Socializing McGee

[malmo]

McGee and I went on an outing today to visit a few pet stores. We needed to find a collar to fit her and a soft-sided carrier. I wanted to also get her started on some light people-socialization. I know I'm probably making too big a deal of this, but I am wondering if I'm doing this the right way? (Milo was only socialized through puppy kindergarten, and I'd like to do much more than that with McGee.)

McGee is 10 weeks old. She has had one set of shots and has an "all-clear" from the vet. I made sure she pottied before we went, rode in her crate in the car, and did not touch the floor in any of the places where we went.

What I did do, however, was whenever anyone expressed an interest in her (usually, "Look at the puppy!"), I said, "Would you please hold her? I'm trying to socialize her." Then I would have the person to hold her until she stopped shaking and relaxed a bit. Of course, most people were happy to do this. They would hold her and stroke her and coo and such. With most of the people she would eventually settle down and even sometimes look at their face. Mostly not, though. She mostly just looked away. I know she was getting a bit stressed because when she was back in my arms she would lick and lick my face and occasionally yawn. But, I tried to keep it fun. People were really only too happy to hold a sweet little puppy.

Is this the right way to socialize her to people? She's not too keen on treats yet, and even less if she's feeling at all stressed, so I don't think that having people give her treats is really going to work at this point. All in all, I'd say we found about 10 people to hold her in about 2 hours at 3 stores.

Sorry -- not trying to be too "nervous mommy" about all this. I know it's just socialization, I just want to fine tune and make sure we're on track.

Thanks!

 

[noludoru]

Er.... I would be very wary of letting other people hold her, personally. Clearly that was stressing her, and IMO you and your family members ought to be the only people with the responsibility of keeping her safe by holding her (what is someone dropped her or hurt her? :yikes. I think she ought to be walking on a leash on her own as soon as she's got her shots.

You need to find some good motivator for her (toys? attention? etc) and find a way to use that while people are around. Make being around people fun, never stress her to the point of shaking. Build up gradually. Ask people to let her sniff a finger or two before petting her, and be very gentle, that sort of thing, because she really is so small.

 

[PoodleMommy]

Er.... I would be very wary of letting other people hold her, personally. Clearly that was stressing her, and IMO you and your family members ought to be the only people with the responsibility of keeping her safe by holding her (what is someone dropped her or hurt her? :yikes. I think she ought to be walking on a leash on her own as soon as she's got her shots.

You need to find some good motivator for her (toys? attention? etc) and find a way to use that while people are around. Make being around people fun, never stress her to the point of shaking. Build up gradually. Ask people to let her sniff a finger or two before petting her, and be very gentle, that sort of thing, because she really is so small.

I agree!

My first poodle Cocoa was dropped as a puppy by a family friend in our home. It happened so fast there was nothing anyone could do about it and although she was not physically injured she never liked to be held by other people after that. We tried hard to change it and never could... although she would not bite or anything she just never relaxed, she always seemed on edge in someone elses arms.

I think you have the right idea and it is important to socialize but I would move a little slower... maybe just have people pet her.

Good Luck.

Elissa

 

[Fran27]

You don't want people to hold her - too risky especially if it's obviously stressing her out. Just ask people to pet her gently and it should be fine.

 

[malmo]

Thanks, y'all. Lots of conflicting information out there. I'll just slow down a bit with her. Aside from the yawning and shaking (but, she always shakes) I thought she was doing pretty well.

 

[Doberluv]

Her turning away was likely a calming signal, trying to ease the stress or potential conflict that she perceived. At this stage, I'd take her around a little bit each day to see a few new people...don't overwhelm her and let them feed her a tiny tid bit of hot dog (pea sized) or mozerella cheese. A couple of strokes along her shoulder area for now is good enough. Once she's comfortable with that, see if she'll be OK with a stroke along the top of her head and then all over. She does need to get accustomed to being handled all over...."examined" but mustn't be made fearful. All happy associations and treats. Yes, treats. Be proactive with everything new that she comes across and tie it together with something really yummy.

Stop by your vet once or twice a week for a quick social visit and maybe a weight check and a pretend exam....quick....it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. Again, treats and playfulness. You can get your dog to enjoy going to the vet's.

Be careful that you aren't apprhensive. Your pup will pick up on that. Everything is just honky dory and new things are fun and pleasant. Don't overwhelm, but do get her out a little bit every day or almost every day....different locations, contexts, environments, objects, people of all sizes, ages, colors, different clothing, uniforms, umbrellas, grocery baskets...little by little. But don't wait until she's over 5 months to get at it. Do it now and continue on after she turns 4 or 5 months. You'll be able to lighten up later but socialization continues.

Good luck.

 

[malmo]

Thank you, Doberluv. This post makes sense to me.

I am totally on a quest to find the treats that McGee will eat. So far, they've all been too big for her tiny mouth (even when cut into half-pea-sized chunks) or she just isn't interested. She responds well to praise and stroking, kisses, etc. -- but not so much with the treats. So far, we've tried hot-dogs, commercial treats (Zuke's minis, cut in half), and string cheese. Next I'm going to try boiled chicken chunks.

When she's nervous at all, she won't eat treats. Won't even sniff at them. But, it's all just trial and error at this point.

 

[Doberluv]

Well, find out what she really loves best and use that. It might be a toy or a lick of peanut butter, boiled chicken, like you say. When you take her out, try doing it before meal time. A little deprivation (hunger) will increase the value of food. Not all dogs are food mongers, but most are. At any rate, whatever you can think of that she loves.....absolutely adores is what you want to use as a reinforcer. It must be enough to cause her to modify behavior and to make her want to repeat something...make her pair the new things and people with nothing but wonderfulness. LOL. She's still very young and as things go along, I'm sure she'll gain more confidence and once she gets use to seeing new things, and finding out that they are not scary after all, she'll develop what behaviorists call "bounce back." That is....if something is mildly scary and she becomes convinced that it's not so bad after all, she bounces right back to not being apprehensive. The more she experiences that bounce back, the better she'll accept novel things as an adult. New experiences won't be as apt to frighten her. So, occassional and mild apprehension as long as there is that bounce back won't hurt her at all. Overwhelming and frequent unpleasantness or fearful encounters will hurt her. It is a constant judgement call and lots of observation of your pup.

She is adorable btw.

 

[malmo]

Thank you very much for the encouragement. In 3 days of settling in to the new home, she has really started to come out of her shell. I know this is a dog capable of really overcoming her timidity. It'll just take time and patience. I do want to stress her slightly so she can experience bounceback, and I'll just watch her for signs that it's getting to be too much.

I've just taken all of the treats and cut them in half again. Now they are about 1/8" cubes, but if thst's what will work, that's what we'll do! Hopefully people will be willing to dip their hands into a little vat of hot dog mince in the name of socialization.

"Hi there. Would you give a treat to my dog?"