People know that puppyhood has lots of changes. Once you live through the needle teeth, think you have a handle on housetraining and are all set for your dog to exhibit calm, connected and cooperative behavior as you exit that tough stage, however suddenly your puppy has become something else entirely - A teenager!
Here are 5 things that dogs often do during canine adolescence.
#1 - Ignores your cues.
It's so frustrating when you are sure your dog knows how to do what you are asking but your dogolescent just doesn't listen! It's a real thing. A study published in May 2020 by Asher, England, Sommerville and Harvey did show that there was "adolescent-phase conflict behavior" between dogs and main caretakers. Adolescent dogs responded less to a well known cue from their primary person than they did to a stranger. There was a decrease in the caretaker's scores on trainability during the ages of 5 months to 8 months. The good news is that those scores went up by the time the dogs got past 12 months old. So, yes, your dogolescent may be ignoring you sometimes. Don't give up, but know that if you keep working at it, it will get a lot better as your dog gets older.
#2 - Gets spooked by things they've seen before
Most people that get a puppy learn about the pretty much universal fear period that young puppies go through. What far fewer people understand though is that adolescence can be punctuated by fear periods too. Unlike the more universal period in puppies, these fear periods during adolescence are much more unpredictable. Some dogs have none, some dogs have several. They often manifest in your dog suddenly showing a great deal of concern about something they have previously not seemed to have an issue with. They typically last a week or two. It's best to give your dog space and time when this happens. Don't force your dog to interact or get close to something they are concerned about and don't punish them for their fear. If your dog was relatively confident beforehand, they will come through this just fine.
"Social maturation, or “social acceptance” (12 to 36 months), comes later than sexual maturation, or the ability to reproduce, which occurs at 6 to 12 months." (Asher, 2020).
#3 - Gets more Amped Up
Dogolescents, like human teenagers, often can have what seem like rather extreme reactions to a variety of situations. This is particularly true of interactions with other dogs and people. They can become very excited, very quickly and really have a hard time calming themselves. This is very annoying to many adult dogs and overwhelming to many younger puppies. Dogolescents may struggle to read and follow the social cues and body language of other dogs, which can lead to an increased risk of conflict and injury. It's important that you help manage play interactions (with dogs or people) and help your dog move away from any interactions where they are starting to ramp up, and engage them in something calmer. Over time, they will then learn to take some of the important pauses in play on their own.
#4 - Runs away instead of coming when called
Young puppies are wired to follow along and can often easily be taught to come when their people call them. However, dogolescents are wired to take more risks and test out their boundaries. They are wired to explore and range further away from their family group. So, its not too surprising that the reliable recall your puppy had seems to have disappeared overnight. Don't take chances and assume that your teenage dog will stick with you if they have access to the wonderful wide world! Ensure that your dog has opportunities to explore, but with limits on their ability to roam. That might be finding a big fenced-in area for them to run free in, or it might be using a long line in a field or on a trail so they have more ability to sniff and wander some away from you but can't just take off. And don't give up on your recall training. Set up short training sessions where its easier for your dog to choose to come to you and they get highly reinforced when they do so!
#5 - Avoids touch or their harness
There are so many changes happening during dogolescence to brain and body that its no wonder sometimes dogolescents can become touch sensitive. Part of this is likely physical discomfort- things may start to feel weird as their body changes, and part of is is likely more "psychological". Young puppies are wired to seek out warm bodies (their mother and littermates at first, but then the people in their lives) as they can't regulate their own temperatures well and because there's safety connected to those bodies. As they get older, there's more incentive to be more independent, and that may include from their guardians. They may vacillate between "don't touch me!" and "please cuddle me". Give your dogolescent choices about getting petted or held and if they avoid their harness, you can work on walking just with the collar and/or find a harness that fits differently.
This stage doesn't last forever!
The good news is that dogolescence is temporary. Maddening, and frustrating perhaps, but temporary. It's far shorter than human adolescence, and some dogs go through it in just a few months. The other good news is that your dog is still learning through all of this. There are things you can do to help it go more smoothly for both of you and come out on the other side with a dog that you enjoy and vice versa. If you want strategies, skills and activities to help you with this stage of your dog's life, join the Adolescence with Less Angst Program.
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