I was just reading an article re: imprinting and sociallizing a puppy to older dog so they will learn manners.
In the article it stated all this takes place and makes the greatest impact on a puppy by the age of 12 weeks. Dogs that have not had this imprinting and sociallizing are never really going to be the dogs they were meant to be.
The article even comments that rescues are rarely able to recover from what they lost out on as puppies compared to pups raised with correct imprinting (on humans at an early age) and socialized with an older dog to learn dog manners)
What do you as trainers, breeders feel about this and what can those of us who rescue dogs do to help them be the dogs they were meant to be?
THanks

I'm not sure why the title is Dog Behavior Corrections.

Also not sure about the blanket assertion that "rescues are rarely able to recover from what they lost out on as puppies compared to pups raised with correct imprinting (on humans at an early age) and socialized with an older dog to learn dog manners)." Doesn't this presuppose that all rescues missed imprinting and socializing?

Rescues can be from any background that we can name or imagine, including good ones, good ones gone bad, and terrible no-socializing ones.

Are you asking what we can do IF we rescue a dog whose background is suspected of poor socializing, and "what can those of us who rescue dogs do to help them be the dogs they were meant to be?" That's a good question.

I suppose the question would be the same, what ever the question is. But I always thought the most important imprinting period was from about 18 or 19 weeks to about 23 or 24 weeks old.
Or are we as humans, once again simplifying the complex nature of the dog?

If I'm not learning, I'm not paying attention.
Randy

i think it's very difficult, even if you know a rescue's background, to pinpoint what is genetics and what is learned/environmental. you can make informed guesses, but how do you really know how things combined to create the dog as is if you weren't there to observe?

i think connie's point that all rescue's don't come from the same background is a good point. all of my dogs are rescues, all are very different, and all have different backgrounds.

to be honest, while i think it's normal to be curious about background (i admit to it), and i think it can be helpful to make some informed guesses with respect of how to proceed in working with a dog, to a certain degree, i think you have to take rescue dogs as is.

i still want to know WHY a dog is doing something in terms of - fear, prey - WHAT the behaviour is - but what happened in it's background or genetics to create that behaviour, is, to me, kind of pointless to worry about.

rescues can require a lot of patience to work with, especially certain behaviours, but i'm sure lots of non-rescues require the same thing.

take luc for example....of what i know of luc's background, i would say being a rescue dog probably shaped who he is - i know he was brought into a no-kill shelter at around 6-9 months of age and spent 3 years there. he's a great dog. he can be nervous of some things - we've worked through a lot of them, or at least on them with huge improvement - and i can guess that his fear/nervyness comes from a lack of exposure due to being in a shelter that long - but maybe it's not that. maybe he's got terrible genetics and would have been nervy anyways. the thing is, it doesn't matter. knowing he can be fearful and nervy in certain situations has helped me to determine how i'm going to work with him - but whether those behaviours come from environment or genetics isn't really relevant, so in that sense, working with him as a rescue dog with some nerve issues probably isn't much different than a dog bought from a breeder with nerve issues.

....and least, not to me, but what do i know. i have no experience with bought dogs, so i could be wrong.

Connie: that is how I felt about the assertion too. that is why I brought it up to see what others thought, or experienced.

Yep that is the question I am asking. We can do nothing to erase the past they may have experienced. But what can we do to help those dogs we do not get as pups be the dogs they were meant to be.
I have to work hard with my Cody. Due to an error in judgment at the shelter, a mistake, they didn't realize what they were doing when they placed a very small puppy (he is only 11 lbs now and is 11 months old) in with larger puppies. the other puppies played hard and he was terrified. They had to remove him from the shelter and place him with a rescue organization. Now he is afraid of other dogs, but is much better than he used to be. That is an example, I guess really, all we can do is be consistent in our training, train them the best we know how to, learn about dog behavior and give it our best shot.
I was just wondering what others thought about that statement in the article I read. Thanks for responding.

 Quote: mike arnold

"what can those of us who rescue dogs do to help them be the dogs they were meant to be?" In my opinion, we work to develop the dog in the now for the dog we want in the future. There is little future in the past.

Nicely put, and on the mark as usual. PS, your wife must love you very much...

 Quote: Sharon Empson

But what can we do to help those dogs we do not get as pups be the dogs they were meant to be.

Hi Sharon,

I've not rescued any dogs so far in my life. However, I would treat a rescue very similarly to how I treat a puppy, in the sense of doing everything I can to maximize its neural connections and ability to problem-solve and think and learn how to learn (and have fun and play and everything else). Also, I'd develop the strongest relationship I possibly could with the rescue.

Sure, there are optimal stages and critical periods in a pup's early life that once gone, can never be regained. But, even tho an older dog's brain won't be able to respond to such conditioning and learning to the same amazing degree as a pup, still, s/he can still make new mental and emotional connections and be the best it is able to be at this time in its life.

And, even with a dog you've had since it was a baby, things can happen that you then have to fix. Even tho you may know exactly where a certain behavior came from (which mistake we made<g>, still, the work you have to do to fix it as well as possible remains the same.

leih