does not react unexpectedly on strange situations especially with the puppies. There are a lot of things that will be new for him, he will see, experience and learn from new things, situations and people. For example if you are wearing a cap or a hat, he should get to know that it is you under that hat and its not something to be scared of.
Trust is also an important part of socialization process. If the dog has a bad experience with a particular object of a person, he will be scared of it because of a bad experience attached to it. So make your dog trust you slowly. It basically depends on what kind of a training do you want for your dog, a friendly guard dog will not be a good idea or an aggressive family dog will be tough to handle.
Not only socializing with humans but socializing with other animals is also important or he will not tolerate any animal around or in his territory. This is why sheep dogs are kept along with the sheep so that they consider them a part of a group and are not strange to them.
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