Common Dog Behavior Problems
Surviving A Canine's Adolescence
Jacque Lynn Schultz, C.P.D.T., Companion Animal Programs Adviser. National Outreach
Those weeks of careful monitoring have finally paid off—you're now the proud caretaker of a housebroken pup! But wait, is that a yellow stain partway up the drapes? And after you unclip Rex's leash in the dog run, and he maniacally bounds around for 45 minutes, it still takes a ten-minute game of "catch me if you can" to get him back on-leash to go home. What gives? Your puppy has grown into a teenager.
The Wide World of Spot's
From the age of six to 18 months, your dog undergoes
adolescence—that gawky stage between puppy-hood
and adulthood. Physically, your dog has his adult teeth, but he
still needs to chew on hard toys. That cottony puppy coat is
falling out during one tremendous shedding cycle, allowing the
adult coat to grow in. He has almost reached his adult height,
but for now is all loose elbows and gangly movement.
And what movement! During adolescence, the domestic canine resembles a perpetual-motion machine that requires superhuman stamina to wear out. It's a good idea to find your pup a friendly pack of other canine adolescents to run with in the safety of an urban dog run or suburban fenced-in yard. If your dog lacks canine friends, send him or her out with your resident human teen to fetch a Frisbee or go jogging.
Tiring out your canine teen will also save wear and tear on
your abode. Chewing often results when a bored, anxious, or
curious dog is allowed the run of the house. For the canine
adolescent, boredom and curiosity can lead to major household
damage via chewing, digging, and general reorganization.
This damage could largely be avoided if caretakers would simply
continue to confine their dog in a training crate or dog-proof
room whenever no one is around to monitor canine investigations.
Canine teens are not
yet capable of the consistency it takes to earn the run of the
place unsupervised.
Those Paws, Those Eyes...That Smell!
Hormones also play a major role in your canine's adolescence.
Most dogs become sexually mature at eight to twelve months of
age; at this time, females will experience their first estrus
(heat) cycle and males will begin to lift their legs and show
interest in "the ladies." By spaying or neutering early (between
two and six months of age), you can save yourself and your dog
such varied experiences as increased indoor urination (females in
heat do it to advertise for suitors; for intact males, it's a way
of marking territory), inter-dog aggression (primarily between
dogs of the same sex who are compelled to "fight off the
competition"), and the complete loss of attention span that
attends raging hormones. This also eliminates accidental matings,
false pregnancies, and the male teen's need to taste-test female
urine.
Remedying Rover's Memory Loss
An adolescent, even a neutered one, will experience occasional
lapses in attention. At times he may look at you as though you
had just addressed him in Mandarin, trying to convince you that
you never taught him the sit command. Handle these lapses the
same way you would with an untrained dog. Take a step or two
backward in your training program and patiently re-teach him the
command by luring him into the requested position. Be sure to
make it worth his while with the use of positive reinforcement.
Keep his focus on you, using favorite toys and treats as lures.
And keep your training sessions short and functional, always
ending with a game or playtime. If you take away the fun, he or
she will show even less interest.
In order to get through your dog's adolescence, remember to provide plenty of exercise, continue to crate/confine when he or she is unattended, spay or neuter, and keep your training sessions fun. And by all means, hang on to your sense of humor. Although your pup may try your patience, take heart—adolescence is one thing your dog is guaranteed to outgrow!
Next in
Training: Common Dog Behavior Problems:
When Your Dog Thinks He's Boss
