Mary Allen
Socialization – the magic word in dog training. For a long time it was thought that when the socialization phase for dogs was over, the train had left. But what exactly is behind this sensitive phase? And is this a precisely definable period?
A successful socialization phase in dogs gives our furry friends social competence, friendliness, and environmental safety. Well-socialized four-legged friends are considered sociable, good companions in the city, and rarely insecure. They are clear in their communication and have been able to gain important positive experiences in adolescence, which they are armed for their lives.
To put it bluntly, the socialization phase in dogs is a highly sensitive development phase of the young animal, in which the course for its later life is set. While the advice used to be that puppies of this age should be introduced and taught everything they should know and be able to do, later on, the advice today is (thank God) to approach everything with moderation and purpose. Because in this lifespan, the young animals are highly sensitive to positive learning content, but also sensory overload and incorrect connections and thus to negative experiences that overwhelm the organism.
What Happens in the Socialization Phase in Dogs?
What is referred to as a phase is more of an age range up to the fourth/fifth month, in which learning has a particularly formative meaning for later life. If the dog gets to know a very friendly man with a coat, hat, and umbrella at this age, for example, he can store a good encounter in a generalized way at best: Men with coats, hats, and umbrellas are good. An image is created in his brain, linked to smells, emotions, and unknown triggers that can be generalized.
Of course, this also works in the opposite, negative direction – and that is the crux of the sensitive socialization phase in dogs! If the four-legged friend is already older when he makes certain environmental experiences, it becomes more and more difficult to generalize the learning experiences. In adulthood, it’s most likely a singular experience: This one man with a coat, hat, and umbrella is friendly.
Embossing Phase: Brain Develops
In the so-called imprinting phase of puppyhood, nerve endings are linked in the brain in a particularly intensive way during learning. The dog can fall back on these learning experiences throughout its life. At best, the charms that he was allowed to get to know without fear during this time make him fit for later experiences.
As the dog gets older, learning new content becomes more difficult. We know this from our lives: What we were allowed to learn as children is child’s play for us. It looks completely different when we get riding lessons for the first time in adulthood or even want to learn to play the violin. But that doesn’t mean that learning ends there! Even senior dogs learn completely new things in old age if you adapt the workload to their speed and their ability to concentrate.
Is There a “Socialization Period” in Dogs?
Can a dog that has had too little contact with dogs in its youth still be or become socially acceptable? It is similar to riding lessons or learning to play the violin in adulthood: Depending on previous experience, disposition, motivation, learning environment, stress level, and many other factors, learning what has been missed is possible, but not comparable to the easy learning in youth days.
Learning in the first phase of life is much easier. The retrieval of early childhood/dog learning content is automated, it is in our blood and our dogs – it is deeply anchored in the organism.