In Town, Real World Socializing with Carlos Day 2

Socializing a dog is a very misunderstood topic in the world of dog training. So much so that most people do it completely wrong. When I say wrong, I mean they truly believe that socializing means meeting every dog and every person they come across. This ultimately sets dogs up for failure. These dogs oftentimes end up neurotic, fearful and aggressive – basically anything but socialized.

Carlos had some issues with lunging at dogs and acting a bit rambunctious around other dogs. Now, I will say that he doesn’t do it in this lesson, but the lesson is a valuable one nonetheless. Doug and Carlos compete in dog obedience (and do quite well), but the real word stuff was a bit of a tussle. Be sure to check the previous lesson that we did together where we addressed his overall “free time ” and how to trust Carlos to be a dog.

When we carried that over to the socialization, it was awesome. I believe in not being overly nitpicky on dogs, because I think it makes them neurotic. I’m all for solid structure, a correction or two for acting out, but ultimately the dog needs to walk on a loose leash no matter where we are.

Listen to the conversation on our walk, listen to what I explain to Doug and how I break down the overall mindset that I expect from the dog and I think it will give you a world of understanding on proper socialization.