How do I socialize my puppy?

Question

I just adopted a beautiful lab/terrier mix from the humane society. She came in as a lost dog, so they do not have any specific history on her. They estimate that she is about 4 months old. I have named her Hippo :-)
I adopted her with my girlfriend and at the shelter she seemed quite ok around other people. As soon as we brought her into PetSmart, she began to get a little edgy. She barked and pulled her leash when another dog walked by and she would hide behind my legs, or my girlfriend's, when a person approached. Last night introducing her to my brother, she first barked and growled at him when he walked in the room and then when he tried to pet her, she snapped at him. As soon as he left, she ran back and sat at my feet and looked up at me. Hippo doesn't quite know to come when called, and is just learning 'good,' and I was wondering what I can do to help her be more comfortable around people. Another thing is, she will NOT leave my side. Where I go, she goes. Help!

Answer 1

This behavior shouldn't be allowed. I'm glad you want to stop it while she's still young. Since you were at Pet'smart maybe get her some training there. She'll be with other dogs in the class, and around new people. Socialization in puppies is key in order to have a calm and healthy dog. Good luck with her!! :]

Answer 2

Take her to a park or a kids' sports game. (That is, if you live in Florida, where it's not snowing.) Find somewhere that welcomes dogs, and get some sort of small treat she likes: maybe Cheerios. Something she can eat a lot of.
Sit and watch, hold her on your lap if she gets nervous, and periodically give her a Cheerio. If someone wants to come see her, have them hold some Cheerios on one hand for her to eat, and hold out their other hand for her to sniff. This way she'll associate strange people with food and being happy, and they won't scare her by touching her when she's not ready.
You could try using treats to get her to be confident alone with other people, too. Have someone she trusts take her into another room for a few minutes and feed her treats one at a time. Do that a few times a day, and she'll eventually forget to be nervous when you're not in sight.
Professional help is always a good idea, since it's a lot more experience and less hit-and-miss than you'll get here.

Answer 3

Congratulations! I have the greatest respect for pet owners. Your puppy is very much like a young child. It will take her some time to get to know people and be comfortable around them. Sometimes the owner just has to take introductions slowly. Don't rush her into big spaces (pet stores, etc) too quickly. She needs to get accustomed to her surroundings and 'trust' the area she lives in. Presently, you are her "mother" and she feels safe around you. These other folks are strangers - just like with a child - you have to take your time to introduce her to them and allow 'her' to gravitate toward them - instead of pushing her onto others - or allowing others to pet her or pick her up too quickly. She is still a baby and there is no telling what she might have already been subjected to before you became her 'mother'. As she begins to feel safe and comfortable, she will want to 'explore' her living quarters and after a while, the natural instinct to 'search and destroy' (smile) will come out. Put your shoes and other 'edibles' away. I learned my lesson the hard way. Puppies don't know what's OK to chew and what's not. (smile) You can start by leaving her in small places for short periods of time and return. She will get the idea that you are still around. Play music and talk to her even if you are not in the same room. Let her hear your voice. She'll get the message. Also, toys of her own are good company and a distraction for her while you do the things you need to. Good luck with your new friend.

Answer 4

Dogs are not like people. They need help "generalizing." That means, just because your pup learns you and your girlfriend are OK, she may not decide that all these other two leggers are OK too. My Aussie, who I got as a 6-week-old pup and who I know was never abused, is very suspicious of men to this day. There are three females in our household and numerous female friends visit, and the Aussie was able to generalize that all females were OK from us three. But there was just one male, and although the Aussie loves my husband, in her mind he is obviously just some rare thing, and any strange man that come into the house is treated with a mixture of fear and suspicion. She gets over it, eventually, but has never learn to generalize to feel comfortable around men.
My advice to you--what I wish I had done, was get the pup around lots of people as often as possible. If you can get good experienced dog people to come over and play with her and give her treats, that would help a lot. Experience good dog people know how to talk to a dog and give it time to approach, and how to pet in all the right places.
You especially want to get this pup around kids, now, while the pup is small. If you wait, you may have a dog that doesn't accept that kids are part of the generalized "humans" and may see them as dogs below them in the hierarchy--and therefore free to be bitten. If this happens, your dog may end up getting put down, so it's probably the most important training you need to do. Get that message across--all people, including kids, are part of the great "humans" who are good and friendly, but powerful and not to be bitten or challenged.

Answer 5

some dogs get attached to one person(in this case its you). they will protect you because they feel they need to and since your brother came near you he felt he had to protect and snap. what you should do to socialize her is take her to a park and just let her see all the people. also if theres other dogs there she can sniff and understand that its good to be around other people and pets.
you never know what happened to her in the past so you need to respect that... she could have been beaten by her past owner. my dog ive had since he was a baby... he still doesnt like other people and dogs... he gets along with everyone in our house(pets and people) but as soon as someone steps foot in our house he trys to attack them. hes just a little dog, he thinks hes a tough guy but hes really not... anyway some dogs just wont come out of their shell and they are to protective... its good that she likes you so much so respect that. just dont give up and keep trying.

good luck

Answer 6

That means that she isn't comfortable around people because people have been mean to her or she is scared get her used to one or two people every so often.