Socializing Working Aussie Puppies

Before I write this, I want to acknowledge to my audience that (a) I am not an expert on this and (b) I am generalizing a LOT. This is obvious enough in my own litter about personality ranges.

But I wanted to respond to the comments from a couple of days ago, mostly the questions Anniken raised, which were good. Being my first litter, I made assumptions with Daca that I'm not going to do again - that people knew to do what I do, or what the Aussie culture I live in does. We live and we learn, right?

Anniken described her own experience with her dog who went through a fear period like Daca's but eventually became the perfect dog for her. And she asked, "Do you think that socialization is different for Aussies?"

I want to refine this question a bit - for "working" Aussies. Fact of the matter is that "Aussies" encompasses a lot of components. First, we have two basic strains: working and conformation. There is certainly intermixing, but most dogs fall under one of two categories. Some argue they are entirely different breeds in terms of temperament and even looks (after all, one thing I've noticed is how FUZZY the conformation puppies are that are the same age as mine - my puppies just look like small adults with the level of coat they have). And I probably align with the "some" people. At this point I do have a fair share of experience with both types that I feel pretty confident in saying so.

Here's my case in point: I had two conformation bred Aussies before Fury. So, Fury's about six months old and I go back to grad school at Cal Poly, which has a lot of ag land. I'm running through these fields where there's a lot of Jersey cows who are friendly - and one comes up and I pet her. Then she puts her nose down to say hello to Fury, which I think is sweet as hell until - - snap!

Fury nailed her on the nose! The horror!

Of course, I did go out and get myself a high-octane stockdog puppy that isn't worth her salt if she doesn't grip a nose when it puts pressure on her. You have to rethink these things with a stockdog. My conformation dogs, who did not have instinct to work livestock, would have just smelled back, maybe even licked the cow.

Side note, here's a photo Yishai sent me on that same run with Rippa encountering the same cows. She was a bit intimidated, as you can imagine. I was proud to hear later that she did try to turn back a calf that ventured too close. :)

Anyway, so in response to Anniken's comment/question, yes, I think working Aussie puppies can need different socialization. One of the things that I have encountered through all this is that EVERY knowledgeable Aussie person/trainer I've talked to about Daca's fear aggression says the same thing, "Sounds like they tried to play 'pass the puppy.'"

I did that to Fury. Here's what pass the puppy is: your young puppy seems a little adverse to handling by strangers. What do you do? Common dog training lore says you hand the puppy to as many strangers as possible to socialize them. So when I got Fury, she didn't like it so I did that. She didn't even really like me when I came to get her. Her breeder was like, "She'll bond." And she did, but that's because Fury is a classic reserved Aussie. And what did I do? I put pressure on her to like everyone by giving her to strangers. Which she hated. And now Fury doesn't like a lot of handling from strangers.

Why is that? The breed standard for Aussies (in ASCA) says that they should be reserved. Reserved is not "shy" as in scared. It is "ehh, you're a stranger and I could care less. I'd rather you not touch me, thank you." The AKC standard actually changed this because they added something in about a "keen but friendly gaze."

A dog that inherently doesn't want to be loved by strangers is not going to love having handling forced on them. Think about a reserved person - do you think making that person go to parties is really going to work to make them socialites? No. That's not how they're wired.

Reserved is good - it keeps dogs out of trouble and if you're interested in competition or real work, it keeps your dog focused on you and not on other distractions.

So, if you know your dog isn't going to love everyone and everything it meets, you have to let it be itself. With these kinds of dogs, you don't allow people to force their way into the Aussie's world, you let them find their way into the stranger's. Reserved puppies need the ability to have an out - if they are uncomfortable with a dog or person in their face, shoving it closer is not such a good idea - let them get space. This goes doubly on a lead, or else you get leash aggression along with dogs frantically trying to protect their personal space.

If you are used to a dog that's bred primarily for show or for what many breeders like to call "for temperament" (and what they mean is friendly and tractable), a working Aussie's a whole new ball game and you have to rethink your strategies. Show dogs have to be friendly - they have to ADORE showing to really get an edge in that venue. They have to say, "Look at me! Put your hands on me! Adore me!" Same with a "for temperament" dog - only in this case it's less about showing and more about, "Poke me, prod me, I don't care, I love you anyway!"

The funny thing is, having come from the former's background, and having a reserved Aussie now, the reserved Aussie temperament makes so much more sense - is so much more smart. I remember Terry Martin once saying something about "No dog of mine will ever let himself get stolen." Exactly. My dogs, and working dogs, know their owners. They aren't going to be all thrilled about the dude next door. It's good.

But it's not so good when you don't expect it.

I was watching Rippa this week at a meeting at Yishai's house: people were calling her to come over and play and she was like, "Mmmm, nah." She came over in her own good time. When I got there she was all excited and ready to party and got a little more outgoing with everyone else, before she decided to go back under the desk and take a nap. Folks picked her up and she tolerated it, but she clearly didn't *like* it. And I keep thinking that if we had played "pass the puppy" with her - she very likely could have ended up the same way as Daca. Who knows?

All I do know is that it's not that the puppies weren't handled enough. ALL of my puppies are relatively calm, respectful, and well bonded to their owners. They all liked handling and playing with strangers in their early puppyhood, and they were well socialized to all types of people. Pass the puppy is NOT the solution here - we're dealing with something entirely different.

But, as I say with generalizations, that's all this is - Emma in my litter is absolutely a little show dog. Adore me! Look at me! Touch me! It's too bad her angulation is so straight.