Dog Socialization With People

There are numerous reasons for a dog to exhibit an aggressive attitude toward people. Usually the reason a dog will exhibit aggression toward someone is because something has ignited feelings of fear in the dog. The incident that causes fear in your dog may be nothing more than a person's demeanor or an object that your dog feels unsure about. There are many aspects to dog socialization.

Ginger’s Story

A few years ago I owned a beagle named Ginger who had a very gentle disposition. She loved everyone who was willing to rub her chest occasionally. One day, while outside in the garden, I was surprised to see my gentle beagle running and barking aggressively after our postman who was attempting to deliver a package to our door. My dog’s reaction surprised me as I had never seen her act aggressively toward anyone before. Dog socialization with different people had never been a problem with her. Sometimes she would run out toward a visitor and greet them by immediately dropping onto her back to get her chest rubbed, but never with the intention of attacking someone. This day was different. Ginger was racing full steam ahead determined to reach and bite the postman. It was confusing because my beagle and post man had been friends.

Several weeks later I was approached by my mailman who told me what he believed happened. It turns out that on his day off another postman, who feared dogs because he had been bitten before, sprayed Ginger in the face with pepper spray. Little Ginger had a memory. Although Ginger and our regular postman knew each other prior to her being sprayed her fear of a repeat occurrence seemed to have instilled within her feelings of massive anger and aggression. Steve, our regular postman, wanted his relationship with Ginger to return to what it had been before.

A Dog Socialization Technique

One day on Steve’s day off he showed up at our door step. Steve was not in his post office uniform. Ginger greeted him as she used to by immediately dropping onto her back to get her chest rubbed. Steve and Ginger reignited their friendship. However, this did not totally end Ginger's aggression. Dog socialization with other people in uniform was still a problem. Ginger continued to get upset at anyone wearing a uniform with a canister hanging on their belt and she still got upset when a postal vehicle pulled up to the mailbox, even when Steve was the driver.

On a second occasion Steve, while on duty, pulled up to our mailbox in the postal vehicle. He was not wearing his uniform or the belt with the threatening canister of pepper spray. Steve had treats for Ginger. He got out of his postal vehicle staying a few minutes to rub Ginger’s belly before leaving to continue his mail route. Our beagle Ginger now accepted Steve, the postman, as a friend.

Ginger remained fearful of everyone else in uniform until her death at nearly 16 years of age. That one little incident caused her to remember her ordeal of being pepper sprayed for nearly half her life span.

Dog Socialization Recap

Sometimes an action such as a neighborhood child throwing a newspaper at your dog will cause him to be aggressive toward that child. At other times the direct reason for the fear cannot be determined, however, the solution is the same. Dog socialization requires that you identifying your dog’s motivating fear then help solve the problem of aggression as you familiarize your dog with the people and objects he fears.

In the case of a child throwing a newspaper at your dog, you can provide opportunities for social interaction that will, hopefully, solve the problem by creating a friendship. Dog socialization, in cases like this, can take some time but it is worth the effort.

Trust can be slow to build and may require multiple meetings before both parties feel comfortable interacting socially. Remember dogs and kids both respond well to treats of all kinds.