Dog Adolescents

November 17, 2008 by Dog Service Network
Filed under Adolescent Dogs, Behaviors

Is your 1 year-old dog driving you crazy? Do you walk twice a day, but she’s still getting into everything? Did your dog behave beautifully in class, but now she sometimes acts like she doesn’t even know her own name let alone what “Sit” means?

Congratulations! Your puppy is growing up. Your dog is now an adolescent. Just like human beings, dogs go through different stages of development, both physically and mentally. A dog’s developmental stages are: Neonatal – 0 to 14 days, Transitional – 14 to 21 days, Socialization – 3 to 16 weeks, Juvenile – 4 to 6 months, Adolescence – 6 to 18 months, and Adult.

As a general rule, adolescence can appear in smaller dogs as early as five months. In larger breeds, it can start as late as nine or ten months. In general, the larger the dog, the longer they take to mature. (Timeframe varies with dog breed and size.) Some breeds can remain adolescents until they are 2 1/2 or 3 years old.

Adolescence is a very difficult time for guardians. They are surprised when their cute little puppy becomes an independent thinker. Minor puppy rambunctiousness becomes major-league unruly behavior, such as ignoring you (Come? What’s that?), chewing inappropriate objects, and extreme bouncing-off-the-walls hyperactivity.

The good news is there are many ways to help your dog through this period. While walks are an essential part of any dog’s day, all too often we consider a walk enough exercise. When our puppy’s energy level increases, we try to wear them out with longer walks. Increasing walks will get you a physically fit dog, but it’s not enough. We must stimulate our dogs mentally as well.

There are many activities that will “wear your dog out”, both physically and mentally. Place your dog’s meals in Kongs and let her work for supper. (In a bowl, it’s gone in 3 minutes.) Your dog will spend time figuring out how to get at her supper, and extracting the food provides much needed chewing exercise. (For the 3 stages of Kong stuffing visit (www.fundawgs.com) If your dog spends several hours alone on a regular basis, consider purchasing a Kong Time, which releases Kongs at variable intervals. Sterilized bones can also be stuffed with favorite treats.

In addition, there are many interactive toys for dogs, such as Egg Babies and the Hide-a-Squirrel. Egg Babies have squeaky eggs in a velcroed enclosure, which they must work to extract. The Squirrel Hut is similar in that stuffed squirrels are pulled from their tree.

Toni Lee Hage is a graduate of the SF SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers and the owner/trainer of Fun Dawgs in San Leandro www.fundawgs.com . She offers a variety of group classes, plus private sessions in good manners and bad manners behavior modification.

Link to this page