Tori Mistick [00:02:04]:
So social enrichment, a lot of the times it means positive, safe interactions in novel situations or experiences, but also can be really rewarding for your dog to have these social interactions with people and animals that they already know and trust. So that would be you. It would be their closest dog friends. Hopefully you have a little pack of friends that your dog loves to hang out with. It can also be new people as long as it’s a safe setting. Group training classes like puppy classes or adult training classes or agility classes can also be really great ways to get social enrichment and then calm curiosity based interactions with animals of other species can also be really great socialization. And I’ll share some examples of all of these things as we get into this episode. But before we do get into the science, I want to share a couple little quick anecdotes.

Tori Mistick [00:03:02]:
I’ve been raising labradors for over 20 years, and so I’ve done a lot of socialization with puppies. I adopted my dog Bert when he was 6 or 7 years old. So I’ve had a lot of different experience from rescues to puppies and everything in between. And some of my favorite examples of social enrichment come from my own dogs, Bert and Lucy. And so Lucy, we worked together to get certified as a therapy dog team. And that was one of my favorite socialization things to do with her. And it wasn’t just the therapy dog visits that were socializing, but we actually did about a year worth of group training classes with other friends who wanted to get certified as therapy dogs. And so we became friends with all these people.

Tori Mistick [00:03:45]:
And we also had therapy dog meetups for the dogs to get to see each other and the people to get to socialize with each other. And then, of course, going on the actual visits was really great socialization for Lucy and for me. And then with my dog bert. Now he’s 13 and a half years old, and he is such a social butterfly. So he loves to meet people and other dogs when we’re on walks. He’s very curious, and I’ve worked really hard to build his confidence so that he can be happy and excited about new experiences like meeting new people and other dogs. So I’m always taking our time and making sure that he has a chance to greet the other people and creatures out in the world if he’s in interested in doing so. So for us, that might just be when I get them out of the car.

Tori Mistick [00:04:34]:
When we get home from somewhere and my neighbors are out, we go over and say hi to the neighbors or say hi to the mailman if those people have time to kind of greet us and pet Bert for a few minutes, which they usually do because Bert is pretty compelling. But now let’s get into the science. Those are two little anecdotal examples of how I’ve seen the benefits of this in my life. But what does the science, science actually say about social enrichment? So there are several studies about this, and one of the key messages in looking at all of these different studies is that positive social experiences can reduce fear, and they can also build lifelong confidence for your dog. So a lot of these studies are going to look at puppies. There is one study that I read, it’s actually a review, so it looked at a bunch of other studies, and it was called Puppy parties and beyond. Now, how could I not read that review? And it looked at dozens of studies, and it was put together in 2015. And they found that a lack of appropriate early socialization to a range of people and other animals, as well as different environments, could result in adult dogs that had problem behaviors such as aggression and fear.

Tori Mistick [00:05:53]:
So I was talking about how it really is important to socialize those puppies from a very early age. Another study that was published in 2020 took place in Finland, and it surveyed over 13,000 dog owners, and it found that dogs who had less puppyhood socialization showed more fear later in life. They were more afraid of sounds like fireworks, and they were more afraid of new situations. The dogs with more fear also tended to have owners who didn’t do very many activities or training with their dog. And this was all based off questionnaires, these 13,000. And some pet owners filled out. And we found that the dogs who had more fear also didn’t interact with very many dog friends. So from this, you know, we can see that the dogs who were less afraid had more social interactions, more chances to socialize with other pets and people and also with their owner, because one of the key people that your dog socializes with you.

Tori Mistick [00:06:58]:
So I want to bring up another study that I looked at. This was about attachment types. And this gets a little bit confusing for me, so I’m going to do my best to explain this. So in this study that was done in 2021, they did two different experiments with pet dogs. And if you’ve been listening to this show all season, you know, I’m always looking for studies that look at pet dogs because I think it’s so different than dogs who are in captivity or in shelters or who are, you know, working, trained service dogs. So this study looked at pet dogs. So it really kind of caught my attention. In the first experiment, they had dogs solve a cognitive puzzle with their human in the room, and then they also had them solve the puzzle when there was a stranger in the room.

Tori Mistick [00:07:43]:
And then for part two of the experiment, they asked the dogs to solve this puzzle when they were in the room by themselves, and there was no people at all. And so what they found is that when their human, their person, the person they knew and trusted and loved the most, was there by the. By their side, the dogs did so much better. They were more confident and more enthusiastic about solving this puzzle than when the stranger was present. And then when the dog was in the room by themselves, they were, like, kind of not that interested in solving the puzzle. It turns out that having their trusted human by their side really gave them a boost of confidence and enthusiasm to solve the puzzle. And maybe they even wanted to kind of show show off for their human, like, hey, look what I can do. And when there was no one that they knew and loved around to share that with, the dogs were not as enthusiastic about it.

