Behavior Problems Related to Stage of Development

Very comprehensive paper that should be read by anyone who owns a dog or wants to acquire a dog.   The new puppy owners should take heed because the windows that close, don't reopen.  The behavior problems people post about all the time, can so often be avoided with the knowledge in this paper.  Reading this may convince some who aren't believers that it really is all about the stages of development in the dog. 

It's always so frustrating when you tell puppy owners how crucial early socialization is to their relationship with their dog only to hear months later how they just never could find the right place, time, opportunity or whatever issue kept them from socializing their pup.  It's really something I can't imagine not doing with a puppy.  

Thanks for sharing, Anne.

 

JackieG

Very comprehensive paper that should be read by anyone who owns a dog or wants to acquire a dog.   The new puppy owners should take heed because the windows that close, don't reopen.  The behavior problems people post about all the time, can so often be avoided with the knowledge in this paper.  Reading this may convince some who aren't believers that it really is all about the stages of development in the dog. 

It's always so frustrating when you tell puppy owners how crucial early socialization is to their relationship with their dog only to hear months later how they just never could find the right place, time, opportunity or whatever issue kept them from socializing their pup.  It's really something I can't imagine not doing with a puppy.  

Thanks for sharing, Anne.

 

 

You're welcome, Jackie.  That's also one of my biggest frustrations.  I actually tried to nicely explain that concept to one owner (they always come to me when the dog is an adolescent and starting to get really crazy on leash) and she went off in a huff saying "my vet said I can still socialize my dog."  I would love to meet that vet - I'd be willing to bet that the vet said nothing of the sort (maybe explained CC in lay terms?), and the client heard what she wanted to hear.  It would be sad to think that a vet wouldn't understand this very basic behavior information. 

 I came across this independently at the same time as you posted it, Anne. I thought it was thorough and very interesting and I'll be taking it quite seriously.

I've been worried about the trend for "fear of the fear period". People that are advised not to introduce their puppies to new things if they are in a fear imprint period. The main problem with that being that the first fear period coincides with the socialisation period. And furthermore, I kinda treat the whole first year as a fear period. I think we should always be assuming that if our puppies experience something frightening there is a chance they will develop a phobia and/or aggressive coping strategies to deal with fear-eliciting stimuli. I don't want to downplay fear imprint periods, but I don't think we need to isolate our puppies during them on the off chance we didn't manage their environment well enough and they develop a phobia. IMO just as important as avoiding creating phobias is to learn what is NON-threatening. That happens in fear periods as well.

I reckon if your dog has good bounceback and you keep treats on you for emergency counter-conditioning there is no reason to avoid taking your puppy out and about when in a fear imprint period.... within reason. I wouldn't take them somewhere obviously likely to be both novel and overwhelming. 

corvus

I reckon if your dog has good bounceback and you keep treats on you for emergency counter-conditioning there is no reason to avoid taking your puppy out and about when in a fear imprint period.... within reason. I wouldn't take them somewhere obviously likely to be both novel and overwhelming. 

 

How well can you really know your dog and how capable it is of 'bouncing back' when it's a puppy you've only had for such a short time? I've seen confident puppies become quite obviously nervy in their first fear period too.

Having treats on hand is not always going to be enough to help your puppy if they have been exposed to a negative experience during their fear period. The damage has been done. If the dog is particularly stressed or fearful after the experience they could very well refuse treats anyway.

I like to watch out for fear periods and I exercise a lot of caution when I have a puppy going through a fear period, ideally by that stage you have already had four weeks to socialise it and expose it to lots of positive experiences. I don't know that I'd completely lock them inside for the entire time, but I wouldn't be taking them to too many places. Why risk it?

huski

How well can you really know your dog and how capable it is of 'bouncing back' when it's a puppy you've only had for such a short time?

There are tests you can do in the safety of your own yard to get a good idea. I knew with Kivi by 12 weeks and Erik pretty much straight away (knew what I was looking for, that time). Erik behaved as though he was in a fear imprint period a couple of days after we got him. I still got going on the socialising, just didn't let him out of my arms for the first few weeks, at least until he was ready and we had somewhere quiet to do it. My point is not "go ahead and risk it", it's "treat every day like your puppy is in a fear imprint period". Because how do you know until you've already seen it trigger? Better IMO to just go carefully all the time. They don't need fear imprint periods to learn to fear something. It has felt like Erik has been in a fear period for the last 11 months. The more he experiences the better he is at coping with new things and I will be socialising madly with him until he's 2 years old. You bet I take things easy with him. He learns from one repetition so we have to be super careful. But that doesn't mean we wrap him in bubble plastic to avoid the risk of exposing him to something scary on the off chance he learns to be phobic. We just talk about what we'll do before we take him somewhere new that we think might be challenging for him and make sure we are prepared with a plan, even if that means bailing on a holiday early (thankfully, it didn't) or staying up half the night with him (have done that one). It's not the fear itself that is potentially so damaging in a fear period, but the way people handle it (or fail to). I reckon address it then and there and you've done more good in teaching him to cope than bad in letting him get scared in the first place. Although there are exceptions, of course. A certain pathologically anxious little dog with an aggressive coping style comes to mind.

huski

Why risk it?

IMO, because fear periods are about more than just learning to fear things.