Socialization is a tricky thing for dogs, and many people are confused about what it means.
Socialization does not mean your dog likes other dogs.
Socialization does not mean your dog must like other people.
Socialization does not mean your dog must meet everybody and every dog that they see.
Socialization is the act of letting your dog experience new things. This includes new places, new smells, new people, new dogs, new floors and floor textures. When we say that the dog experiences these things, it does not mean that your dog has to like every new stimulus. Some dogs will never like to play with other dogs nor other dogs will ever like multiple humans. However, those dogs have to be exposed and desensitized to all of these things around us.
We send our human children to school to get an education but one out of benefit to sending our kids to public school is that our kids become socialized individuals. They learn to talk appropriately to peers, they learn to communicate, play different sports and learn different skills that would be near impossible to learn by yourself at home. One of the most important things I ever told a student was that you don’t have to like everybody in your group but you do have to tolerate them. The same idea is expected for dogs. While socializing is a great way to desensitize your dog, your dog doesn’t have to love everybody or every other dog. That is not the point of socialization!
The point of socialization is so that your dog is able to walk and be a part of the community without being fearful. A fearful dog tends to be a dangerous dog. Socialize them so they’re able to work themselves through difficult situations without having fearful tendencies that can eventually hurt you or somebody else.
