Every Owner should be aware of the Importance of Socializing his pitbull
Your dog can be socialized from the day he is born till the day he dies but that is no guarantee that he will be an animal or dog friendly creature. Dogs have a centuries old genetic predisposition to be aggressive with other animals. Nevertheless, it is necessary you should make the effort to socialize your dog properly.
Reasons for Socializing
1 You will be educating your dog about the environment around him so he can learn from his experiences.
2 He will learn about the objects, places, things and creatures in his environment.
3 Chained up dogs who have not been socialized and had no structured contact are those that bite.
Knowing about his environment and the things he will encounter in it will make your dog better adjusted and you will also find out about your dog’s fears, reactions, behaviour patterns etc.
Seven Easy Ways to the Socializing of your pitbull
One: Try to start at around three to twelve weeks at least when they learn and retain things best. Teach him slowly. Don’t allow him around other dogs before he has had his first shots.
Two: Give him opportunity to be around as many varieties and types of people as you could possibly introduce him to. Expose him gently to the concept of crowd while keeping him at a distance, but avoiding the thick of the mob.
Three: Make sure you expose him to situations in which you can maintain control. Being faced with ten dogs all at once in the park could faze him severely and cause set back in the socialization process.
Four: Try to keep his experiences as positive as possible, even though certain dogs react to stuff you least expected. My youngest dog freaked out when I opened the trash can to but in the garbage bag – who would have thought it?
Five: To get your puppy around other canines the best choice is a puppy class. A Dog Park is the worst choice, where while most visitors are orderly and sociable you always have a few rude badly behaved dogs that upset the works.
Six: If you trying to socialize your older pitbull with other dogs, the best is a neutral place where one or the other dog will not display territorial aggression and spark a fight. This kind of experiment is best arranged with a trusted animal belonging to a friend or a well known animal from the training class.
Seven: Messing up this process can have life ling effects on your dog, so take it easy and slow. I myself am guilty on this one and my dog Angel reacts badly if I ever raise my voice since I ignored her fear signals on an occasion that I shouted when she was a young pup.
While being aware of the things that could affect your dog you can still have fun! Make this effort a light and enjoyable exercise for both your dog and you.
