Dogs vary in their degree of friendliness to strangers. (outside their own family) Many dogs in shelters or rescued from the street lack social contact with people.
Origin
The chances of socializing a dog with humans are short, between 2 and 18 weeks old. This is not to say that socialization ends by then, but it must have started around this age for the dog to accept humans and other dogs as part of its environment. If socialization has not started between 4 and 6 weeks of age, the puppy will react with suspicion and fear towards strangers.
Many dog owners believe their dog’s fear of strangers originated from mishandling or mistreating the dog in the past. In reality it is a lack of good and intensive social contact with the outside world. That is why every dog book reiterates the importance of taking your dog everywhere. He must meet everyone: young, old, male, female. Sometimes this is not possible if you have adopted an older dog and they already have a fear of people and other things.
Although the socialization deficit cannot be reversed, the dog’s life can be improved through training. The problem can never be completely solved, but training can help the owner to make the dog’s life easier and safer to walk the dog between people. First, one must find what the dog is afraid of or set an achievable goal. If the dog has never met a child or reacts aggressively when he sees a child, will make him trustworthy with children are not an achievable goal. A dog that has little or no experience with children will never become a reliable and safe dog with children. The best thing you can do is gain more control over the dog’s behavior and work on the dog’s obedience.
To be able to do this kind of training requires a good relationship between owner and dog. He has to trust that you will never put him in a situation where he has to bite to get out. Being your dog’s protector means convincing him that you are protecting him in situations where great tolerance is expected from the dog and never leave him unattended in a potential problem situation.
Do’s & Don’ts
Physical corrections should never be used in response to the dog’s behavior, this will increase the dog’s aggression and associate the unpleasant with the thing or person it fears. If the dog growls or snaps, it means that the dog has been pushed too far and he is no longer learning anything: he is reacting emotionally. The higher his emotional response, the less likely he will learn an alternative behavior. Punishment suppresses the warning signs of aggression (growling, snapping, barking) and teaches the dog to skip these signals and bite immediately. This makes the dog very dangerous. In order to control a scared dog, it is necessary for the dog to make good associations with the objects and persons it fears. This can be taught to the dog through target training. This means that the dog is taught to touch an object or person with his nose in exchange for a click and a treat.