Shyla's Socialization

In a comment, a reader from the acd6pack asked a great question recently when I wrote about Shyla's socialization in town. The reader asked why I was so intent on in-town socialization for Shyla.

Given how absolutely relaxed Shyla is at home and in the mountains, I can see why someone would wonder about why I think that town-socialization is necessary. Shyla would be thrilled if she could live her entire life in our little slice of paradise and only have to meet our good friends who come by the house.

The main reason for socialization training is that it is inevitable that Shyla will have to go to town throughout her life. First and foremost, our vets are in town. Second, we've made a habit of including our dogs in as much of our life as possible. For example, if we go visit our relatives in the big city, we usually take our dogs with us. Our past dogs have enjoyed being included in those outings - playing with our nephews and walking on city streets filled with novel scents. Moreover, if our dogs are with us, we can stay as long as we want, without worrying about the dogs being alone at home.

I'm fairly certain that Shyla would not be confident, like in the photo below, in the big city yet. I think that we're still a long way from asking her to try to visit the big city. Our smaller town is still plenty of bustle for her.

In past years, our dogs have walked with our nephews when they went trick-or-treating in the big city on Halloween. At this point in time, I absolutely cannot visualize Shyla being able to handle that outing - between the traffic, the hoards of kids, and the costumes - she'd be immobilized with worry. I have hoped that, maybe someday, she'll be able to do this kind of thing.

The other reason for town socialization is that there are lots of people in town compared to our quiet little part of the forest. Up here in the mountains, we could go for days on end without seeing anyone outside our small pack. Shyla is still not consistently comfortable with meeting new people. Again, you might wonder why we want to change that. The main reason is that there will be situations in her life when she has to interact with people who she doesn't know well - like at the vet clinic.

Now, when she's too close to new people who aren't absolutely awesome at fearful dog interactions, she goes "over-threshold" and can't function. She forgets all of her training and takes on a scared posture. In the photo below, she's actually doing a trick that I taught her... but I am fairly sure that she couldn't do it if a stranger were standing nearby.

So, my goal is to help Shyla become more comfortable with the trappings of human civilization, including the bustle of town and encountering new people. In my opinion, she'll have a happier life if she can overcome her shyness and build the confidence to navigate new situations.

We've had a recent backslide in her socialization. She was spayed almost 2 weeks ago and was "very scared" of the people and sounds in the clinic while she recovered there for the day. When I took her to town a week later, she had regressed hugely in her confidence. Believe me, you would not recognize her in town. When she's in town, her eyes and body language never possess the zest and confidence that she emanates in the photo below.

I'm going to keep working at it, but I've decided to change my attitude a bit. Previously, I felt an urgency about socializing Shyla because I thought that, if I worked extremely hard at it, I could help her to completely overcome her fears in short order.

Here we are, almost 6 months later, and I haven't managed to do that, despite my very best effort. My new attitude is that, although I plan to keep working at socializing Shyla, I'm accepting that she may not ever be truly confident out in the big world. She may be a lot like me - a mountain girl who wishes that she could avoid going to town indefinitely.

Most of all, I've realized that, even if Shyla outwardly learns to act confident in new situations, her timidness will always be part of her. She's a very sensitive dog who picks up on small nuances about the people who she loves. Perhaps this sensitivity, which one of my favorite things about her, will make being truly comfortable out in the big bad world very tough for her.

Meeting new people and going new places may require Shyla to "muster her courage" to overcome her innate timidness for the rest of her life. If that's the case, it's okay with me. That's my change in attitude - accepting that she may never be as outgoing and relaxed as my previous dogs in the bustle of the human world.

She's an amazing dog - and we're lucky to have her, no matter what.