Socializing your New German Shepherd Puppy
Let’s talk about socializing your new German Shepherd puppy. Arguably, socializing puppies is one of the more misunderstood aspects of dog training. Even with vast resources available online, many new German Shepherd puppy owners still think of socializing their puppy as best accomplished by taking their puppy to Lowes or the Home Depost. Or, probably a lot worse, taking their puppy to the dog park to play with other dogs. Ouch! This article will show that not only is this perspective fraught with road blocks and hazards, pursuing this course of action will often create behavior issues in dogs. People wonder, “How can I socialize my puppy if I can’t let them play with other dogs?” This is an excellent question, and we hope this article provides a concrete action plan on best practices when bring a new dog to your home. The purpose of this article is to address starting from square one. If your puppy is coming from a shelter or is an older puppy that comes from a pet store or similar context, it will likely have already picked up a series of bad habits. We can address that situation in another article. Today, our goal is to unpack how to lay a healthy foundation for socializing a young puppy fresh from momma.
Defining What We Mean by Socializing your GSD Puppy
Socialization means helping our dogs become comfortable in new places and in a diverse set of new situations. We goal is for our dogs to be neutral, even indifferent, about other people, places, and things. When my dog encounters strangers, he should see them as just another part of the environment—not as something to engage with or react to. A family whom had recently emigrated from the Czech Republic brought home a gorgeous male German Shepherd puppy from one of our Czech working line German Shepherd pedigreed litters. The puppy was gorgeous. Paul shared a story of how one of his prior dogs had gone through a training class where by the end of the training, the trainer would bring out a bunny rabbit into a room full of dogs that recently completed his training curriculum. The dogs were expected to be indifferent to the rabbit. No getting excited. Not chasing after the bunny. Just sit there and observe. This is what we mean when we say new things in your dog’s environment should be viewed by your puppy as just another (neutral) part of the environment. So what are steps we can take to achieve this goal?
When we introduce our dogs to new and unfamiliar things (whether smells, people, animals or new locations), our goal is for them to turn to us for guidance and direction. Our expectation is that there is no no reason for the dog to become anxious or overly excited. Our dogs should feel reassured by our presence. They should follow our lead in new situations. In short, we want our dogs to trust us. We want them to feel secure, knowing we are there to show them how to behave and react, no matter where we are.
Building a Bond of Trust with Your New German Shepherd Puppy
Start socializing by building a bond of trust between you and your new German Shepherd puppy in a quiet place. Not at Lowes, Home Depost, or the dog park. Start at home, or a similar quiet place.Our socialization program focuses mainly on something called engagement. If you have a garage or a large open space in your home. When a dog is engaged with its owners (trainer or handler), the dog is completely focused on you and ignores everything else around it. Or, this is the end goal. Dogs don’t do this naturally. This is something they need to be taught. Its unreasonably to think your dog will do this without training. One in thousands might do so, but for all intents and purposes, such a dog would be what we would call a unicorn. Rare to nonexistent— even with a great pedigree on your working line German Shepherd puppy.
We begin train our dogs through the use of high-value food treats. We’re not talking about dry (and relatively unpalatable) dog biscuits. By high value treats we are referring to small pieces of meat or high-quality, all-natural dog treats. When the dog looks at us, we mark that behavior and reward it with a treat. We make sure we try this when the puppy is hungry, which means just before feeding times. Quickly, the puppy learns that being with you is fun and rewarding. Start with short sessions that do not extend more than 5-10 minutes at a time. Don’t begin a training session after your puppy is exhausted from a long walk, overly excited from people visiting or for that matter soon after being fed.
Choose a Quiet Place to Start Engagement Training of your GSD Puppy
Engagement training begins at home in a quiet environment without distractions, like your kitchen, garage, or backyard. As the dog gets better at focusing on you, you can start practicing in new places. At first, choose locations with few distractions. Choose a quiet place away from distraction. When your puppy is young, with a short attention span, the squirrel will take its attention. Squirrel, what did you say, where….. By choosing a quiet location free from distractions you set your puppy on a path to success. Your goal is to engage your dog without unnecessary distractions. If you have a garage with an open space, such a location can be excellent. A fenced backyard away from traffic and neighhood traffic and other animals can also be an excellent choice. Your goal is to build a relationship of trust where that puppy is engaged with you and disengaged with its surroundings.
Soon, your dog will figure out that good things happen when it goes to new places with you. Over time, you can introduce more distractions. Hence the earlier example of brining a rabbit into a room full of dogs. Once your puppy is fully engaged with you, then and only then do you introduce new stimuli. Only then do you start taking your puppy to new places. It is at that point that your goal will be to visit as many different places as possible. In each of these locations you will practice these engagement exercises with your puppy. As you progress, look for places that might stress the dog a bit. You’ll know this is happening if the dog finds it harder to stay focused on you. When that happens, move away from the distraction. Once you have your puppy’s attention and that engagement is restored. Then, move back towards the distraction. Once the dog is engaged despite these new distractions, you know you are making progress Keep practicing in that location. Gradually move closer to these new distractions. Doing so will help your German Shepherd puppy get used to ignoring distractions and staying focused (engaged) on you. Look for part two of the Czech Working Line Socialization series to be released soon. We have personally found this plan of increasing active engagement a game changer in socializing our German Shepherd puppies. We are sure you will share our experience.
