Experimental Approach

This is the time that the mother bonds with the newly born shortly after birth up to 3 weeks. If they don't learn certain behaviour in this period it may be difficult to learn as an adult dog.

Socialisation

This happens between 3-16 weeks. This is also the time that relationships with other animals are formed. The mother also learns the puppy socialising skills that we can't teach them. But we should also introduce other animals and dogs to the pups between 8 and 16 weeks. Never take a pup away from his mother before 8 weeks. She also teaches the pup bite inhibition meaning how hard to bite so that it is not sore which is different from a dog being tolerant and not biting. The most crucial part for socialization is up to 12 weeks of age.

Habituation

This is when the pup is starting to adapt to a new environment but can only take place when it's neutral or positive.

This can be done in two ways...

Say a dog is scared of a cat...you can then slowly introduce the puppy to the cat by keeping the cat at a distance and letting the puppy explore for himself before you would think of adding another cat. This is called Systematic Desensitization.

Or

By doing it fast and putting the puppy in the same room as the cat and closing the door. This is called Flooding.

The problem is that this could very easily over socialize your puppy which means that it did not happen force free. Remember positive reinforcement should be a force free method, meaning that even luring a dog with a treat to be exposed to something it is afraid of is forcing the dog to socialize with something it is not ready for. Take time sit with your dog and let your dog explore the object at it's own time. You can throw a treat in the direction, but do not lure the dog. Keep all experiences positive. Expose your dog not just to a few people and the same dogs all the time but to many different types, shapes and sizes.

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