The Scary Teenager Months

It seems all is going perfectly when training your puppy, they are listening when you call them, doing every trick perfectly, and only focused on you. And then- boo! Here jumps out the teenager months, it seems that all of your commands don't mean anything to them, they will take every chance to run away off-leash, the environment is so much more interesting than you or it is outright scary! Don't have a panic attack! This happens to most puppy owners and they will eventually grow out of it. However, avoid thinking they still don't need training. That is a big mistake to do, even senior dogs need training even if it is old tricks.

What you're going to do is work with a trainer, take an online course or even train through it with just yourself if you know what you're doing. You're going to do a lot of counter-conditioning with the stimuli they are insecure about, build up that relationship through hand feeding, do confidence-building exercises, and keep on building positive feelings towards people, animals, and different environments. The photo above is Boss, I worked with his owner on how to tackle his teenage behavior. Most of my clients are puppies in their teenage years because that's when they start developing bad behaviors or behaviors they did as a puppy but became more of a problem when they got older.

The Reasoning Behind the Behavior

So, why is your puppy acting this way? Well, I got an explanation for you! Luckily I was a medical student and know a fun fact for you, but it is also something familiar you probably heard before. Do you know why you can't drink til you are 21? Teenagers' brains aren't fully developed until then, some tend to overdo it and get into some bad behaviors like driving while drunk. There is a part of the brain called the amygdala that controls the reactions of fear and aggression and then there is the frontal cortex that controls thinking before we act. The frontal cortex develops later in life, so scientifically it is harder for most teenagers to think before acting out behavior, consequences are not thought about. The same applies to older puppies, most dog breeds' brains tend to fully develop at 2 years of age but it all depends on when your breed fully develops. So research when your puppy's breed fully matures. The teenage months normally start around 6-12 months old and end when they mature.

The Biggest Mistakes Made

The biggest mistake dog owners make is letting their pups have full access to their houses when they are not fully matured. Destructive behavior is easily developed at this time and will be very difficult to get rid of the day they start it. So, crate-train your puppy or limit them to a space they can not escape and can not destroy anything when you can not supervise them. Even hire a neighbor or someone to watch them while you work! Remember to have them on a long line when off-leash training until they are mature enough and sharp enough in training to recall. The world at this stage is way more exciting.

Remember, train your puppy!! Happy training!

Layla-grace Crawford, Trainer and Owner of AftertheMoon dog training and photography