12 Proven Tips On How To Socialize A Rescue Dog With Humans
Rescue dogs can be some of the most loving and grateful pets we lucky people get to share our lives with.
Whatever your situation with your newly adopted furry friend, it’s important to take the time to provide the right guidance and set a solid foundation to help your new pup feel comfortable around her new family – and humans in general.
With a little patience and the 12 tips in this article, you can help your adult rescue dog become the well-adjusted pet you always hoped for.
What is socialization?
Let’s start by looking at what socialization actually means.
There are all sorts of articles advising dog owners to pop along to the dog park or doggy daycare or local pet stores. Or go for lots of daily walks so the dog can get used to seeing and meeting new people and be exposed to new things.
There are even checklists available online that set a target of socializing a dog to 100 things in 100 days. Goodness, I feel exhausted even thinking about that!
For me, that’s a human target that has absolutely nothing to do with the dog, how the dog feels, or the dog’s preferred timeline.
Proper socialization is not about exposing the dog to as many people and different environments as possible, regardless of how the dog feels.
Trust me, if you take your time and watch your dog carefully to make sure she remains comfortable with every situation and pair that with a reward, you’ll be setting yourself up for far better success in the long term, rather than just ticking off 100 things and thinking you’ve got it done.
You don’t want the dog to be scared – that defeats the entire purpose.
New E-Book
👉 My new E-book, The Fearless Fido Formula: 15 Mistakes Smart Dog Parents Never Make Again is officially live!
👉 If you’re a dog parent, especially of a fearful pup, this is for YOU!
👉 AND…you’ll get 4 amazing bonuses for FREE!
12 Tips for Socializing Your Rescue Dog
Let’s now look at my 12 tips on how to socialize a nervous rescue dog with humans. The list is meant as an overview and is based largely on my own experience with multiple rescue pups.
#1. Positive interactions
The best way to start is to make sure the interactions are positive at a distance the dog can handle.
Start by letting the dog approach you on her own terms. You can give her treats if she’ll take them from your hand. If not, gently throw them along the ground towards her (note some dogs may be fearful of a raised arm). If she doesn’t want to approach you yet, respect that.
As you build up the positive associations, she’ll gradually get more comfortable being around you. Take it slowly and don’t rush straight in for the hug!
Move slowly and calmly and let your dog control the level of close contact.
#2. Avoid startling the dog
It’s important to avoid loud noises or sudden movements, as these can startle the dog and make her feel more scared.
#3. Keep interactions short
Keep any interactions with the dog short so she doesn’t become overwhelmed and stressed. Always end on a positive note. If the interaction is just a few minutes or even seconds, it doesn’t matter. You’ll build up as you go along.
#4. Pair interactions with positive experiences
If you offer your new rescue dog a treat while being near them or, later, petting them, they will soon associate being around humans with something pleasant (i.e. getting a yummy treat).
In the same way, when you’re out and about or have visitors to the home, you can reward your dog for good behavior if she looks at the “scary” person (even at a distance) or if she chooses to interact in a positive way. This might include sniffing the person’s hand or soliciting attention in some way.
#5. Keep the dog under threshold
Keeping a dog under threshold means making sure she is not experiencing any aversive emotions such as fear, anxiety, or frustration. So watch for signs that your pup is uncomfortable in any particular situation and either end it, or distract her and move away.
#6. Know your dog’s body language
When a dog is anxious or scared, these are some of the signs to look for. Your dog will probably only use some of them, and they might be very subtle and easy to miss).
- Panting
- Yawning
- Tongue flick
- Turning away
- Stiff facial muscles/tight mouth
- Freezing
- Ears back
- Tail carriage low or tail tucked
- Whale eye
- Standing with back legs planted ready to run (fight or flight)
- Furrowed brow
- Vigilant/agitated
- Drooling
- Shaking/rapid heartbeat
- Hiding
- Peeing/pooping (sometimes a lot)
- Excessive drinking, sniffing, also sleeping to avoid the scary situation
- Avoiding eye contact
- Barking
#7. Know whether to come closer or go away
Distance increasing signals (the dog is saying “no”)
Dogs will give off a number of signals if they want a person to go away, but these vary and can be easily misread.
Obvious signs of aggression include a dog standing tall, making herself as large as possible, upright tail and ears, stiffened muscles, and raised hackles (i.e. the hair along the back of the neck and spine standing up).
She may also bark, snarl, or growl). Humans often instinctively react to signals such as these and take them as the warnings they are intended to be.
“Most dogs don’t want to bite or fight,” explains renowned dog trainer Pat Miller. “The behaviors that signal pending aggression are intended first and foremost to warn away a threat. The dog who doesn’t want to bite or fight tries his hardest to make you go away.”
There are also several distance increasing signals humans commonly seem to misinterpret. These include the appeasing behaviors dogs use to make friendly encounters more predictable. They also help defuse what the dog anticipates might be a hostile encounter if she can’t escape.
Signals include a dog hunching over to appear smaller and less threatening, lying on her back exposing her belly, raising her front paw, or jumping up in a “pushy” or “overly friendly” way.
Appeasement behaviors are the dog’s way of showing they are unsure and a little scared, and it is up to us to acknowledge this and react accordingly and appropriately. (Nilson, 2019).
Distance decreasing signals (the dog is saying “yes”)
Your dog will always tell you if she wants you (or another person) to come closer. Watch for a lumbering soft gait, a relaxed body, and relaxed facial muscles. She may encourage interaction by moving toward or leaning into a person.
Some dogs lean or rub against a person, or paw at them, soliciting attention.
#8. Don’t rush it
Always work to the dog’s timeline and not yours. If it takes her three weeks just to get used to you when you first bring her home, then that’s absolutely fine. During that time she will learn that she can trust you because you never force her into a situation where she feels unsafe.
