Socialization

I thought I knew a lot about dogs before I got Thane.  Hoo boy, was I wrong!  

And then Thea came along, and I learned that I still had plenty more to learn...and that I will ALWAYS be learning new things about dogs.  :P  

Thane's out of town for a few days right now because Thea's in heat, and I've been taking advantage of the one-on-one time to do some remedial socialization training.

Why does she need remedial training, you ask?  Because I really messed up her socialization, LOL.

I always used to think that socialization meant bringing your dogs lots of places and letting him or her meet TONS of people, who of course, fawn all over the fuzzy little puppy, which will teach him to love people.

And that worked fine with Thane...he loved the attention...adored the people...accepted the cookies and the snuggles.  To this day, he loves most people, and with a little refining, he'd probably be great at visiting hospitals and nursing homes.  He's my social butterfly.

Thea, on the other hand, was the complete opposite - from a very early age, she made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with strangers.  She didn't like them bending over her, touching her, carrying her...she even accepted treats with quite a bit of trepidation.  She's my homebody.

This reaction flummoxed me...and after a few tries, I gave up, and more or less stopped trying to "socialize" her.

This was both good and bad.

Good, because I wasn't forcing my shy puppy to do what clearly went entirely against her nature, and would only increase her fear.  

Bad, because I didn't search out a solution on what to do with her instead, to help balance her out and teach her how she should behave in public.  

So...now she barks at stranger if they walk up to us to try to say hi to her.  After multiple visits, she has more or less accepted just a few close family friends...she'll accept treats from them, give a paw on command, and occasionally allow them to pet her a little bit.  When we have house guests, she barks at them for a while, but as long as they ignore her, she will eventually calm down and behave normally, sometimes accepting treats or the occasional pat.  A good way to win her over is to throw her ball for her, though it certainly doesn't give strangers free license with her.

(And for the record, she's VERY sweet, affectionate, and confident with me and my family members.)

I've thought a lot about what I should have done differently, and I'm starting to do what I can to turn her behavior around as much as I can at her age.  My goal at this point is not to get her friendly with strangers - I honestly don't think that will ever happen.  Instead, I'm working on teaching her to ignore people and other dogs and stay focused on me when we're out and about.   I will be happy if in a few weeks or months, she can walk calmly at my side wherever we go.  If people ask to pet her, I will tell them "Sorry, but no.  That's not her thing."  

So what have I learned?

A) Socialization isn't one-size-fits-all.  What works for one dog might not work for another, or might not fit your goals for that dog.

B) I'm growing more and more interested in the idea of "socialization" being defined not by going out and having one's dog meet lots of people...but rather, exposing one's dog to TONS of situations - while encouraging the dog to keep his focus on ME at all times.  

Thea's a little smarty-pants, so I'm looking forward to seeing how fast she'll get the hang of this...me, on the other hand...I think I've got plenty more to learn!  :P