Dog trainers say socialization is essential for a dog. The unsocialized dog often becomes aggressive, causing a hazard both to people and to other dogs. Madalyn McKenney Moorman is a dog trainer at Mad 4 My Dog, in Bloomington. She has trained hundreds of dogs throughout her career.

“Training and socialization are huge,” she said. “It is essential for dogs to get around as many people, dogs, places, sights, and sounds (as possible) because socialization is what helps them understand that everything in the world is not scary and a threat.”

Moorman said because most of the puppies leave from their parents when they are six to eight weeks old, they need some training and experience from the owners to become friendly dogs.

“Because under-socialized dogs, who have not been socialized, have not met a lot of dogs and people, they can be scared of everything,” Moorman said.

If the dog is under-socialized, the dog could consider every situation as a threat. It amplifies aggression to the dog.

“Some dogs, regardless of how much training you do, are still going to have a little bit of an edge to have a personality to them,” she said.

Moorman points out that since a dog is an animal, training cannot guarantee a 100% safe dog. However, training can help.

She shows how she trains dogs in this video extra. The dog on the video is deaf. Therefore, the dog is following the trainer’s hand signals instead of sounds.

Morgan Scherer is an IU student. He has lived with two dogs, Sapa and Nico. He says he has seen lots of off-leash dogs while hiking with his dogs and has faced several unpleasant moments with off-leash dogs.

“When we are out on the trails where you like to go hiking with the dogs,” he said. “They sometimes run into some other dogs, and sometimes they are not as well behaved, or they are not on a leash.”

Dr. Lindsey Norberg is a veterinarian at College Veterinary Hospital. She has seen several dogs bitten by other dogs.

“They can get puncture wounds, which are what we really worry about because they are kind of deep bites with narrow entrances,” she said.

Norberg said the dogs tend to fight and bite around the face.

“If it is a little dog that was picked up by a big dog, they can get puncture wounds into their chest and their abdomen,” she said.

Norberg also said the owners should always use a leash when they are taking their dogs out for a walk.

“I think a lot of people tend to want to just dive right in when they have seen dog fighting,” she said. “That can certainly put their arms at risk. If they have a leash or something, it is much easier to separate them.”

Even if the owners see dog fighting, experts say owners should not use their arms to separate the dogs. If they try to separate their dogs, their hands could get bitten.

“It thinks to be aware of your pet, and obviously there are leash laws for a reason,” she said.