#9. Start training at home
When you want to socialize your dog with people, start in a place where she feels safe, say at home or in your yard.
Dogs are not always good at transferring skills so it’s best to start where she feels safe with the help of a few volunteer friends. Once that’s going well you can start to expand your horizons but don’t be surprised if you have to go back a few steps.
“When setting up new socialization experiences for a pup, try to set up situations that you have some control over and that are likely to lead to a positive outcome,” says Karen Pryor Academy clicker trainer Aidan Bindoff.
#10. Use management tools
You can use tools such as a harness and leash or baby gates (note: being restrained from accessing the new person may be frustrating for some dogs) when someone comes to your home to make sure everyone stays safe.
Have the dog at a distance she’s comfortable with and reward her with treats for staying calm. At the same time, you can politely tell your visitors to ignore the dog – don’t speak to her or stare at her but just wait and see if she wants to approach.
If she does you can reward that too. If she solicits attention from your visitor then you’re well on your way.
You can also have the person throw treats down away from them and see if your pup wants to come and get them. But try to avoid creating a conflict where the dog wants the treat but is scared to approach the person.
If your dog is showing signs of fear or going over threshold it’s best to remove her to another area where she feels safe and keep her busy with a stuffed Kong or LickiMat so she can stay calm. She’s just not ready to meet your visitor yet and that’s perfectly fine. Take it slowly and the results will come.
#11. Manage the environment
While you’re going through the process of helping your rescue dog become accustomed to all the people out in the big wide world, by this time you’re already making sure you keep people at a distance that she’s comfortable with.
You’re already praising her and giving her rewards when she looks at another person or stays calm when she sees someone she doesn’t know.
Always scan ahead so you can be one step ahead of your pup. Know what she can tolerate and what she can’t.
This includes knowing the distance at which she is okay with having someone be close to her or walk past her, or the types of people she may be fearful of (e.g. tall men in baseball caps, men with beards, noisy groups of teenagers on skateboards, etc.).
To avoid her going over threshold you may sometimes need to cross the road or use a parked car as a barrier. You can be as creative as you like!
The main thing is to keep her calm and make sure she feels safe. By doing this you’re setting her up for success and to learn that other people are really not that scary after all.
#12. Use sniffing as your secret weapon
So now you’re already making sure you manage the environment when you’re out on your dog walks, but sometimes things still go wrong.
Let’s face it, sometimes we’re just not paying attention and before you know it, the scary new person is bearing down on you and your dog is getting stressed out. What to do?
Have a handy pocket full of chopped-up pieces of cheese, chicken, sausage, or whatever else your dog absolutely loves. Throw a bunch of them on the ground to find.
Not only will this provide a good distraction and get the dog to use her brain as she goes into sniffing overdrive, but sniffing lowers the heart rate and blood pressure helping the dog to stay calm.
This also turns a potentially scary situation into a bit of a game, and playing is the perfect way to counter fear.
Why is my rescue dog scared?
It’s true that, like any new dog, a rescue dog can be a little bit scared when she first arrives at her new home. Some dogs may be a little skittish and wary of humans or new situations. Others may require a bit more work than others when it comes to socialization and learning to live in the outside world.
Sometimes a dog may have experienced neglect or abuse in her previous home. She may have been poorly socialized as a puppy and now, as an older dog, have no real experience of being around humans. She may lack social skills and feel stressed in social situations.
She may just be super stressed from landing up in a shelter environment and need time to regroup. Or she may be confused and wondering where her previous family members and dog siblings have gone.
Any such scenario can lead to what we humans consider to be behavioral issues. From the dog’s perspective, however, she’s just doing what she needs to do to keep herself safe and get what she wants or needs (e.g. a quiet space to regroup, avoiding a scary stranger) in that moment.
People sometimes think that shelter dogs are automatically “damaged” or unadoptable, but this is by no means the case.
What if my dog just really doesn’t like people?
I’ve spent many happy years living with two particularly fearful dogs who would engage in aggressive behavior such as growling and snapping if they felt unsure or scared (yes, that would be you, Louis and Daisy!).
So instead we worked on building up their trust with us, and that was enough for us. If visitors came to the house, we put the dogs in a separate room with a lovely stuffed Kong. If we had house guests, we either used management tools such as dog gates and maneuvered everyone accordingly.
We would start by having our house guests sit out in the yard when they first arrived with a box of high value treats such as sausage or cheese and wait till each dog was ready to approach them. This was enough to build up enough of a positive association for the duration of their stay.
Other than that, there was no need for them to interact with other humans other than when they went to the vet, and they quite happily lived out their lives accordingly. So there’s no need to feel pressured to try to turn your dog into a social butterfly if she’s not feeling it and you’re not feeling it either.
Final thoughts
Rescuing a dog can be a hugely rewarding experience, but sometimes adult dogs may have had a negative experience or a bad experience with humans in the past. This can make socializing them a bit more of a challenge, but it’s possible to build a trusting relationship.
With the aid of the tips in this article, coupled with time and patience, you’ll gradually be able to socialize your rescue dog and help them build positive associations with humans. And forget the checklists and schedules, you and your pup will do just fine without them!
As always, don’t hesitate to call in a professional trainer who uses positive reinforcement training methods if you need extra help.
READ NEXT
Resources
- At the Heart of the Walk – Christina and Aurélien Budzinski
- AVSAB Position Statement On Puppy Socialization – American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior
- How to Socialize Your Puppy – Aidan Bindoff
- Pet Training and Behavior Consulting: A Model for Raising the Bar to Protect Professionals, Pets and Their People – Niki Tudge, Susan Nilson, Debra Millikan & Louise Stapleton-Frappell
- Understand Why Your Dog Growls – Pat Miller