When our dogs show to us their capacity to deal with environment changes (spatial) and to ignore things, people, and animals at a distance (distal) as well as nearby (proximal), this becomes a good time to introduce our dogs to interactions with people and dogs (interactional). We are upping the socialization challenge because now we’re asking dogs to engage with elements which so far, we’d asked them to ignore.
At the interactional level, the dog engages and interacts physically and psychologically with people and animals inside and outside the home. For example:
The dog meets people and gets a few pats.
The dog gets to check out the cat.
The dog greets and engages with another dog.
Many dogs I know came to us because the people felt their dogs went crazy when meeting other dogs or people, even those they knew. All this suggests is that we did not take our time at the earlier rungs of socialization.
When I introduce people to my dogs, they’re often surprised, sometimes even a little hurt when the dogs ignore them first. But when the introductions do happen, the people are even more pleasantly surprised at how calm and well-mannered the dogs remain.
When dogs are given the benefit of gradual socialization, beginning with a foundation of relationship with us and gradually working up the levels of difficulty, introductions to and interactions with people and animals go much more smoothly. Not only that, but the dogs are able to express their socializing preferences more authentically, as they’ve not been put under the pressure and expectation of socializing directly with others. Some dogs are more social than others, some enjoy rambunctious playmates, and others like to simply hang out. Let’s take note of these preferences and manage accordingly.
Another idea to take home is to look back at the earlier levels of socialization and consider how much has happened before the dogs were invited, encouraged, allowed to meet, and interact with others. And yet what do we call socialization these days? Operating immediately at the interactional level, which will be experienced by the dog as oppositional given the newness of our relationship.