Tori Mistick [00:08:36]:
What was really cool about this study was that it also compared two different groups of dogs. Some of the dogs had been with their owners since puppyhood, and some of the dogs had been with their owners more recently in life. They were adopted from shelters, they were rescue dogs, and they had varied different backgrounds. And so what they found was that actually the shelter dogs had a deeper connection with their human than the dogs who had been with their person since puppyhood. And I just wanted to share this with you because so many of the studies about dog social enrichment and socialization are all about puppies. But chances are you don’t have a brand new puppy in your house right now. And there’s a good chance that you never knew your dog as a puppy if you rescued your dog, which a lot of people have done. I rescued Bert.

Tori Mistick [00:09:22]:
I wish I had known him as a puppy, but I only know him as an adult. And I wanted to share this little study with you because I think it gives us a lot of hope and optimism that you can still build great connections and you can socialize your dog at any age. While it’s really beneficial, and some might say it’s even crucial and key to socialize them as puppies, we can see that they can form healthy attachments and have positive experience experiences later in life, even as a rescue. So I just thought that was really important to share with everyone out there that hope is not lost. If you didn’t have a chance to socialize your dog as a puppy, you can still socialize them as an adult. Now, I want to share with you another whole project that I find so fascinating, and I have spent hours reading about it already, but I’m going to try and summarize it for you in just a few minutes. And that is the Dog Aging Project. Now, I love reading about blue zones.

Tori Mistick [00:10:25]:
Are you familiar with blue zones? They’re basically a couple different regions around the world where there’s the highest number of people who are over 100 years old. And researchers have been studying these blue zones to figure out why are people not just aging, but aging healthily in these areas. And it kind of comes down to these common traits. So these people have strong social Ties, they’re integrated into their community and they see people that they know and they love every single day. They get in daily movement. So a lot of times these places are very hilly and these 100 year old people have to walk up a really steep hill to get where they want to go every single day. They also found that these people have purpose. They volunteer or they’re active in their community.

Tori Mistick [00:11:09]:
And they also eat unprocessed, locally sourced food. So these are sort of the qualities of blue zones. And through the dog aging project, we’re finding that there’s a lot of parallels between the blue zone traits and for people, as there are for dogs. And one of those is social ties. So while diet and exercise are really, really important, I think one of the, like secret keys to the blue zones is social interaction and having friends. And so that’s just as important for your dog. Loneliness is very rare in blue zones, and that’s part of why those people live longer. So the dog aging project, it looked at more than 50,000 dogs so far, and they’re still collecting data.

Tori Mistick [00:11:55]:
And this is an amazing project that is ongoing. And what I love about it is they make a lot of their data available to researchers and scientists. So people are able to use this data to supplement and support other studies that they’re doing and other research that they’re doing. And it’s really teaching us so much about how dogs age and longevity for our pups. So what was really cool, there’s a lot of different studies written with this data. So I looked at a whole bunch of them and I will put all the citations in the show notes, which you can find@toriknowsdogs.com podcast. Now, some of the cool findings that I found in this variety of studies that I looked at were that dogs with more social companions that can be people and dogs had fewer problem behaviors and tended to live longer. Actually, we also found that dogs who engaged in more social activities like walks, greeting people in passing, going to group classes and having outings, they had better overall health.

Tori Mistick [00:13:00]:
Other studies show that socially active dogs had slower cognitive decline. So they’re looking at doggy dementia, which is sort of a dog version of Alzheimer’s, and finding that aging healthily and having social connections and physical activity is helping to reduce the onset of doggy dementia symptoms. So there you go, socializing your dog, meeting up with their friends. It really can help your dog live a happy and healthy, longer life. One other thing we found was that the relationship between older adults and dogs impacts healthy and Active aging for both parties. So much so that one of the studies that I was reading from the Dog Aging Project suggested opportunities for older people who no longer can have a dog ways that they could possibly interact with dogs in their life because it’s that beneficial to them and to the dogs too. Socializing between people and dogs helps us both. Now let’s talk about how dogs can safely play with one another.

