A NOT SO imaginary tale.

One day, at a shelter far, far away, a man surrendered three 2-year-old sibling Boxer mixes. His cousin - the dogs' guardian - had suffered a heart attack and was unable to care for them. Having several dogs of his own, including one that did not like strange dogs, he could not care for them, either.

The Boxer mixes were all relatively healthy and quite attractive, with big brown soulful eyes and beautiful coats. But they were very frightened. One of the dogs had to be picked up to be brought inside while the other two followed slowly and carefully, holding their bodies low and their little stubs of tails close to their bodies. It made everyone sad to see these sweet dogs so frightened.

While taking the history of the dogs, shelter staff discovered that the guardian had kept the dogs on her property all their lives. She had meant to get them out more often, but her health was poor and the dogs were very strong. Somehow, she just never got around to it.

On her property, all three dogs were friendly and social with family members. When guests came over, they barked up a storm so their guardian put them in her bedroom. Otherwise, they played with each other, chased birds and cuddled with their guardian.

Now they were in the shelter, alone and frightened. They had no idea how to deal with all the noises and people, not to mention the kennels. They shut down. Essentially, they blocked out the world in order to cope.

Several days later, they began to eat and seemed more at home in their environment. Soon, they would all be evaluated to see where they could be placed.

Most people seem to know that their dogs need to be socialized, but there is much confusion as to what this means. Many guardians believe that proper socialization only involves other dogs; these people tend to take their young pups to dog parks on a regular basis so they'll learn to play with other dogs.

While true that socialization with other dogs is important, it's not nearly as important as other aspects of socializing. From the time dogs are puppies, they should be exposed to the outside world - in a safe way. The primary socialization window closes at 12 weeks, which doesn't give you much time.

Even puppies that haven't had all their shots can be exposed to the real world by being taken to shopping centers and dog-friendly stores as well as friends' houses on a regular basis. Of course, socialization should continue throughout a dogs' life so that he/she remains temperamentally balanced.

Dogs that have had little or no socialization show the effects of this for their entire lives. That sort of unintentional neglect can even end in the dog's death, as unexposed dogs sometimes become aggressive in order to "protect themselves" or are so fearful that they cannot function in society.

How will the Boxer mixes fare? It depends on who walks into the shelter. With luck, they'll attract calm, patient guardians who will expose them to their new world slowly and carefully - and never expect them to be typical extroverted dogs.

Trish King is the director of behavior and training at the Marin Humane Society.


Tails of Marin appears every Saturday in the Home & Garden section of the Marin Independent Journal