Hi - I'm new to all this (posting and being a puppy parent) so here it goes. My husband and I have two 9 month old labs & I'm afraid we are late on the socializing part of their training. We have had them since they were about 8 weeks old. They have obviously been together the whole time and we do take them for walks around the neighborhood but haven't taken them out in public at all to get them to interact with other dogs/people. we have had friends/family over so we aren't the only people besides the vet that they have seen but ideally we would like to be able to take them out to public places where other dogs/people are with out them going crazy (jumping, pulling, barking). Any tips/pointers to how we can start to get them out in the world thats safe for them and everyone else would be extremely helpful.
Hi and welcome! Lately I've been volunteering with a lot of shelter dogs, many of whom have been in the shelter their entire lives. While I'm a huge believer in gobs and gobs of socialisation of puppies from the first moment possible, seeing these shelter dogs also gives me hope that it is never too late to socialise your dogs to a level that will help them live fuller lives. From what you say, you have more going on than just lack of socialisation. You have littermates, which is a real challenge unto itself. @snowbunny is the best to give advice about this as she has two littermates and they each have their own challenges. The going crazy (jumping, pulling, barking) is less a socialisation problem than a training problem. Start working on this at home (least distracting environment) and then gradually transfer it to more challenging environment (your garden, your front yard, your local park, a street). For getting out into the world, baby steps are really key. Build up your dogs' confidence and your own. Maybe start out by arranging to run into a neighbour while out on your usual walk. Work on polite greetings there. Go to a different park/beach/trail. Take them to an outdoor cafe that allows dogs, bring a stuffed Kong and just sit there calmly. Start at home teaching 'on your mat' and then transfer to public to make it easier on you. Dogs need to learn that being in public (1) isn't 100% excitement 100% of the time and (2) is not all about them. Learning to wait quietly is a big part of the game. Others with two dogs of similar ages please chime in, but I also think you're going to need to work with your two pups separately for quite a while. They learn from each other far faster than they'll ever learn from you, so having the other there is a huge distraction. I know logistically this will be hard. Again, just my opinion, but I do think splitting them up for training sessions or socialization outings would be helpful. Good luck!
Where are you located? What do your dogs do if you are walking them on leash and they meet another dog on leash? Not knowing where you are, I don't know what is typical dog/people interaction. The US is quite different than the UK. In the US dog parks are common, and if your dogs are not dog aggressive they might be a good place to start. Also if you have friends with dog friendly dogs and a big fenced area, that could be a good place to begin. You don't mention how much training your dogs have had already. As Emily said it is probably easier to train or socialize them when they are apart. Cooper's socialization began as soon as she came home at 7 weeks, because we already had a 9 yr old Lab to teach her. She also met our friends Sammies within the first few weeks and as many people as we could manage. Unless your pups are very dominant or aggressive they will probably learn to play with other dogs pretty quickly. Usually it goes better off lead, but you have to know how your dogs will react to other dogs before you can try that. Being rowdy and boisterous with other dogs who want to play is not a bad thing, as long as they learn the (dog) rules.
Hi back - we are in NC in the US. There are some dog parks around - and a lot of the time people take them to restaurants/brewery's that are all dog friendly - this is kind of our goal. As far as their training goes they know and respond to sit/stay - and just about have heal down already. During the day when we are at work they are in their Kennels so they are also kennel/crate trained. When we run into other dogs on their walks their initial reaction is to start barking - (not aggressively) and want to go over and sniff/play with them. I think they are overly excited and just really want to play. Training them separately is a good idea I hadn't even considered that - I have never had two from the same litter - my husband did before I met him so I have been relying on his prior knowledge, but I can already tell these two are different from this others. I'm guessing that they will initially have a little separation issues since they have been together since day one. I do periodically take them to the vet individually and Boone the Chocolate one actually does quite well, while Deke the black one is a little more whiny. We do have some friends that have dogs as well with a place for them to run so we might start there also. Any more suggestions especially on training litter-mates is definitely welcome
I would recommend looking into some classes and training facilities (positive training methods only, of course). We are in MN and many local training schools are actually having dog manners classes for specific situations like dog friendly patios/breweries. You could do separate classes with each pup and it would be a good way to focus on training and socializing while also having a trainer get to know them so they can answer questions you have. You can start out at low level obedience and work your way up...dogs love it!!
ou will need to work with separately that is a must. Training litter mates is hard doable but hard you have to patience. I would start by teaching them to both "focus" on you when there is distractions and "leave it".
Thumbs up to the dog-friendly restaurants, but my personal feeling would be to stay clear of dog parks for the time being. If your dogs already are very excitable, dog parks will whip them into a frenzy that you can't control. Also two together who are not well-socialised can turn into a marauding duo at a dog park (I've seen this happen WAY too much). You can also not control other people's dogs. Sadly, a lot of people open the dog park gate, turn on their cell phone and never pay attention to their dog again. It can make for some really bad energy. Instead maybe make your first goal to work up to a 15 minute drink on the patio of your local dog-friendly brewery. This will take time, too, but it's something you can control and the goal will be calm on command, which will be so useful in many situations. @TheresaM 's suggestion of obedience classes is great. Doesn't matter if your dog already know basic commands, the idea is to get them out individually in a controlled environment with lots of new dogs and people. My dog (now passed) had an on-leash aggression problem as a youngster and we went to all sorts of goofy classes simply to get him around other dogs on leash. We had a blast and he learned to be calm and friendly around other dogs. The Forum resident expert on training/living with litter mates is @snowbunny but she is completely out of pocket at the moment. I hope she doesn't mind me saying this, but it would be worthwhile for you to follow up with a PM to her in a week or so (I'm not sure when she'll be free to answer).
I’m super busy today and pretty sleep deprived after two three-hour nights (Red Bull might help with driving 16hours in a day but doesn’t help with sleeping afterwards) and I’m off travelling for two weeks so won’t be on much - just for mindless stuff here and there! @Emily_BabbelHund maybe you could search for some of my old posts about bringing up litter mates to share with Brittany? The gist is: you definitely need to do as much as possible with them separately, walk them separately at least once a day, have them sleep separately if possible. I know it’s easy to say “they’re good company for each other”, but it isn’t healthy if they can’t be apart. You need to prepare them for the inevitable times they have to be separated. As for socialisation, you already know you’ve left it incredibly late, so there’s no point crying about that now, but you need to be aware that the period where they’re happy to embrace novelty without question will have passed, so it could be hard work to get them comfortable around new things. Some of this will come down to their genetic make-up, but you need to be led by them and not try to push them into situations where they are telling you they are uncomfortable/ this will just make them worse. At the first tiny stress signals, get them out of Dodge so they understand you’re looking out for them. I highly recommend reading Turid Rugaas’ book “On Talking Terms with Dogs” and the free Dog Decoder app to start becoming familiar with dogs’ stress signals (which TR calls “calming signals”). Absolutely definitely do this one on one so you can devote all your attention to the one dog in front of you. And don’t fall into the trap of trying to coerce them with food or your body language - when they say “I don’t like this”, you have to respect that and listen to them.
By the way, jumping, pulling and barking can be normal Lab behaviour or it can mean your dog is scared. It’s up to you to work out which it is. In either case, read the Look At That stickie in the training section of the forum for a good tactic to promote calmness around dogs or other triggers.
