Sometimes many people tend to think that the definition of imprinting and socialization is the same, however these two concepts are very different and although both words are related there are several differences.
What is imprinting?
Imprinting is simply the amount of experience that exists in a dog from the first moment it is born, that is, all that he learns and that tells our puppy that he is a dog and who are those around him, such as his mother, his brothers, other dogs and people.
Making our pet achieve an appropriate imprinting is not a difficult task, on the contrary, it is something completely easy, is what should happen within a healthy and natural environment.
To understand it in a simpler way, the imprinting is based on our little pet relating both with his mother, as with his brothers and also with people from the first moment of his birth, even for very short moments of time.
Stimulating our pet at an early age is very important for it to develop a wonderful and effective imprinting, which will help you and will become the basis for you to be able to socialize in an appropriate way and in turn serve to stimulate you.
The ideal moment in which our pet should experience all these imprinting experiences, starts from the second or third week until weeks 10 or 12.
After this period of time has passed, that is, after 15 or 16 weeks, our little puppy is no longer prone to various stimuli, therefore, it will be more complicated than after this. respond to a correct rectification of inappropriate behaviors.
Socialization
The main purpose of socialization is that our puppy understands what his space is within the real world, where he will be away from both his mother and his brothers.
The decisive stage for the dog to obtain all that experience that will accompany him for the rest of his life, starts from eight weeks, that is, about two months and up to 16 or 18 weeks between four to four and a half weeks.
What it covers three different types of socialization which are: socialization with other dogs, socialization with other species of animals and socialization with people.
Socialization with other dogs
If our dog has already experienced imprinting, this means that it is already clear what type of animal it is.
However, this does not mean that our dog already knows how to behave with other dogs and much less does it mean that he understands his rightful place when he is with other dogs, being very important that the dog achieves a good coexistence with other equal species.
An excellent idea could be to visit a specific park or place where you have the possibility to interact with dogs of the same age, young people or perhaps a little more adult. This type of meeting should always be carried out under the supervision of the owner of the pet, this in order to ensure that there is not a huge difference in terms of size, since if our puppy is only three months old and weighs about 7 kilos, he may run the risk of injuring himself while playing or runs with older dogs that can reach 50 kilos in weight.
These are the ideal moments when our pet needs to be educated with great constancy and without using any type of violence.
This period of time is vital, therefore it is necessary that we prevent our puppy from experiencing traumatic situations, that later may cause you very complicated fears that you will not be able to resolve when you reach adulthood.
Likewise, and if the puppy manages to socialize in an appropriate way, this will prevent him from having aggressive behavior towards other dogs later.
Socialization with other species of animals
In the same way as we are trying to get the puppy to interact with other dogsWe also have to do the same with other species of animals, which is not an easy task if we are in urban spaces.
Therefore, we can try with the cat of a relative or a friend, perhaps a walk on a farm, any occasion can be ideal to make our little friend find out that within his world there are not only other puppies like him and people, there are also different species of animals.
Some breeds of dogs have a very notorious predatory behavior and it is precisely in those cases where we have to try a little more and above all have a lot of patience. It is important that we bear in mind that the idea is not that we take the cub to a zoo, only It is about showing him that there are also other species of living beings like him.
Socialization with people
It is more than notorious that the dog lives in our house, however and in most cases, your world is limited, depending on the number of people living or visiting the house of course, a very small number of people.
When we organize another canine meeting in the park, this may be the ideal time for our puppy to realize that there are other humans in the environment as well. This is a perfect idea, for which it is more than certain that we will thank later even though it may be a bit embarrassing at first, it's just a matter of taking a nice walk around.
It is not necessary that we take it to visit the park all the time so that it can run, when a dog lives in an urban environment it must know perfectly how to behave on a sidewalk that is only one meter long. In the same way, it is necessary that we provoke circumstances where we as owners give a show of authority, that is, our place within the hierarchy, the owner is the one who makes the decisions and is the one who says when it is time to play, when it is time to eat, when it is time to rest and when a problem between the dogs has exceeded the line.
However, such authority must be enforced in a fair mannerFor there is no other animal on earth that understands justice better than a dog.
A punishment that is too harsh can affect our pet in many ways and more when said punishment is undeserved, such as coming home after a terrible day at work and paying it with the puppy, this makes the puppy completely confused. By doing that we will only be aggressive for no reason And we are also going to throw back everything that we had already achieved, because the little one will not understand the reason for the situation.
Importance of imprinting in the puppy's life
When our puppy experiences all these experiences, this will allow him to develop with greater security, full of confidence and in turn without any type of uncertainty that may cause him some fear or in the worst case, to adopt an aggressive behavior .
It is in this part that we really understand how important it is that the puppy be able to stay with his mother and siblings for at least his first seven or eight weeks of age, in other words, at least 45 days. If the little dog has already had the opportunity to interact with others of his species, other kinds of animals or people during those weeks, then means that it has a high probability of becoming a stable dog and at the same time happy, which is what we as owners are looking for.
On the other hand and when the case occurs in which our puppy interacts with other people during the imprinting, in addition to those who are already part of the group within the home, it will be very beneficial, since this will help our dog to adopt a sweet, affectionate and pleasant demeanor instead of being grumpy and asocial.
It is for this reason that imprinting is very important in the life of the animal, since this will mark both your character and your personality, that is why it is our duty to ensure that the imprinting is done in a proper way.
A puppy that has excellent imprinting will generally do the following:
Will walk towards us: When a puppy has a good imprinting it will look for us to play with it, He will not bother if we touch him during his meal or when he is drinking water and also always try to capture the attention of the other dogs so that they also come to play.
Will inspect us: After approaching us, it will smell us to catch our scent.
He will not hide behind his mother: A puppy, regardless of its size, when hiding behind its mother clearly demonstrates a high level of mistrust, fear and a lot of withdrawal, this indicates that his imprinting has not been adequate.