Socializing Your Puppy For Protection Part 2

Now that we have talked about socializing your puppy to people and vehicles, it is time to discuss some lesser thought of environmental factors that can contribute a great deal to the ability of your protection dog. Far too often I have seen even trained police dogs fail simple tasks because of a lack of exposure to certain environments that we encounter everyday. In order to have complete confidence in your dog's protection ability, the dog must have complete confidence in every environment. In addition, certain environmental stimuli can have a drastic effect upon your dog. To overcome any apprehensiveness your dog may have to some of the more common environmental conditions, you must work your dog in these environments, paying special attention to your dog's confidence and stress level. One of the most common situations we encounter almost everyday but can be very stressful to a dog are stairs. I have seen time and again very strong dogs cower at the sight of stairs. This is understandable, I don't like to walk up them either. But, for the future protection dog, this is unacceptable. Start by walking your dog up and down a few steps, and gradually work him/her up to larger flights such as in a high rise building or parking garage. It is important that your dog is exposed to large flights, maybe 30-40 steps, with a platform and another flight. I can think of 100 situations this might be important, but it is mainly for the reasons I can't think of. Your dog may be called upon to search for an intruder, or give defense in a stairwell. In addition, this part of the socialization process is important to allow you to take your dog wherever you may want to go. Loud noises are another aspect of socialization the dog must go through. Your dog should encounter this as part of his/her regular protection training, however; it is important not to anchor your dog to the point where loud noises are always heard in conjunction with bite training. Some dogs will be able to cope with gunshots and other loud noises while in drive, but in their everyday life may run away from the source. It is important then to teach the dog to ignore gunshots, cars backfiring, firecrackers,etc. rather then to agress on them as in training. This way you have a well disciplined protection dog, who does not agress instantly at loud noises. In the next installment we will discuss more environmental stimuli that your dog should be exposed to, darkness and tight spaces. Keep up the good work!