Tori Mistick [00:14:06]:
The dog park is sort of that place that we all think when we get a dog, we’re gonna go to the dog park and they’re gonna play with all their doggy friends. But in reality, dog parks can be very unsafe. In fact, at emergency veterinary clinics, the most common reason that people bring their dogs in is because of a dog fight or a dog bite. And a lot of those happen at dog parks. And that is usually because it’s full of dogs that you don’t know, and it’s full of people that you don’t know. Oftentimes it’s not very closely supervised or monitored. So there was actually a study done, it was funded by the Maggie’s Fund. And this playgroup study found that well managed small group play sessions in shelters had a range of benefits.

Tori Mistick [00:14:53]:
So they noticed that cortisol levels dropped significantly after play. They actually measure the cortisol levels in dogs saliva to figure this out and show that they are less stressed and less fearful after getting to play with their doggy friends. They also found that dogs showed more relaxed body language after play versus after taking a solo walk. Dogs also maintained better emotional stability during their shelter stay when they had the opportunity to play with other dogs in small group play sessions and playgroup dogs displayed less behavioral decline over time if those dogs were staying in the shelter for a prolonged stay. Of the shelters that participated in this playgroup study, 96% of them believe that playgroups improved the quality of life, welfare and also reduced stress for the dogs who were a part of it. So this took place in shelters. So it’s a little bit different than our pet dogs, as I have explained before. But I still think sheds a light on some really valuable insight into the importance of play with other dogs.

Tori Mistick [00:15:56]:
But that play always has to be seen safe and supervised and with dogs that are a good pairing for your dog and that, you know are going to be safe companions for your dog to play with. These playgroups had the most benefit when the dogs were matched by temperament, when the sessions were short and frequent. So not a three hour wrestling session with a dog that’s way bigger than Your dog. They also had the most success when the humans who were observing the play session were trained to intervene early. So you don’t want things to get out of hand. And then the dogs who are part of this always had the option to disengage or leave the playgroup if they were not interested in playing. So you can see that at your typical small fenced in dog park in the city or wherever it is that you live, it’s usually going to be unsupervised play with dogs that you might not know and unpredictable play styles, unpredictable greetings. It’s kind of a recipe for disaster versus these small curated groups.

Tori Mistick [00:16:57]:
They’re with dogs that you trust, people who you know are gonna be responsible and supervise the play, and there’s very low risk of conflict. We know that the safest, most effective way to socially enrich your dog’s life is not at the dog park. Unfortunately, it is with a group of curated dog friends that your dog knows and trusts and that you can meet up with on a regular basis. That’s another key point. So what are some other social enrichment activities that you can do with your dog? Maybe you don’t have access to a play group or you haven’t had a chance to curate this little group of doggy friends yet. So here are some ideas. If your dog is still a little bit anxious and a little bit nervous, you can try doing parallel walks. So this is when you meet up with a dog friend and you walk side by side at a safe distance.

Tori Mistick [00:17:45]:
And if your dogs feel comfortable, you can get a little bit closer, but you also don’t have to. Parallel walks are not about the dogs being nose to nose or playing, playing or wrestling. They’re just about socially interacting with another dog at a safe distance. If you want to try another idea, you can enroll in a group class or dog sports. So again, usually if you go to a group training class like agility or a dog sport, there’s a range of different sports that you can get into. The dogs are not often playing with one another, but they are safely interacting with each other. Oh, my gosh, Bert, are you guys watching the video of this podcast? Because this little lover boy is just like, oh my goodness, Bert, you’re so cute. Anyhow, these dog sports and group training classes are a really great way to strengthen the bond with your dog.

Tori Mistick [00:18:36]:
You’re going to get to know each other much better. It’s going to help build your dog’s confidence, and it’s really great social enrichment. A third idea that you can try with your dog, is to go on little field trips. I love to do this. When there is inclement weather, we’ll go walk around the Home Depot. You can, I think, go to TJ Maxx. I think it’s dog friendly. You can go to Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shops.

Tori Mistick [00:18:58]:
There’s a bunch of different dog friendly stores that you can walk around and your dog can maybe safely greet other people and there might be other dogs there that they can safely greet as well. And then finally, the fourth idea I want to share with you, which is kind of what Bert and I do, is our senior friendly socialization, where we just casually greet people as we are walking around. Bert loves to say hi to other dogs and other people. So I’m always reading people and dogs body language to see if they’re receptive to Bert coming over and saying hi with them. And we’ll usually take our time and let the dogs get to know each other for as long as they’re comfortable. And usually after a minute or two, Bert is ready to move on with our walk. My advice to you is to choose one of these activities. Maybe it’s setting up a play date, going on a parallel walk, or taking an outing with your dog.

