05/10/2025
—Socialisation—
Contrary to belief proper socialising isn’t taking your dog to a dog park, letting them off lead to run around like a mad man with other dogs.
Letting your dog ‘ say hello’ to every human and play with every dog they encounter means these situations bring VERY high levels of arousal.
In turn, outside sources like dogs and humans are placed very high in your dogs reward hierarchy.
The high level of arousal mixed with frustration from not being able to interact leads to the reactiveness we so often see. Such as barking, lunging, whining and lead biting.
Socialisation is about teaching and guiding your dog how to regulate their emotions, make better decisions and to thrive in the REAL world by exposing them to new sounds, smells, sights, people and yes, dogs but in a calm and controlled manner.
Let’s work together and get the best results for our dogs! 💪
