When we bring a new puppy home, we teach the basics such as toilet training, bite inhibition and general good manners around the house and people. We hopefully make sure to socialise him/her and do our best to ensure they receive the best possible start in life. What we often underestimate however is just how short the puppy months really are and how challenging the adolescence period can be. Adolescent dogs can be rambunctious, full of energy and downright stroppy at times, something any parent of teenagers will recognise. All the hard work you’ve put into teaching them basic good manners just seems to have gone out the window. The pup may have stopped chewing on our hands and peeing in the house but is now jumping on our visitors, marking every blade of grass it encounters, barking and lunging at other dogs or growling when we approach his food bowl. Just like people though, all dogs go through this period of development and there is no way to skip over it. Being prepared to deal with the changes in our dog’s behaviour makes it easier to live through it without getting frustrated and giving up on the dog altogether.
By the time our little male puppy reaches the age of 4-5 months, his testosterone levels will start to rise. This male hormone will keep on climbing until it peaks at around 10 months of age before very slowly going down to adult levels around 18 months of age. This age period can vary from breed to breed and among individuals, but the important factor to keep in mind is this: adolescence in dogs generally occurs between 6-18 months and during that period, their brain is flooded with more hormones than ever. High levels of testosterone lead to greater reactivity with faster, longer and more intense responses to external stimuli. In females, rising levels of oestrogen and progesterone during the same period may increase irritability and problems with other dogs as well as resource guarding issues. A typical behaviour problem that occurs around that time is when the younger female in a multiple dog household, starts going after the older female, even though they had been getting along just fine during the previous months.
These adolescent months sadly coincide with an increased rate of relinquishment. It is a sad fact that the majority of dogs are surrendered to rescue between the ages of 5 months and 3 years of age (47.7%) and at least one behaviour problem is reported as the reason for the surrender in 40% of the cases. The most common behaviour issues ranged from biting, aggression towards people or animals to disobedience and destructiveness. These numbers suggest that there is a need for more information and support to dog owners who don’t expect the behavioural changes or don’t know how to manage their dog’s reactions during that period of development.
Adolescent dogs don’t necessarily display such extreme behaviours that they no longer make safe pets. They’re very much like human teenagers. As young puppies, their priority was to stay close to us for obvious safety reasons. As they get a little older (yet not old enough for any kind of wisdom), our four legged youngsters become bolder and more interested in their surroundings. They want to explore more and tend to get more excited by any stimuli. Full of hormones and energy, they become more challenging to manage and will test our boundaries and our patience.
Here are a few pointers for adolescent dog parents: Keep reminding yourself that your dog will calm down as he gets older and look for ways to help him burn off some of the excess energy. Although some breeds or some individuals can be more energetic than typical, most dogs’ energy level’s will subside and gradually become more manageable.
Train your dog on an ongoing basis. Training is not something that we do for a short while and then stop. As our dogs go through different stages in life, it’s important to keep working with them. Puppies are great learners and so quick at mastering things such as loose lead walking, sit and other behaviours. But as their brain gets flooded with hormones, those acquired behaviours get sloppy. There will be moments when the dog may simply look at you with a blank stare when given a well-known cue. At other times, the dog may be so distracted that getting his attention requires all sorts of gimmicks let alone getting him to respond to basic cues. Going back to the very beginning of a trained behaviour is often necessary. Training never improves in any linear way. The dog’s responsiveness goes up and down and during that period, it can be a real roller coaster, but it’s worth staying on the ride as sticking all the way through will pay off in the long run.
Get help from a professional behaviourist as soon as a behaviour concern develops. It’s often during these months that the dog will start displaying fear or aggression problems. The longer any behaviours occur, the harder it is to reverse the situation. When treating them right from the beginning, it’s sometimes possible to nip them in the bud so adolescent problems don’t become life long problems.
Continue to train the dog for calm behaviour. Teaching to control impulses is critical at this age. Any behaviour that leads to a positive outcome will be repeated and over time become a habit that will continue during adulthood. For example, if your dog barks and jumps when you reach for the lead, he/she will soon associate this as the correct behaviour to perform every time the lead comes out even though to us it is unwanted behaviour. Remember also that going for a walk or greeting visitors are all situations that are likely to generate excitement and therefore unwanted behaviour. They’re also however, opportunities to teach your dog that lunging, barking or jumping get in the way of what he/she wants. Patience, persistence and consistency are the key to teach your teenage hooligan to behave politely and appropriately.
Take your dog out for daily walks to keep his socialisation up. Socialising puppies is critical but just as important is providing our dogs with ongoing exposure to the world. During adolescence, many dogs will experience sudden fear of situations that they may have been exposed to earlier. Dogs that may have been a little timid as puppies, may now display reactive barking. Most aggression problems stem from an underlying feeling of insecurity. Safe and repeated exposure will help the dog develop more confidence over time.
Expose the young dog to older, confident yet well-behaved adult dogs so they learn to become socially acceptable around other dogs. Dogs learn from other dogs how to play and interact appropriately and when it’s time to calm down or to stop. Older dogs will not allow for overly excitable rough housing and will interrupt a behaviour when pushed too far.
Owning an adolescent dog can be challenging but when we’re prepared, it can be a learning experience and a time to set good habits for both the dog and ourselves. Understanding that this is a temporary yet unavoidable developmental period in our dogs’ life can help us make better decisions. Just like we cannot give up on our teenage children, we should not give up on our teenage dogs. After all, they really can’t control their hormones and are just trying to cope with all the changes their body is going through.
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