Adolescence in dogs occurs between 6-18 months of age (small dogs about six months and large breeds about 10 months).
As with humans, hormones begin to run riot and behaviours may change as the pup becomes a ‘teenager’.
There are physical and behaviour changes.
Dogs may start to demonstrate behaviours inherent in their breed, guarding or herding for example.
They can become destructive, not hear you when you call, wander, guard resources, you may notice less tolerance of other dogs/people, running around out of control and other problematic behaviours.
During this time suitable exercise (not excessive) is beneficial, think about the mindset of the dog, is it getting crazy or obsessive? Limit the intensity.
Throw out some treats and let them sniff them out – calming and hard work.
Be consistent in your behaviour and training.
Most behaviours will start to fade as the dog matures but once again it depends on management and correct training advice.
The overall advice to manage socialisation/developmental stages is to keep training your dog, every day make it part of your life to ask your dog to do something, be it a trick or a sit, don’t build in repetitions of exact sequences, increase complexity of the activities, make it a fun time with the occasional treat to keep up the interest don’t forget the physical pats.
An ageing dog needs mental stimulation and exercise, but adaptation may be required.
Awareness of the phases will help explain some behaviour changes during the lifetime of your dog. For guidance through these stages contact Bairnsdale and District Dog Obedience Club Inc.
