Socialization question...

PurpleFalcon

Maybe this is a silly question but, it keeps popping up as I read about different dog breeds. Sorry if it's in the wrong place it appeared appropriate. Here goes:

I keep reading about different dog breeds(mostly non-nihon ken) where the standard claims the dogs have a natural inclination to protect their owners or are natural watch dogs etc. but, if the dog is properly socialized as a puppy is that really going to be true? I mean, if a dog is well socialized they're supposed to some-what comfortable in strange situations, around new and different people right? Can a dog still be wary of strangers and protective of their owner if they're well socialized and comfortable around strangers and in strange and new situations?

Sorry if that doesn't make sense, or my question isn't clear. I can rephrase...I guess I'm just curious about how socialization plays a role in these supposed breed traits?

Calia

A lot of the times what people would considering a natural inclination of protecting the owner or a natural watch dog, they're actually misinterpreting a fearful or low confidence dog. With socialization, you are trying to make a more confident and less fearful dog, one that won't be a potential "time bomb" (think potential lawsuit).

lindsayt

Defininately not a silly question.

"Can a dog still be wary of strangers and protective of their owner if they're well socialized and comfortable around strangers and in strange and new situations?"

The thing to keep in mind about socializing breeds whose instinct is to guard or protect the family, is that you are helping the dog learn what is normal and abnormal, and what merits guarding and when. The dogs who are not socialized, basically do not develop good judgement and are unlikely to have those good discrimination skills that you NEED with a breed who tends to be guardy or protective. So ideally, you would have a large well socialized "protective" breed that you can take many different places, but that knows the difference between a suspicious stranger and one whom you introduce to the dog as a friend, and who also knows when to act when a true threat appears and who will also LISTEN to you.

BradA1878

Yea, what Lindsay wrote.

A guardian breed should get MORE socialization than a typical breed might get, as you need them to develop good judgment, and they can't develop good judgment without abundant (proper) socialization.

A lot of the guardian breeds would run loose in villages and play with the children during the day, and then be put out at night for guarding duty, so they were "naturally socialized" with their environment - thus good judgment was not an issue (plus they would be shot if they showed poor judgment, so there was a stricter selection process back then).

Now days, liability is a huge concern, so dogs (especially guardian breeds) aren't allowed to simply roam their neighborhoods alone. So, we have to force socialization, otherwise the dogs are alienated from the world and become paranoid. Because of this, we owners of guardian breeds (or any breed with suspicion), have to work extra hard to try and recreate what was a natural process back when these breeds were being created.

Socialization will not change the inherited personality of a dog, it will only augment it. So a suspicious, reactive, and defensive dog will always be that, no matter how much socialization they get, but socialization will help to adjust the dog's thresholds which will help shape their "judgment".

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PurpleFalcon

Wow thanks, those were some really great answers and they really cleared it up for me. It makes sense that socialization would help define normal for the dog. Thank-you!

Zinja

Hey Brad, which breeds in particular are you talking about? The history sounds like an interesting story I would like to read up on.

BradA1878

@Zinja - Several of the man-aggressive flock guardians, as well as the nomadic LGD-types, would fit the breed-model I described.

So, that would be any of the Central Asian Shepherds (Tobet, Sage Koochee aka Kuchi Dog), Tibetan Mastiffs, Caucasian Shepherds, Armenian Gampr, Bhontia, Bankhar... I'm sure there are others. Maybe the Carpathian Shepherd Dog too, not sure tho.

Here's an example of the Bankhar:





See how thy were free to basically roam the village - even the pups.

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Zinja

That video was awesome! I wish i understood it though. They way the dogs were gental to the children, rabbits, and lambs but would protect the village from the foreigners with horses 3x their size was incredible.

Thanks for posting the vid!