The socialization of puppies and adult dogs
Socialization, after the imprinting stage, is the key period for the puppy.
In fact, during this period the puppy dog will be brought into contact with the outside world (people, animals, children, noises in general, and everything else that it may find around it as an adult).
Sometimes with good socialization, you can make up for some mistakes made in the imprinting stage or you can make up for absolutely deficient imprinting.
All of this will allow the puppy to grow up without mental turmoil, anxieties, phobias, fears and distrusts that often cause aggression problems.
The same applies to the adult dog, that is, what has not been done in the imprinting stage and later in the socialization stage can be done when the dog is already an adult, obviously in a much longer time, always respecting what are the characteristics of the dog.
In the socialization stage, the puppy, and very often the adult dog as well, will be curious but also insecure and often intimidated and wary.
He will look to the man for a leader figure, a reassuring and dominant figure who will make the dog understand the right behavior to follow at all times: this figure is called a LEADER!
The role of the top dog
The pack leader is a LEADER! He is the dominant figure who gives discipline and sets the rules.
A society without rules cannot exist, and if it comes to exist it will last little or at any rate its long or short duration will bring negative events.
I made this premise to make it clear that since the dog is a social animal it needs to live in a pack (society) with rules.
Since the dog's pack is a mixed pack (dog-man) it will look to man for a leader figure who will shape its life forever.
The taskmaster, should be a calm, reassuring, decisive and confident person, someone who can be trusted and who can take charge and solve problems at any time.
The pack leader never uses violence (violence belongs to those who cannot command and those who cannot be respected); the pack leader never shouts, never raises his voice, and never panics or fears.
Let us always remember that the dog must respect the pack leader and never be afraid of him (IF YOU WANT RESPECT, BE RESPECTFUL).
Top dog rules essential for perfect coexistence
1. EXERCISE
It is essential for a perfect mental and physical balance, which depending on the breed, type and character of the dog can be different: from long or short walk, to more or less fast running, fetching, swimming, etc...
2. DISCIPLINE
The rules to be followed in the pack, then in the family environment and outside (in the house, in the car, in the park, on the street and anywhere else).
3. ATTENTION, AFFECTION, CUDDLING
Unfortunately, most dog owners ignore the first two rules and go straight to the third.
Partly because they ignore the importance of the first two and partly because the third gives more satisfaction and is certainly the easiest and most rewarding. But it is much more rewarding and satisfying for the owners themselves than for their dogs.
It must be understood that exercise and discipline are basic rules for herd life.
Now we have to think that the dog lives in a mixed pack (dog-human) and expects the human part of the pack to behave as the canine part of the pack would behave.
But when the dog (puppy or adult) arrives in a new home, it is almost always destabilized by the inconsistent behavior of the human pack, such that the dog, which is already sensitive to the moods and unstable moods and behaviors of some people, becomes very stressed and confused.
This stress manifests itself in attitudes that the owner does not approve of and that send the whole family into "meltdown."
Owners almost always blame the dog and do not even want to think about and accept the assumption that if the dog has a behavioral problem, it is always related to poor management.