Tori Mistick [00:19:47]:
And do it this week. We know from looking at the science that socialization is so important to healthy aging. For your dog, it really is a must. It’s right up there with a good diet and exercise. Your dog needs to socialize, but they cannot arrange play dates themselves. So you need to be their little social planner. So go and text your doggy friends right now and see if they want to meet up this weekend. Okay? So to recap what we have talked about so far in this episode, we have found that playing with your dog’s besties is so much better than going to the dog park.

Tori Mistick [00:20:22]:
We’ve also learned that positive experiences reduce fear throughout your dog’s life at any age. So giving them some positive outlets and opportunities to go to new places, meet new people, and meet new dogs can be really beneficial. We’ve also learned that socializing supports healthy aging. Remember, one of the key components of living in the blue blue zone is having an opportunity to socialize and having a tight social network. So make sure to give your dog the opportunity to do that as well. All right. And that brings us to our listener question for this episode. So this question was actually submitted on Instagram and it comes from our friends Buddy and Bear Adventures.

Tori Mistick [00:21:03]:
They say, how do you introduce a new puppy or dog into your life? When you’ve got a senior dog. We did it with Buddy and Bear, but now bear is nearly 11 years old and I’m thinking of doing it again. Would it be too much for him with a rescue dog? So I have a lot of experience with this. But you know, we have seen in that 2021 study about attachment styles that rescue dogs are totally capable of forming strong attachments with their new family. So I would say don’t be hesitant about getting a rescue dog for that reason. I think that they will fit in perfectly with your family and with Bear. But I also would share with you some advice from my own personal experience. So when I got my dog Lucy as a puppy, my other dog Lola was nine years old.

Tori Mistick [00:21:53]:
So Lucy was like nine weeks old and Lola was nine years old. And I think it definitely gave Lola an extra burst of life to have this exciting and sometimes annoying new puppy in the household. But my advice for pet parents would be to just make sure you have enough time to do this. So I found that Lucy’s needs for, for walks and playtime and training and all kind of other stuff were very different than Lola’s needs. So even as Lola got older, as she was 11 and 12 years old, I was taking them on one walk together around the block, dropping Lola off at home and then taking Lucy on a completely other walk for another mile or two. And so it really was a little bit time consuming to have such a big age gap, but it also was really rewarding and I’m really thankful that Lucy had the opportunity to get to know Lola. It was a very off sided relationship because Lucy really loved Lola so much more than Lola loved Lucy because Lucy was sort of, you know, a crazy annoying puppy. And Lola was in her golden, golden silver years, whatever they are, and she kind of wanted to chill and relax and she was used to being the queen of the castle.

Tori Mistick [00:23:09]:
But I do still think that it’s really wonderful to have them together. And if you do do this, I wish you all of the best of luck and let me know how it goes. Finally, that brings us to our final segment of this episode and that is our product spotlight. And the only two products I want to recommend to you today are pretty straightforward. It’s a treat pouch and some high value treats treats. I’m going to put a link to my Amazon shop in the show description here. It’s just Amazon.com shop wearwagRepeat but I’ll put the link right below for you as well. And I link to a lot of different treat pouches that I like and some high value treats.

Tori Mistick [00:23:48]:
I really love Stella and Chewy’s Meal Mixers. I love treats from Bundle and Joy and Zuke’s minis are really great and the reason why these two things are the product Product Spotlight today is because when you are socializing your dog, either a puppy, an adult or a senior dog, you want to make sure that they are all positive experiences and we know that the way to your dog’s heart is through their stomach. So make sure that you have lots of tasty treats on hand. Strap that treat pouch on anytime that you go out for a new outing or experience with your dog and make sure to give them lots of rewards so that they can develop their confidence in these new situations when meeting new people and new pets. So it’s a pretty simple Product Spotlight this week wrapping up this episode about social enrichment for your dog. I really encourage you to pick one of the social enrichment activities that I explained for you or think of your own new activity and then come and tell me about it after you have done it. Schedule that to happen this weekend because socializing is just so important for your dog. After you do some sort of fun social enrichment activity, come and tell me about it.

Tori Mistick [00:24:59]:
On Instagram you can find Meystic and you can also find all the show notes, resources and a really awesome freebie, the ultimate enrichment ebook. They all live@toriknowsdogs.com podcast make sure you tune in for episode nine that will be coming out very soon about physical enrichment. Then we have our final episode of season one coming out shortly after that. And as always, if you want to take your enrichment to the next level, I have the Mental Enrichment Activity Pack which is a bite sized online course full of 10 unique and novel mental enrichment activities that you can do with your dog from beginner to advanced again, you can also find that@toriknowsdogs.com podcast podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Tell your dog I said hi and I’ll see you back here for the next episode.