Take your dog for frequent walks
Daily walks are great opportunities to expose your dog to new sights, sounds, smells, humans and other animals. It gives you a chance to practice proper behavior with your doggie since you’re likely to encounter more social situations during your walk.
If your dog barks or responds in a disruptive or undesirable manner, refrain from scolding or tugging on their leash as it will increase their excitement and create a negative experience for them. Instead, simply walk in another direction and remove them from the situation so they can calm down.
Invite one or two friends over and host them in a space where your dog can feel comfortable, such as your living room or backyard. Make sure your friends do not approach, crowd or overwhelm your dog. You want your dog to make the first move and approach your guests when they are ready. If your pup does not wander over to investigate, your guests can toss a treat from time to time to show your dog they come in peace. Keep the environment very positive and laid-back to keep your dog relaxed and help them associate new people with good experiences.
You want your dog to greet people politely.
Think about how YOU feel when you visit friends and you can hardly get in the door because their dog is going crazy, jumping all over you, or barking frantically. Or perhaps you cant even touch him because hes such a scaredy-cat.
Those dogs have not been properly socialized or taught how to behave.
You want your dog to be safe with children
You might think, “Thats no problem, my puppy loves kids!”
But often this doesnt last, you see.
Puppies change as they grow up, and many puppies grow into adult dogs who are wary of children.
Over 60% of dog bite victims are children.
Thats because dogs do not view children as miniature adults. Many dogs view children as unpredictable creatures with loud voices, herky-jerky movements, and melodramatic emotions. Many dogs dont know what to make of children.
Heres another scary statistic: 76% of dog bite injuries to children under age 10 are bites to the face. Thats tragic.
To keep your dog (and of course a child!) from becoming one of those statistics, you have to socialize him with children. Not only as a puppy, but as he grows through his teenage months, and on into adulthood.