VC,
Do you think the "use it, or lose it" factor includes socialization as well? I know that if a handler is lazy it doesnt take long for the dog to fall off in performance.

I knew someone would bring up the fact that socialization is good, for obvious reasons (well rounded animal) but too much is bad. The question is..what is too much? Doesnt the character of the dog define how much he/she should be exposed to people? Also, does a working dog socially digress when he is severly restricted to persons other than the handler, on a social level, after having plenty of interaction as a pup or young adult?

Forgot,,,Will the alienated working dog be more apt to bite a clueless child or some idiot citizen or cop that has a total brain fade and surprises the dog or does something the dog isnt comfortable with?

Matt Grubb...formerly in NM? If so, what in the heck are you doing on a site like this? I thought your forte was traffic.... :rolleyes:

To a certain extent I guess it does, but the critical socialization period for dogs is in the 6 to 16 week range.

Beyond that you will never have the impact that you can have on a dog.

I'm sure if you take a dog with a good temperament and lock him up in a crate for four years he'll come out a wreck, but keeping your dog well socialized and well adjusted doesn't take much once the foundation is there. (providing the dog has a good temperament to begin with)

I agree that the critical socialization period begins when the dog is quite young. I'm a firm believer in exposing pups to kids, noise, cars, and as much as possible so that they can learn to distinguish unimportant background and normal human behavior from other, more threatening, occurances.

Our dog doesn't mind being around folks once they have been introduced. If he comes up to people as we socialize, great! If he doesn't he isn't forced to do so. Our GSD likes some folks better than others, and we have noticed that if the new folks smell like dogs he generally gets along better with them. I don't mind our dog being around people or letting them touch him. I'd rather he learn as much about human behavior as possible so that he won't over react as he becomes mature.

I have also given permission to people who are playing with him that if he is rough they should reprimand him. Strict directions on commands and actions are given and either my husband or I or both of us are present. Our dog has never resisted even new folks telling him, "No." Guess we are lucky.

Yeah, as for the great joke Carrey told earlier about the depth perception--it was GREAT. Now that's a good one that I've never heard before.

I think that what you do with the dogs has to be based on the dog. Some dogs are not going to be approached by many people. Trying to force them to allow petting by lots of people is a mistake and dangerous. Some dogs are plain out whores. Our Giant is a therapy dog. Visits patients in the hospital weekly, VERY serious dog at the house and in protection of us. Yet with some high drive, high dominance, and mouthy dogs even if they desire being petted by other people you may need to watch or prevent them from interacting as they may actually bite to get the attention they want. Even with learned bite inhibition it is going to hurt and not everybody is going to appreciate that.

I don't think that there can be any single answer for any breed or training program. Dogs are different and are going to need to be handled that way. The way you handle an individual dog is going to vary situational. By the same token I think that if you can't have a PP dog handled to some level by other people you have a potential for problem. I know of a department that believes the only way they can get control over their dogs is have some one put on a sleeve and drag the dog into a patrol car and lock the dog in by slipping the sleeve. I am concerned about the time to get the proper equipment there, and then get the dog under control. What happens in the mean time? I think that you would need such a plan in place, but should that be the primary method? Wouldn't it be better if the dog was able to be controled or at least approached by other people? Shouldn't the dog learn to "cool" off quickly enough to regain reasonable control, and enough experience to be able to be controled by another person if necessary.