What Is the Teenage Phase in Dogs, and Why Does It Matter
The dreaded teenage phase with your dog is something that people get incredibly nervous about, and rightly so. So, it is where the vast majority of problem behaviors set in, and if you don’t know what to do about it, you may be dealing with those bad behaviors.
for the rest of your dog’s life, but if you want to know how to get through the teenage phase with your dog successfully. First of all, you must understand what the problem is and then how you can deal with each of those problems.
And that’s exactly what we’re going to look at in today’s blog. Now, these two dogs have just come out of the teenage phase, and Uncle Sully here has been out of it for a little while, hence all these great whiskers, you’re becoming an old man, aren’t you?
When Bravery Becomes a Problem: Why Recall Fails During Teenage Months
The first problem with the teenage phase that creates behavioral issues is that your dog starts to become more confident.
Your Puppy Isn’t Obedient, They’re Just Nervous
People think that their puppy training is going brilliantly, that recall is superb, and everything is fine and dandy, but what’s often happening is that your puppy is scared, and they don’t want to take any risks.
So, they stay around you because you will look after them and take care of them. You might think that that’s good training, but frankly. It’s just natural canine development as they start to go into the teenage phase; naturally, they start to become braver.
So, they start to explore the world, and they want to start going further and further away because they start to think that they don’t necessarily need you for them to stay safe. That’s where problems are terrible. Recall comes in, then they end up finding themselves in bad situations with other dogs, other people out in traffic any nightmare situation that can happen.
which is then the trickle effect too. You are panicking more; therefore, the dog is panicking more, and it is simply just the fact that your dog is starting to get Brave, very, very common with guarding breeds. whereas they not only start to become braver, but those guarding instincts start to come out, which starts to make them more confident and assertive as well.
Obedience Isn’t Over: Why Training Must Evolve During Adolescence
So, how we manage this is simple. Your obedience at this stage isn’t done; your obedience is never done, it’s something that you have to be working on forever. But it’s not proven when your dogs enter the teenage phase.
So you simply just need to stop setting your dog up to fail to control the variables, use your long line, take them to environments that you can control, rent paddocks and Fields like this that allow you to control those variables. Whilst you’re working on obedience, and working with obedience through the teenage phase.
Breed Instincts Take Over: Harnessing Drive Instead of Fighting It
The second part of the teenage phase that many people struggle with is the fact that their dog’s working drive starts to kick in. That might be a Labrador that’s desperate to retrieve. Chase brings things back. It might be a spaniel that wants to flush, get their nose down, and go through brush to find a game; it might be a guarding dog that wants to start scaring everybody off that they’ve never met before when your dog’s around.
A puppy, you might see snippets of some of these drives coming out, but the teenage phase is. where it starts to explode, and the tip Riley breaks the tip which you can utilize to not only get through this. But actually, maximizing on this is using it to your advantage, the dog’s ancestral drives.
What’s in their DNA, you don’t want to be working against that, because oftentimes. It’s a fight you’re going to lose. You should have chosen that breed for a reason, you should be aware of those drives, and therefore you should be accepting of those drives and understand and honor that that is the dog that you have, so you can utilize that for Success.
Turn Their Obsession Into Obedience: Training by Breed Drive
Labradors are a classic example. If you want to maximize success with your dog, teach them to retrieve and get them obsessed with a dummy launcher or a tennis ball.
When they become obsessed with that dummy launcher and tennis ball, keep one of them in your pocket. If something happens in the environment that you might not be ready for, you can get one of those things out, and your dog will become locked in on you, focused on you, and you can use it to reward desirable behaviors and distract away from undesirable ones.
Hormonal Chaos: Why This Phase Feels Like a Doggie Puberty Storm
Now, the next thing about the teenage phase is usually. What people think about when we talk about difficulties with the teenage phase is the reality of hormones. just like people the reason we call it the teenage phase is we know that humans going through their teenage development hormones are raging flying all over the place and make things challenging for most people in some capacity the same thing is happening with our dogs there’s going to be days where their energy break is through the roof a crazy higher days.
where it’s low days, where their obedience is going beautifully, days where their obedience is going terribly, and a lot of that is down to those hormonal fluctuations and is naturally part of the developmental cycle.
Managing Teenage Dog Behavior with Realistic Expectations
However, for you to manage it isn’t necessarily against fighting against it; it’s more about understanding it and having realistic expectations.
Discipline vs. Understanding: Setting Firm Boundaries During Hormonal Changes
You should never use it as an excuse for poor Behavior. You should always hold your dog accountable. You should always set firm rules, boundaries, and expectations, and make sure that they stick to those rules, boundaries, and expectations.
But you should have realistic expectations that throughout this phase, they’re going to test those boundaries, they’re going to make mistakes, and throughout this phase, you’re going to have great days and you’re going to have bad days.
Good Days and Bad Days: Staying Calm Through the Emotional Waves
So there are going to be days when you’re going to get to do tons of praise and reinforcement, and there are going to be days when you feel like you’ve spent the whole day challenging.
Your dog’s Behavior is important for you to understand so that you can remain calm and know it’s a natural part of the process, but it’s also important for you to understand that it can get through that stage because I promise you, if you stick to those rules, boundaries, and expectations, it gets better.
Real-Life Example: My Dog’s Teenage Phase and Hormonal Challenges
I had the same issue with my dog puppy; she has only just recently come out of the teenage phase, her hormones went wild, and she had multiple Phantom pregnancies. which made the hormonal thing much worse. There were days when she was a borderline aggressive dog, then days where she was this soft dog that everybody knows and loves, and it was variable day to day.
Now I never excuse those behaviors. I challenge those behaviors, but I didn’t panic because I understood where they were coming from, and I understood that it does get better, and with puppy here, it has gotten better, and she has come back to the character and temperament that I know and love and expect her to be.
Don’t Panic – Stay Consistent and Trust the Process
You have to have those same realistic expectations; however, do not use that as an excuse to allow bad behavior. Just use that as an understanding for you to remain calm, assertive, confident, and stick to the plan.
FAQ’S
How long does the dog’s teenage phase last?
A dog’s teenage phase usually starts around 6 months and can last until 18-24 months, depending on the breed and size.
Do dogs go through a rebellious stage?
Yes, dogs often go through a rebellious stage during adolescence. They may ignore commands, test boundaries, and act more stubbornly, similar to human teenagers.
What is the 7 7 7 rule for dogs?
The 7-7-7 rule suggests that by the time a puppy is 7 weeks old, it should have experienced 7 different types of people, 7 different environments, and 7 different challenges to build confidence and social skills.
How will I know when my puppy becomes a teenage dog?
You’ll notice signs like ignoring training, bursts of energy, testing limits, chewing more, and mood swings. This shift typically happens around 6 months of age.
