Did you know

Socialization: "The process of interacting your dog with other dogs to ensure there is no dog aggression."

A day at the dog park can be a blast, especially when there are no issues or fights. Every day thousands of owners bring their dogs to the dog park and most of the time all the dogs there get along great. Once in a while, you'll get a dog that is great but than dog aggression hits. No one knows why he or she snapped, they just knew that they were playing, running and having fun but it does happen.

In my experience dog aggression comes from a lack of socialization and the owners reactions to their dog, you must watch how you react to other people, other dogs and how you react when your dog is playing. Now even under the right circumstances a dog who is well socialized must still be kept under close supervision, after all we are a well socialized group but we can get nasty too if someone decides to fight us. It's the same with dogs, they may be well socialized but whose to say the other dog is. If a dog fight does occur remain calm and take care of the situation because when your calm your dog has a better chance of becoming calm.

In order to socialize your dog there are a few things you must know. Start off early, 16 weeks is the youngest I'd recommend due to vaccines. 16 weeks is when you get your first rabies shot, and as some of us do not know the United States has the most cases of the rabies virus. England is not affected by the rabies virus at all (The More You Know) ;) . Also be sure to get a bordetella vaccine if you’re going to socialize, only because you never know if another dog has kennel cough. If you socialize earlier, ensure the other dogs are current on their vaccines. Socialize with dogs of all breeds, sizes and ages. This gets the dog used to being around dogs of sizes much smaller and larger than itself. Make sure the other dogs are well socialized if you’re socializing your young puppy. You want to keep your young companion safe after all. Socialize often, a couple times a week and for an hour or two each time. If you want to socialize more do so, but be cautious not to tire out your baby. Socialize in different settings such as pet stores, dog parks, the beach, a friend’s house and anywhere else dogs may gather in your area. Last but not least be sure to reward for good behavior, discipline bad behavior and always ALWAYS keep your dog/puppy under close supervision.