When discussing class options, the most common statement we hear is " I want a group class because my dog needs the socialization". By the time you finish reading, we will have explained why this commonly held belief is really a myth, when and how to properly socialize your dog, and what the most productive means of training your dog is.
The term "socialization" actually describes a developmental period that begins at around six weeks of age and continues to around 12 weeks. This is an approximation, as all dogs have unique psychological make-ups. Once this critical period closes, it's technically not possible to "socialize" your dog. Any contact with new things beyond this point will be exposure or habituation, but not socialization.

So what is socialization? The American Heritage® Dictionary defines it as:
" -To convert or adapt to the needs of society."

One of many critical developmental periods the dog goes through during its first year of life, the socialization period is the most important. It's during this period that the dog's reaction and emotional comfort to all the items in its environment will be determined. Drawing from their wolf genetics, dogs are naturally cautious of anything new. To be comfortable and well adjusted adult dogs, puppies must be exposed to as many new scenarios, objects, animals, and people as possible during the six week window. These exposures should be carefully observed to assure they remain a positive experience for the dog. Just as it's easy to introduce how great a new person or dogs is, it is just as easy to teach the dog that new people or dogs are to be feared.

A few examples of things a new puppy should be exposed to are:
- Others dogs. Even if you have 10 dogs in your household, the puppy still needs exposure to friendly new dogs.
-Vacuum
-Cats
- A variety of people in all shapes, sizes, and colors.
- People in hats and different types of clothing.
- Moving vehicles, bicycles, and lawn mowers.
- Outside environmental items: Birds, farm animals, moving trees, rain, wind, etc.
This is just a partial list. A good rule of thumb is to expose the puppy to everything you possibly can, before the 12 weeks cut off.

Usually, if a client comes to us wanting "socialization" for their dog, they have experienced some form of unwanted behavior between their dog and another dog or between their dog and people. For many years, it's been advertised that group obedience classes are needed to assure your dog has proper socialization. Puppy classes; those designed for puppies between 8 and 14 weeks, are wonderful places for socialization. Most of these classes are well supervised, fall within the critical socialization period, and expose the puppy to other dogs, people, and often a variety of objects. We highly recommend puppy classes for all dogs. In contrast, most regular obedience classes begin at around four months of age, a month or more after the period has closed and the dog's basic outlook on its environment has been set. A young dog that lacked proper exposure early on in its life will often react in an overactive and hypersensitive fashion if brought into a group class setting. The best option for this type of dog would attendance to a play-group three or more times a week. A play-group offers dogs exposure to others dogs and a supervised opportunity to learn dog to dog interactions. With regular exposure the dog will become habituated to others dogs, eliminating the overreactive "Oh Boy! Look Mom! A Dog!! Let me get him!!" response so typical of isolated and under socialized dogs.
Obedience classes are not behavior modification classes, as many people think. This is like thinking a college geometry class will make you an architect.

Entering a group obedience class with a dog like the type described above is not recommend for the following reasons:

1) The dog will be in a reactive emotional state, and therefore not be able to concentrate on learning the skills presented.
2) The other dogs will react to this agitated dog, causing the other dogs to become unable to concentrate on the skills presented. Being located in the country, we like to use the example of trying to sit and concentrate on the sidewalks of NYC and learn mathematics.
3) The dog owners, concerned about their dog's behavior, will be concentrating on the dog and not the instructor and instructions.
4) The material is presented in a "one size fits all" format. Due to time constraints, individual personalities and environments can't be accommodated.
5) In many cases, the 45 minute class time will be the only exposure the dogs will have for the week. This amounts to 45 minutes of exposure and 166 hours of interaction isolation. Think about that for a moment.

When we compare the advantages of individual instruction, you'll clearly understand why we ALWAYS recommend this option rather than group classes for primary instruction.

Benefits of individual instruction with White Mountain K-9 Academy:

1) Customized learning. The contents of the class are tailored for your dog's individual personality and living environment.
2) Focused attention. With limited outside distractions, both dog and owner are able to concentrate fully on the command instruction. Once the command is learned, distractions are then added.
3) Flexible scheduling. Because we are not trying to accommodate the schedule of five other people, we are able to schedule a class time that works best for your busy schedule.
4) Lifetime support and open ended instruction. For the lifetime of the dog, we offer refresher instruction at no extra cost. With open ended instruction, we continue to work with the client until the graduation commands are learned, even if it extends beyond the five week typical course, free of charge.
5) The best value for your money. Many of our private lesson students have come to us after spending money on group classes taken elsewhere. If given the proper learning environment, a training class should only need to be attended once.

So why do we occasionally offer group classes?
1) Some people still believe that group classes are more productive than private classes.
2) Financial needs. Private classes are outside of many people's budgets. We do offer a finance option for private classes to encourage one-on-one instruction, but this option is still outside many people's means.
3) Camaraderie. Understanding that people have distinct personalities and many learn best with peer support, the group option allows for this.
4) Offerings such as Canine Good Citzen or Pet Therapy require multiple people and pets. In these situations a group setting is the only option.

We hope this has helped with your choice of training, it's our sincere promise to offer you the best instruction available, regardless of your ultimate choice. Please don't hesitate to contact us to further discuss your options.

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