In last month's blog I told you how to cope with a new puppy and warned you that when it reaches 6 months, it becomes the teenager from hell. Here are some pointers on what to expect from your teenage dog.
Coping with your dog’s adolescent phase
If you have been really pleased so far with your well-behaved, house-trained, polite, well-socialised puppy, then canine adolescence will come as a bit of a shock.
After all the hard work you’ve put into your puppy’s training, your dog’s adolescent behaviour will have you tearing out your hair and you will be at the end of your tether. Suddenly that cute, cuddly puppy becomes the teenager from hell. Even when adults some of them behave like teens. Rather like humans really!
Instinct is telling your dog it’s time to get out and about, to start showing off, to leave their scent everywhere and see off competition. Your challenge is to allow your dog some freedom without getting into too many uncomfortable situations with other dogs and their owners.
When will my puppy go through adolescence?
Puppies mature very quickly, and the smaller the breed, the faster they reach maturity. In small breeds, adolescence can start as early as 5 months. In larger breeds it can start as late as 9 or 10 months, and very large breeds might not go through adolescence until 12-18 months.
Depending on the size of your puppy’s breed, adolescence will last for between a few months and a year. Once dogs reach maturity, their rate of ageing slows down. Despite the “seven years” myth, older dogs age at the rate of about four dog years for every human year.
Recognising adolescence in your dog
When your dog reaches adolescence, you will see some or all of the following behaviours:
· aggression ( males - because he still has his 'wobbly bits' and needs to flex his manhood)
· bouncing off the walls with excessive energy
· very short attention span; bored and whingey for no reason
. selective deafness
· poor socialisation
· disobedience
· wandering
· leg cocking when visiting other people's homes (males)
· obsessive mounting behaviour.
. jumping up on strangers
. barking excessively at anything and everything that takes his fancy
. chasing joggers/cyclists/birds/squirrels/anyone terrified of dogs
. snarling aggressive behaviour while on the lead and towards the owners
. pit bull tendencies towards any other dog minding its own business
. boredom in the early hours of the morning
. chewing on furniture, carpets, mats and anything else they can find
Be aware that when he/she is disobedient and does that dodging away from you routine, they think it's all a good game. The more you shout "Come here now!", scream and chase, the worse their behaviour will be. In this situation, simply grit your teeth and walk away shouting "Bye!" They will soon rush back to you. And yes! they will definitely come back because, above all else, you are the one that dishes out the food and treats.
Ritual fighting
When adolescent dogs challenge each other, a scuffle is almost inevitable. This can be very scary as many times the other dog will cause some sort of injury to yours. Other dogs standing nearby will join the fray with much yapping and barking. Its the old "I'll-hold-your-coat-while-you-hit-him!Go-on-whack-him-one-bite-him-in-the-goolies" scenario. They won't join in but the noise will terrify you and bystanders, who will think that World Ward 4 has broken out. Once one dog has established itself as ‘top dog’, the fight is usually over in seconds. And part of adolescence is learning the rules. So you don’t need to keep your adolescent totally apart from other dogs – if you do that, they will simply grow up frustrated and poorly socialised. (Properly socialised puppies will “mock bite” without causing injury).
Tip
Should you get into a situation where two dogs are snarling and snapping and look like they are going to tear each other apart, don't put your hand in the fray to pull them apart. You will get bitten. Simply yank your dog's tail or the other dog's tail. This is enough to stop the fight because they have been distracted. Another tip is to throw a jumper, cloth or coat over the head of one of them. End of ruckus!
Intensify the training
Adolescence doesn't last forever, thank god!
Right now, it’s essential to keep working on every aspect of your dog’s training: give them lots of praise and rewards to boost their self-esteem while they work off some of their extra energy. Don’t give up.
Castration
Always a good idea to consider having his 'bits' removed if you are an owner based in town. Once he has been "done", all his aggression will be a thing of the past and all your troubles will be over. Castration also stops other alpha males who haven't had the operation, picking on your dog. It becomes a "Yeah! go on then! let's see how big you are, wuss!" and before you know it a fight begins.
Some dogs seem to get worse after castration. They snarl, bite and attack you,!! the owner. Remember, if you started off hitting your dog as a way of teaching it a lesson, castration makes them aggressive out of fear for what you might do to them. In this instance, see a behaviourist as soon as possible to learn ways to control your dog.
Miraculously, after 11 months and 3 weeks of really awful behaviour, your dog grows up and becomes a well mannered, loving, obedient dog who is a joy to own. You will notice the change.
4 am boredom
Teenage dogs (from ages 6 - 14th months) are like human teenagers. They sleep all day. Then around 4 am they wake up, yawn loudly, shake themselves noisily and look around for amusement. That is the time when boredom sets in. They gnaw on furniture legs, chew on any bits of carpeting that looks frayed, mats or anything else they can see. No good chastising them as they have no idea what is right or wrong. Give them a pat and settle them back into their baskets until the alarm goes off.
Exercise for at least two hours per day is vital for keeping your dog free of boredom. If you restrain them by simply walking them to the nearest lamp post and back, then you are storing up trouble for yourself. Besides, its not fair to keep a dog caged up. Get a goldfish instead!
Tip
Some tripe filled bones from the supermarket are a good distraction for those times when boredom sets in.
Chasing joggers/cyclists/ people scared of dogs and attacking other dogs.
This is the teenage thug's version of frightening old ladies and children. The more they react, the more the dog does it. When this happens, you put your dog onto a lead and walk away jerking the collar gently as you drag them away. Yelling at them makes them think that you approve. In fact, a firm "No!" said many times, and looking straight at them works like a canine threat. They do, I promise, grow out of that, and the fun soon goes out of startling other dogs and people. A single word works best, since a sentence to a dog sounds like "No! numm, numm, numm, bad dog! Believe me, a dog doesn't understand "Be nice" but NO! it does.
During the teenage terror years, be vigiliant, alert and aware to any potential situation that might give you a heart attack. Learn to read your dog's body language. If it crouches low as if about to pounce, that's the time to slip on its lead. If you see lots of dogs, joggers or cyclists coming your way and yours is off the lead, put it back on the lead until all is clear.
Playtime
Playtime is important to help them hone up their socialisation skills. Enrolling them into a puppy creche for a couple of days a week will give your dog all the socialisation and stimulus it needs.
Just because they are growling, baring their teeth and pulling fur doesn't mean they are fighting. This
This 'n that...................
"Can't believe it's September already?" said 7 billion people in unison last Monday, to avoid having to say anything of actual substance. This year has absolutely flown hasn't it? It seems to have gone much faster than last year did. It'll be Christmas soon. And then January. And then before we know it it'll be Christmas again. Probably a sign of impending age when days seem to whiz by so quickly... policemen look younger...... and you spend your time saying "Eh what! say again!"
That's it for this month. We are going to have an Indian summer from next week. That's what the weather men say but do we believe them? Enjoy anyway! Here's a clip of a silly dog to make you chuckle.
Dawn (.".")
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