While dogs are highly family driven they are not necessarily gregarious. And while your dog may get along well with all members of your family, including your other dogs, cats, chooks etc, they may look on strange dogs with suspicion. Strange dogs are potentially a threat and this is foremost in your dogs mind. This new, oncoming dog may attack members of the pack/family and your dog will not allow this. This is a survival trait.
Strangers are dangerous.
We continue to think of dogs as being child like, children who enjoy social gatherings with strangers (and how many of US really enjoy that situation?). This is why Dog Parks are so popular, we think our dogs are going to meet and play with other dogs. But the raised anxiety levels of Dog parks are notorious in creating all sorts of tensions. Fights and out of control dogs mobbing yours, being rude and obnoxious are the norm. Dog parks are used predominately by people who have little control over their dogs, they want to exercise their dog without being dragged down the street, but because they have little control, their dog runs around out of its mind with excitement/anxiety causing trouble for everyone else.
People, who have true control of their dogs, don’t use Dog parks!
I believe that socialization encompasses more that meeting lots of other dogs. It means exposing your dog to all aspects of life and teaching them to deal with the new in a calm manner. This includes lawn mowers, cats, postmen, cars, running water, grass, gravel, screaming excited kids, chooks, wheelchairs, sheep, horses, stairs, pools, vacuum cleaners, basically, everything that your dog will have to deal with in life. Build your relationship with your dog, show guidance and consistency, correct where necessary and remember, you should be more important to your dog than anything else.
Teach them the correct behavior for each situation (calm acceptance), this will be easy with the solid foundations of your relationship and the training and good manners you already have in place. Also remember, your dog wants to please itself, so to build your relationship, it needs you to be a strong leader, a leader who shows guidance, encouragement and correction.
If you give your dog what it needs, it will give you what you want!
