How your Golden Retriever reacts to and behaves with other people and animals depends on how well he was socialized. Socializing dogs means getting them used to adults, children, other dogs, cats, rabbits, and the world in general.
Fortunately, for owners of Golden Retrievers, nature has already done half the work. Goldens are friendly, smart, energetic dogs who love to please. They are normally patient and loving with children, though there are exceptions. Most Goldens are friendly to strangers and good with other animals. However, you may find a Golden who is only comfortable with one sex, with adults but not children, or good with other Goldens but not with other dogs or cats. Socialization depends not only on the breed of the dog but on his early experiences.
Three factors contribute to how well your dog will become socialized: his genetically-inherited characteristics, he experience with his mother and siblings, and his early life experience. Though some over-breeding may have created exceptions, most Goldens are genetically-prone to be open and friendly.
As a newborn, your puppy learned how to behave and react from copying its mother and littermates. In addition to genetic pre-disposition to certain behaviors, its mother’s example will help shape your Golden’s reactions to the world. For this reason, it’s important to make sure the breeder has selected animals with good, even temperaments for breeding. Of course, you can’t know about an adult’s past if you are adopting a rescue. But you can probably draw some pretty good conclusions by his behavior when you bring him home.
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Socializing Your Golden Retriever
Socializing your Golden Retriever is very important. As you may already know, all dog breeds behave different in front of strangers, with some dogs choosing to ignore people altogether. They may choose to glance at someone, then go on to pay no attention to him. On the other hand, some dogs are the total opposite and love to meet everyone they can. These types of dogs love attention, and will take any attention they can get.
Some Golden Retrievers are happy with those they have come to know in their own family, or those they have selected to be friends. Others on the other hand, may feel comfortable just around those of the same sex. Most Golden’s like children, although there are a few rare cases in which certain types of Golden Retrievers like adults but not children. This is extremely rare, and is normally due to the way they were bred or raised.
When your puppy is between the ages of 8 weeks and 8 months, socializing him is extremely important. During this time, you should always do everything you can to ensure that your Golden Retriever meets other people. Although he may be shy at first and not have much interaction, he will eventually come around. You will need to be patient with him during these times, as he will need quite a bit of reassurance from you.
Your dog’s parents also contribute to socialization. If the parents of your Golden Retriever were good with people and other dogs, the gene could very well be passed on to your dog. On the other hand, if the parents were shy or aggressive dogs, those genes could be passed on as well. Pups inherit the traits of their parents ,which is why it is very important to make sure that the dogs being bred are compatible with each other – and share a passive temperament.
If your puppy was separated from his mother before he reached the age of seven weeks, he won’t learn many of the social signals taught to him by his mom and his siblings. Golden Retriever pups that are brought to a new home earlier than seven weeks will normally tend to end up nippy or aggressive around people. Although they may be aggressive towards people, they may be shy or fearful around other dogs, as they lack the social skills needed to be themselves.
Sometimes, if a puppy was injured or frightened during his early years, he can end up with a state of trauma. This type of thing leaves a huge scar in the mind of a puppy, making it very hard for him to get past it. Most Golden Retriever pups that have been injured or frightened by an individual never get past it. They may end up fearing humans in general, or being very aggressive towards them when they feel frightened. When you take your puppy home for the first time, you should always make him feel welcomed, and never let anyone or anything harm him.
To better socialize your Golden Retriever, you should always make sure that he gets plenty of interaction with other people and other dogs in his breed. This way, your Golden will learn how to socialize at any early age. When he gets older in life, he will carry these skills with him. Golden Retrievers that are sheltered or not given the proper amount of interaction will turn out shy towards people and other dogs. With your Golden Retriever being your companion for life – you should always ensure that he gets the socialization he needs.
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