Is it necessary to take your puppy out everyday to meet people on the street? Can you “Over-socialize” a dog? Is it ok to let strangers pet and play with your puppy, while walking it?
Should this be in “General Questions?”
Necessary…probably not, but it really depends on your situation. If the dog is home alone for long hours, it will probably develop behavior problems. This won’t be solved by a long walk in the evening. If there are 5 people in your household interacting with the dog, then you probably don’t need to worry about its socialization. If the dog is naturally shy, making it interact with people is probably detrimental to its happiness. Strangers should only play with your puppy if your puppy is happy with that and the person is in no danger of getting bitten and that the person is playing appropriately with the puppy.
Bottom line is that the puppy should be exposed to all the things it is likely to have to deal with in its normal life, but there isn’t much reason to force it to be comfortable with things that it is not going to need to be comfortable with.
Socializing your dog also refers to socializing it with other dogs. IF your puppy is old enough to have had all of it’s shots, start introducing it to friends or relatives’ dogs, friendly neighborhood dogs, or dogs at a dog park.
One good thing to do is to teach them how to behave while YOU are socializing. A couple of the things we practiced in doggy school were sitting nicely while the owner stood face-to-face talking with another owner & dog, and walking dog-to-dog past another owner & dog.
Making sure your pooch doesn’t freak out (get scared or attack) at the sight of another dog is a big thing.
I am a big believer in socializing puppies . I want my dogs to grow up comfortable in any situation , with other people and animals . It is especially importent since I show my dogs , but even my Papillons , who will never see a show ring , I want them friendly and relaxed. I take them as many places as will allow dogs , once they have their full series of vaccines , and highly recommend puppy kindergarden classes , not only for the socialization but the early training is a life saver .
Keeping a dog home all the time limits its experiences , and can make him or her spooky and afraid of strangers and new situations . I have heard that limiting a dog’s exposure to people will make it a better guard dog , but I can’t say for sure .
Expose him to French politics?
Your dog should be handled and petted by strangers. When you’re out walking, someone may suddenly reach out to pet the dog, and if your dog isn’t used to this, he could become alarmed and growl or bite.
He should also be around small children whose high voices and sudden movements are frightening to dogs who aren’t used to it.
In Socialist Russia, dog socialize you.