Editor,
The most important thing you can do to have a well behaved and balanced dog is early socialization. Socializing your puppy in the early stages is an essential part of your dog’s training. Without the social skill ‘Down, Sit, Stay and Come’ will mean nothing if your dog is afraid of new people or other dogs. Fear will often override all your other commands as their basic fight or flight instincts kick in. Nakusp has a very large percentage of rural dogs that very rarely get off the property; these dogs very seldom learn social skills because of their isolation even if they come from a multi-dog household and are fantastic dogs with their own family members. To socialize your dog I don’t mean just with other dogs, it also means exposing them to new people, sounds, pets and terrain. The more positive experiences they have outside of their comfort zone, the more trusting and balanced they’ll be. A dog that is afraid is most likely to bite or be attacked by other dogs and ones that never leave their yard or property tend to get very territorial and aggressive toward anyone or thing that gets too close to what they perceive as territory. Dogsense Boutique offers free communal dog walks Tuesday to Friday at 9 a.m. for pack walks with the owners to help with these social skills (weather permitting).
Jackie Kilburn
Dogsense Boutique