The Importance of Continual Socialization

THE GOAL of socialization is to let your Canaan
puppy encounter as many new and different people, places and things as possible so that he can become a well-adjusted and confident family companion. If you don't provide these building blocks early on, he will
have a hard time adjusting to new situations and people.

Early socialization starts in the hands of the breeder.
It is the breeder's responsibility to ensure that the puppies are handled frequently, as well being exposed to other healthy and friendly dogs, normal household stimuli such as the television, vacuum cleaner, washing machine, doorbell etc. Puppies who are raised in a quiet kennel or room will have trouble adapting to a normal family environment.

Once the puppy is at home with you, it is your job to continue carefully introducing him to different people, animals and stimuli. It is however important to introduce the puppy to new people, places, objects and
situations only when you can completely control the experience. A frightening experience will be detrimental – avoid unfriendly dogs and adults and children who do not understand how to be kind and gentle with animals.

Start Right Away!

• Early positive experiences shape your dog’s behaviour for the rest of his life. If socialization doesn't occur in the first few months of your puppy’s life, it never will.

• Go slowly and reward your puppy for being brave
and well-controlled. Enroll in puppy classes where
he can play, learn and make friends with a variety of puppies and their owners in a safe and controlled environment. Many of these classes add to the socialization experience by exposing puppies to different surfaces, sights and noises. It is also crucial to enroll in dog obedience classes to learn the basic skills to establish and strengthen the owner-dog bond.

• Invite good-natured, healthy puppies and adult dogs
and even cats to your home with their owners to
meet and play with your new puppy, or take him to the homes of other dogs.

• Invite people you meet to greet your puppy, touch him and give him a treat. Try to let your puppy encounter a mix of people: old, young, men, women, children, people with hats, glasses, coats and scarves, as well as people doing different actions, such as carrying things, pushing strollers or riding bicycles.

• Touch your puppy a lot, brush him and handle his feet, ears and mouth. Offer healthy treats so these experiences are natural and enjoyable.

• Let your puppy see and hear cars driving by (while he is safely on leash), airplanes flying, and the movement and sounds of crowds of people and children playing. Introduce your puppy to stairs, different floor types and car rides!

•Don't reward fearful behaviour. If you try to soothe, encourage or calm your puppy when he's frightened, you may inadvertently reward behaviour you don’t want. You don’t want him to learn that if he acts frightened, he gets pats or treats. It's common for a puppy to show some uneasiness when encountering anything new and different. Simply ignore this. Your puppy will take his cue from you.

• Don’t stop socializing your puppy after he has become an adult. Continuing lifelong socialization will help your puppy gain confidence so he can adapt to new situations in a calm, steady demeanour, wherever he is.

The Consequences Of An Unsocialized Dog

An unsocialized or undersocialized dog is
unpredictable and can be dangerous to himself
or others in new situations. He may bite, run away,
get injured or cause injuries to others.

Without proper socialization and obedience training, many dogs are likely to misbehave. And when owners allow their dogs to misbehave, everyone suffers: The owner, because he or she lives with the dog, the dog, because everyone's down on him for misbehaving; the dog's owner's neighbours, because living next to a difficult dog is no one's idea of fun; and ultimately every dog owner, because each incidence where a dog creates a nuisance increases anti-dog sentiment, and contributes to the likelihood that tough legal restrictions will be placed on all dogs.

A well-behaved, obedience trained Canaan is a pleasure
to own because he can go virtually anywhere without being a risk or nuisance to others. And don't we all want a dog who exhibits appropriate behaviour in a crowd, good manners when we have guests in our home, is reliable around children, and who doesn't threaten other dogs or passers-by?

Socialize your puppy for yourself, for the community
and for your own dog’s well-being and safety.

Not only will socialization and obedience training help your Canaan to become more responsive, it will enable
you to have immediate control over his behaviour in an emergency situation. In fact, it can ultimately save
the lives of many dogs, because far fewer dogs would
end up in animal shelters if their owners would simply
take the time to train them.

Questions To Ask The Breeder

Ask the breeder how they socialize their litters. Puppies are naturally curious and a well-socialized litter should exhibit signs of curiosity and like to be handled and petted. Excessive shyness or fearfulness in a pup should raise a red flag to prospective owners.These pups are either suffering from poor socialization practices on the part of the breeder or in some cases, sadly, a product of bad breeding.
If at all possible, meet the sire and dam beforehand.

The parents of your Canaan pup should be of sound temperament, healthy, well exercised, and obedience trained. They should be a credit to the breed demonstrated by titles in various performance events.

Ask the breeder what kinds of activities they do with
their dogs. A breeder who takes the time and expense
to train and compete in canine activities shows devotion and dedication to their breed. Involvement and achievement in performance venues offer further social, physical and mental stimulation that demonstrate skills that access stability of temperament, physical fitness,and problem solving ability - a crucial component in the overall well being of the dog.

To successfully train your Canaan, you must be the leader of your pack, or at least rank above him. Always be firm and consistent in your training, as this will show him that he can't get away with everything, even if he really is the cutest thing alive!

The bottom line is that socialization and obedience training truly benefits everyone!

The Importance of Continual Socialization