I spent the majority of my educational career working with adolescents, the human kind. Early on, there wasn’t much known about development beyond what happens during puberty to the body. Prior to the technology that allowed good scans of the brain, we had an incomplete understanding of brain development and thought that once you hit puberty, your brain was set. It turns out, of course, that is very wrong! Brain development continues throughout adolescence and beyond into adulthood. Actually, it probably never stops, although changes might take longer and be less general after adolescence. There is also quite a bit of social & emotional development throughout adolescence as well. If you have raised, known or worked with a young person throughout their adolescent years, you know that how they interact with friends, relatives and others changes as they get older. You also know that their emotional reactions during some periods might seem, well, over the top. No one feels things quite like an adolescent does, whether it’s sadness, euphoria or anger. And yet, for years, adolescence really was basically ignored beyond teaching young people what changes happen to their bodies. And once those changes happened, there was often an assumption that one was now an adult.
While we now have an understanding that adolescence is a time of profound changes in humans, there hasn’t been a lot of research into adolescent development in dogs. That is starting to change. .Over the last 10 years, there has been a significant increase in general research into dog cognition, but specific understanding of canine adolescence is still lagging. We do know that many non-human animals go through an adolescent period, from mice to elephants. And we know that there are similarities in behavior throughout species during that developmental period, like risk taking and a greater propensity to form groups.
And yet, there seems to be an expectation for many dog owners that once their puppy gets close to that magic period when they get their adult teeth, start to show signs of sexual maturation and get closer to adult size that they are in fact, an adult dog.
In general, we (I’m using "we" here to mean the general public) expect our no-longer-a-baby to be all the things we want our adult dog to be. We expect that if we did some training as a puppy that our adolescent dog will immediately do whatever is asked. We expect our puppy that happily followed us everywhere and is now an adolescent to A) immediately come when called and B) be absolutely fine left home alone for hours. We expect that the puppy that was fine with being touched, cuddled and fondled will be fine with all touch and grooming as an adolescent. We expect our growing youngster to understand and comply with our expectations about things like staying off the counters, leaving unattended goodies alone, and not chewing things they find. And we expect our “big dog” will walk on leash without pulling and greet others calmly and politely.
That is not only not fair, it is a set-up for both you and your dog. We consider the adolescent period in dogs to be roughly 5 - 24 months. Smaller breed dogs tend to mature and get through adolescence faster than larger breed dogs. I would venture to say that for many dogs, the period from 6-14 or 15 months is the most difficult, or the most influenced by adolescence. If we have expectations that after 6 months we will have a mature, calmer dog who understands what we expect and follows those expectations, we are in for a lot of frustration and maybe even some anger. Adolescent dogs form the largest age group of dogs voluntarily surrendered to shelters in some locations. As a dog trainer, I often see clients who are frustrated and overwhelmed with their adolescent dog’s behavior when they are out on leash, or when they get all spun up and go over the top. With bigger, more powerful bodies, they can be inadvertently dangerous to their people and others around them, especially if they engage in body-slamming or mouthing.
Let’s not sugar coat it: Adolescence is hard. It’s hard on the people who live with the adolescent and it's hard on the adolescent. I don’t know a ton of people who would love to be adolescents all over again. I sure wouldn’t. Adulting is hard, but adolescent angst is a whole other level of difficult.
But, with the knowledge we have gained, and the tools we have, there are ways to help you and your dog through adolescence so you can come out on the other side with a stronger bond and greater appreciation for each other.
Look for more posts on what happens during adolescence and some strategies to help you and your dog.
If you are interested in learning more about this topic, I am giving a free webinar on Canine Adoloescence on January 22, 2024 at 7pm Eastern Standard Time. Please register on the website. And look for a program in the next month on Adolescence with Less Angst.
Comments