What is an oversocialized dog?
Rhianna Hermann
2025-06-09 19:55:29
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: 13
When a dog sees another dog on a walk and wants to play, investigate, or just say “hi,” the leash restricts their ability to do so. This is very frustrating for the dog. The resulting display is called barrier frustration, otherwise known as leash reactivity. The concept of over-socialization is gaining popularity, and it does sound like it makes sense, but this one falls firmly in the fad category. It is unfortunate because this myth makes things worse for dog parents: leash reactivity is exacerbated by lack of access to other dogs. All that will happen if a play-happy dog has too much dog play is that other dogs will become boring. That is to say, if your dog enjoys it, you really can’t have too much play. “Over-socialized” or “magnetized” are not technical terms.
Maiya Mraz
2025-05-31 08:56:24
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: 8
An oversocialized dog is often described as one that thinks they can go see whatever dog, human, or thing they wanted anytime. Socialization is habituation to the environment through exposure. Overwhelming stressful exposure is harmful. Lots of good exposure is not. If your dog lacks impulse control and wants to run and greet every dog and human they see, and becomes frustrated and acts out if they can't, this is a training issue, not a socialization issue. Continuous social exposure to sensory stimuli will, if anything, lead to habituation and satiation, in other words people/places become old news and less interesting to your dog so they focus on you more. Socialization only maximizes the social genetics your dog was born with, so you didn't "make" your dog anything, you developed what is actually a gift they were born with.