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Questions about socialization (barking and kids)

831 views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  TiaMarie 
#1 ·
Oaks is now 4 months old, and I have been doing my best to take him out often and socialize him so he won't be stranger aggressive. Now he almost expects to meet everyone and he pulls and gets excited with every person we walk by. He's been really good about no jumping and I make him sit, but after the scene he caused at Home Depot today in line I felt the same as I do when my 5 year old acts up in the store and I don't want to bring him anywhere again!

How can I help Oakley realize we can't meet every person we come by? He became very agitated when I told him to sit stay in line with a lot of people around us who weren't giving him attention- causing him to bark like crazy. Should I stop letting him get pets from strangers for a while?

The other issue I'm running into is when we are out with my son on a walk or at the pet food store and people ask to pet Oaks, my son gets jealous of the attention (he's 5) and then asks the stranger to hug him. I've explained to him stranger danger, but I can see the issue with trying to socialize the puppy with people we don't know as confusing for him.

I guess what I'm asking is:
1. How do I stop the attention getting barking and teach Oaks to ignore people unless I say it's ok?
2. Should I disallow stranger socialization all together because its sending a bad message to my child?
 
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#2 ·
Maybe to help your son understand the importance of stranger safety, you could limit human contact to visits to safe or safer places, rather than just strangers on the street. ie trip to the fire dept or police dept. Dept of public works.

I can see why the socializing would be confusing to your son so maybe for a little while you could take the"sorry, he is in training" when approached by strangers.

I was pretty selective with who my boy greeted when he was a pup but I did take him out every day so that he saw people. Being selective in who he greeted made it easier to ensure a positive experience.

Maybe you could enlist your sons help in deciding where a safe place would be to let your pup meet someone new. Ask him why he thinks it would be safe. This will get him thinking and 5year olds love to think and be helpful.
 
#5 ·
Maybe you could enlist your sons help in deciding where a safe place would be to let your pup meet someone new. Ask him why he thinks it would be safe. This will get him thinking and 5year olds love to think and be helpful.
I like this idea, a lot. For now when we walk I think we will get one of those "In Training" harnesses to deter people for now. While I want my pup to be friendly I think I need to be more cautious about my son and my own safety while we are out and set a better example for him. I got caught up in the idea that if I don't socialize my pup as much as possible he would become aggressive like my two GSDs from my childhood.
 
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