Boxer Dog Training

How to Socialize your Puppy!

- by MarkW2002 - 49 Comments.

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Other videos you might like-
Here are some other videos you might like:
Watch Nina Learn how to walk on a leash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBN2_YuTclU
See Cheeto learn to come when called: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwldfBjFsdE
Learn how to stop puppy biting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9KQegi4r8k
Learn how to potty train your dog: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG-gyJP8op0

***UPDATE***
I wanted to take a moment to respond to a minority of comments on this video. While the video currently enjoys a 96+% like to dislike ratio, I have noticed a handful of comments criticizing this video for not featuring dogs that are not dog friendly. For example one viewer writes:

"No real info here… you are showing ideal scenarios while you should be addressing real scenarios, aggressiveness is the issue when dogs meet… "

Among beginners and intermediate trainers there is often this idea that we need to wait for problems to emerge before addressing them. Particularly in the area of puppy socialization, the best medicine is prevention. If you hope to excel in understanding and modifying dog behavior there is one point you need to understand. Preparation and prevention are essential to showing a dog how to behave in our culture. If more people knew to take the advice I offered in this video, then we would have fewer issues in this department. So to this viewer and others who’ve echoed this sentiment, I would say that ABSOLUTELY I am showing ideal scenarios! Showing your dog from day one how to behave around dogs will prevent future issues from arising much of the time.

As you know, I routinely address reactivity, nervous dogs and fearful dogs in my videos all the time. A lot of us adopt an older dog or under socialize our dogs while they are young and are left with the dilemma of what to do when our dogs are older and are not very accepting of people and dogs. I’m sure I’ll address this more in the future on a case by case basis. But that’s just it, once your dog has crossed into a pattern of behavior that is potentially dangerous to you, other people, or other animals, then we need to address that on an individual basis (as you’ve seen me do in several videos) and there is no broad brush stroke that will fix that.

The best dog trainers do everything they can to show their dogs how to behave rather than how NOT to behave. That’s not to say we can’t “fix” dogs who have social issues, it’s that this is a completely different topic. The person who just got a dog MUST know the info. in this video.

I certainly do not want to discourage those critical of my lessons. This is one way that everyone can learn and grow. And the biggest lessons I've learned in my career have come directly from you. I just felt that these critiques were coming from a place that lacks experience and understanding of dog behavior which is why I wanted to clarify my point a bit more.

The aim of this video was to give people a general idea as to how to make sure that their dog remains comfortable with new dogs moving forward, and socialization can be a complex issue. Obviously I cannot address every aspect of canine social behavior in a single lesson. This video is for the average person with an average dog. But I do pride myself on showcasing a variety of scenarios and I’ll continue to do that in the future.

Thank you!

-Zak George

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49 Comments on “How to Socialize your Puppy!”

  1. I would like to see this on a more anxious dog, like mine. she’s leash aggressive but she plays fine with dogs at daycare. If we meet a dog while on a walk, sometimes she’s good. Sometimes if it’s the same dog but a few days go by. she gets aggressive.

    3. Hi, I know I’m 4 years late but

      At daycare I’d assume she’s not as happy as you might think. She feels outnumbered and thinks if she shows aggression all the other dogs will team up on her.

      I haven’t seen her in person so I haven’t seen the body language, but if her tail isnt wagging, her ears are back, and or she’s backing away or avoiding the other dogs, that’s most likely a sign she feels anxious or scared.

      I might not be a professional dog trainer or know about all behaviors, but anxiety is something I’ve researched a lot so yea.

  2. My dog is almost two years old and she just looses her mind every time she sees another dog but only when she is on the leash. She starts pulling really hard and yelping. She will also run towards the dog until the leash holds her back.

    1. Here’s some videos I made to help you! https://www.youtube.com/playlist?action_edit=1&list=PLMssKIjsDxXkZk77nE0r0sdPoTuuDo-Oh

  5. My dogs 4 years old and she’s always been really friendly with other dogs. However recently she’s been becoming a little aggressive towards random dogs.

  6. I just brought my dog home from the shelter a week ago. She is a year old. She gets along with other dogs, but she greets them with a growl and barks as loud as she can (with her tail wagging). 

  7. Where was this video three years ago?  I totally messed it all up when I moved to a new house and had my one time super dog friendly dogs meet the neighbor’s dog.  The girl did fine, but the boy and the other dog did NOT get along, and now I have to work out the fear reaction he has when seeing other dogs.  He turned from a great, happy dog that liked other dogs to a dog that reacts aggressively around other dogs…all because of that one bad meeting.  Maybe you can do a video for those of us who didn’t do introductions correctly, and have had bad results because of it – how to “undo” the huge mistake.

  9. I just got a 17 week old puppy named Dawson and he is extremely playful and LOVES other dogs! my sister brought her two older dogs over and they played for hours! it was great to watch them teach him how to play nicely!

  10. My puppy is 15 weeks old. He used to bark at his own reflection, then eventually realized it was himself. He barks at every dog when we go on walks, and as we approach the other dogs, he gets more aggressive and nervous and tries to get away from them.

  11. My lab is 2 months and he doesn’t really care for other animals. He’s super friendly and will sometimes try to play with them but he will just do his own thing most of the time

  14. My dog gets very excited around other dogs and he jumps all around the dog and doesn’t leave the dog alone and I get scared that the other dog might get angry and bite him since he’s very hyper and playful.

    2. I’m not a professional but Zak had the owner play fetch with his dog Nina before introducing the new dog. If you play with your dog beforehand, it will exhaust your dog’s extra energy so he isn’t as hyper when meeting the new dog. If your dog is still super excited when meeting a new dog, put some distance between the dogs. This lets him know that you do not want the jumpiness. Wait until he calms down then reintroduce him to the new dog.

    4. I took my puppy to the dog park for this first time and she was very shy and scared. There was this puppy who is a month younger than mine and he was so playful and friendly around her he wouldn’t leave her alone. My puppy would just stand their and run away and hide. The little guy was mix with Shepard’s he was so cute. I have a 4 almost 5 month old doberman pinscher.

  19. My dogs are 15 years and 2 months old. My older dog is a rescue and my younger dog is training to be a service dog. Thank you for making these videos 🙂

  20. My shiba is friendly with other dogs but is very possessive of me and gets aggressive at people and sometimes barks at my family too.

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