So, what is Your Idea of a Social Dog?
The heading of this article and the whole article in general is here to make you think about what you view a social dog to be and look like. I will be asking you questions to make you think about whether what society has labeled as “social” in dogs is in fact right or wrong. I will also be bringing in different studies and articles about dogs but also wolves which are considered to be social creatures by nature.
So, let’s get started with the definition of social according to several different sources. In all cases substitute the word “dog” for “human” and we then see how these definitions pertain to dogs.
Merriam Webster has many definitions however here are just a few.
- marked by or passed in pleasant companionship with friends or associates
- of or relating to human society, the interaction of the individual and the group, or the welfare of human beings as members of society
- tending to form cooperative and interdependent relationships with others
- living and breeding in more or less organized communities especially for the purposes of cooperation and mutual benefit
One definition online I found specifically for what a social dog was “Social behavior is how dogs interact and form relationships with other dogs, people and other beings.” Again, following the human definitions social dogs are interacting with those around them within the community they are put in.
There are a few questions I think we should ask ourselves before we start labeling certain behaviors as “social” behaviors vs “non-social” behaviors.
Some animals, and those that society has labeled as social, need to cooperate and be “social” with others to get food, protection, and other basic needs met. The one example I am going to be highlighting is the wolf packs because they are in closer relation to dogs than something like a lion pride.
Wolves are considered by many scientists, researchers, and others in the field to be social animals based on their interactions within the pack. Wolves communicate with pack members with vocalizations, body language, and physical touch. Their packs are tight knit family units that work towards the common goals of finding food, shelter, and other things to meet their needs. In these instances, the life of the wolf is dependent on its ability to have social skills with other members of the pack.
However, wolves are very social within their pack but are NOT social outside of their pack. I have attached at the bottom of this article a few links for two different articles and studies on wolves. In these studies, they show that wolves are extremely territorial and will kill other wolves that are not within their pack. The one study in Alaska they believe that at least 60% of all wolf deaths are by other wolves. In the study here in MN the Facebook post talks about how one pack was killed by another pack all within a week’s period.
So, the question then becomes why should that be any different for dogs? Why should all dogs be friendly with all other dogs outside their pack? Why should all dogs be friendly with all other people outside their pack?
The other interesting fact about wolves is that up to 15% of them are lone wolves meaning that they do not live with any other wolves for most of their lives. Then the question to ask is why should all dogs be expected to live with other dogs and enjoy their company? Are we as humans putting unrealistic expectations on dogs?
Many people will argue however that dogs are not wolves and that is very true. However, there is no argument that genetics do play a factor in all dogs’ lives in regard to sociability and temperament. According to Wikipedia the following study was done…” With regard to the nature versus nurture debate, according to a study in April 2022 carried out by Kathleen Morrill and others who work in a laboratory that was based on genetic and survey data of nearly 2000 dogs, with the majority of them having their entire genomes sequenced, as well as survey results from 16,000 owners of dogs. The dogs included mixes and purebreds, with 128 breeds represented. The study found that the physical traits of a dog can be attributed to 80% on DNA and that retrieving and friendliness around humans were predominantly genetic. But breed alone is only responsible for about 9% of individual personality differences, with about 25% of personality traits determined by (mainly individual) genetics in total.”
So, if genetics create a dog that is not as social why are we as owners and society trying to make these dogs something they are not?
It is like being an introvert and having someone force you to go to every party, talk with every person you meet on the street, and go to every social event. You will get better at going to those events and socializing with the people there, but you will still not like them any more than before.
This is true with dogs as well. Some dogs are just not as social as “we” would like them to be. We bring them places to help adjust them to those situations, but those dogs will never love being in those situations.
Does this mean that you should never take your dog out into those situations? The answer is absolutely not!
Just like people just because you are an introvert does not mean you get to live in a cave your whole life. No instead you need to learn to get out of your comfort zone every once in a while, and be able to live within society. The same is true for the dogs.
However, what I see more often is that people are trying to push the dog’s way too far out of their comfort zone way before they are ready and then the dogs try to protect themselves by growling, nipping, or biting. There is a fine line that extreme introverts and, in this case, dogs must ride between getting outside of their comfort zone and crossing the line into panic mode.
However, we cannot argue that genetics plays a factor in how “social” your dog is going to be and how much you need to advocate for your dog. See the post on advocating for your dog on how to do this.
The other factor that was mentioned in the study above was environmental factors that can change the personality traits of dogs. This includes socializing the puppy during critical stages of their lives which is mostly before 4 months of age. Those dogs that have very limited socialization with humans and other dogs before 4 months of age are at significantly higher risk of being “anti-social” as adults. Again, genetics plays a factor in this as we just talked about, but environment also plays a factor.
According to Merck Veterinary Manual “As the socialization period winds down, puppies make attachments less easily. Therefore, a lack of adequate socialization and enrichment during the sensitive period can contribute to excessive responses to stimuli, including fear and aggression. Spending the first 7–8 weeks with the mother and littermates plays an important role in the development of social skills with other dogs. However, if exposure to people, other pets, and new environments does not begin before the end of the socialization period, the dog may become socially maladjusted and unable to cope and communicate. Proper development of social skills can be accomplished in part by adopting puppies into the new home at ~8 weeks of age and enrolling in puppy socialization classes before 12 weeks of age, so that the puppy can be exposed to a range of dogs, people, and other stimuli (e.g., novel surfaces, noises, odors, moving objects, uniforms, and handling) in a controlled, instructional, and positive environment. Similarly, visits to the veterinarian or groomer, car rides, visitors to the home, and the use of sound desensitization recordings provide additional opportunities for exposure.”
Let’s talk now about the different categories that have been brought out regarding how social a dog is and where they fall more or less on the social scale.
10% Social Dogs-Generally these dogs like all other dogs and people even ones that may be annoying, irritating, or rude to them. Usually, these dogs are very young puppies, young dogs, or social adults.
40% Tolerant Dogs-These dogs get along with most other dogs/people and will tolerate annoying behavior for the most part. Generally, these dogs are calm, relaxed, and confident dogs.
40% Selective Dogs-These dogs only like certain dogs/people and are wary and cautions of strange dogs/people. These dogs generally are intolerant to specific types of play styles/breeds of other dogs. These dogs can also be intolerant of specific types of people (men, kids…) or things that the people are wearing (hats, uniforms…).
10% Reactive Dogs-These dogs are just not into other dogs/people at all and prefer being alone. These dogs maybe overly sensitive to all movements made by other dogs/people and need supervision, management, understanding, and training to better help them cope with life.
Below is a chart that also shows how the dogs’ social behaviors and tendencies change as the dog ages. Puppies generally tend to be more on the social end of the scale where adult dogs tend to be more in the middle of the scale.
Normal dog sociability levels change as a dog matures.
So once again the question is “What is your idea of a social dog?”
Has that changed since reading this article? Are you able to now look at dogs in a different light and see that many of those “anti-social” dogs are genetically that way, maybe struggling because of the situation, or maybe are just having a bad day? Can we as a society make better decisions and less judgements about dogs not being up to some sort of human made up standard?
And if nothing else remember this “Do you love and interact with everyone you meet the exact same way every single time?” I am going to guess the answer to that is no, so why should we expect dogs to do something we can’t even do?
Below is a link for the few articles I references…
Wolf Information
http://www.wolfsongnews.org/news/Alaska_current_events_3015.html
https://www.facebook.com/VoyageursWolfProject/
Entry Date to look at Jan 30 and February 2nd, 2023.
Dog Behavior
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_behavior
https://paws4udogs.wordpress.com/2017/02/16/understanding-dog-dog-sociability/
