Helping you to be Top Dog in your home
Telephone: 01452 690805 email: info@topdogstraining.co.uk
Socialisation Sessions
These are held on a Friday evening from 5.30-6.30pm in the Wingate Sports Field, Podsmead Gloucester GL1 5NS, accessible from Tuffley Avenue. The cost is £5 per session. Anyone is welcome but before coming please read the rules below.
Top Dogs expanded to running socialisation Sessions after receiving a high volume of calls relating to canine communication problems. These sessions are for anyone wishing to improve their dog's canine communication skills or looking to maintain their dog's level of socialisation.
1. Dogs should be off lead or on a long line (not a flexi lead) if their recall is not well established. Leads can prevent dogs from displaying their desired body language leading to incorrect communication.
2. No toys are allowed as the purpose of the sessions is to socialise, not play and toys can lead to possessive behaviour by other dogs.
3. If you have any concern at all that your dog may bite it should be muzzled using basket muzzle.
4. The dogs should be left to communicate by their own means the majority of the time, however it is important that they do not learn bullying behaviour so it maybe necessary for you to interrupt from time to time, for these purposes you might like to bring some tasty treats.
Why is socialisation important?
Under-socialised dogs will not necessarily be fearful around other dogs. They may well be interested in other dogs but just lack social greeting skills. Many puppy or adolescent dogs are very over the top when greeting other dogs and can annoy older dogs with their crude and often boisterous body language. The best way of teaching these dogs how to interact with their own kind is to give them regular contact with other dogs, preferably older, well socialised ones. The very worst thing you can do with a dog that is not skilled in canine communication is to keep it away from other dogs. If they are not allowed to learn the correct communication procedures, valuable lessons will never be learnt which can often result in misunderstanding and aggression. This could result in the dog learning to be aggressive towards other dogs. If you go to any park on a Sunday afternoon you will see plenty of dogs not getting on simply because they cannot communicate properly. Research has also revealed the fact that socialisation can wear off over time; therefore socialisation has to be continually reinforced throughout the animal’s life.
