Dog Community

Puppy adolescence/regression?

Posted : 2/5/2007 11:17:06 AM

I just recently posted about my generally well-behaved 7 1/2 month old beagle puppy. Well, on Saturday it was like his behavior did a complete 180. He went from knowing several commands and learning quickly to acting like the word "sit" was a foreign language. I am trying to teach him to "stand" for his class on Wednesday and it is like he can't concentrate at all. He is not listening at all! Also, he has not had an accident in the house in months and he pooed in the basement on Sunday. He also has never really chewed anything and is trustworthy to be by himself in a room and on Saturday, he chewed a small piece of linoleum in the kitchen. What happened to my well behaved puppy?!?!

I read a coupe of articles online about puppy adolescence and I am figuring this is what is going on. I know we are going to have to change our ways to deal with this and go back to watching him like a hawk at all times. We are going to stick with the training and classes but is there any way to better deal with the training aspect of things? Just wondering what others experiences with this has been and how they dealt with it (and how long this will last). Thanks! You guys are so helpful.

Chuffy

Posted : 2/5/2007 12:02:31 PM

You're on to it - back to close supervision as if he was a puppy. This is common. I don't let ours have that much freedom until they are fully mature.

jones

Posted : 2/5/2007 12:54:58 PM

Yes, that does sound like typical canine adolesence. It's a good time to bump up training but also to try to have a sense of humor about your dog acting like a total space cadet [

] because it does pass. All dogs will be different, but for my dog it lasted from about 7 to 12 months... it's common for the adolescent chewing to go on until 12-18mo depending on the dog and breed.

Kim_MacMillan

Posted : 2/6/2007 4:17:43 PM

Definitely your very typical canine adolescence. A lot of dogs go through a complete "brain fart" stage from 6 months to about a year (or more for larger breed dogs), in which they appear to "forget" everything you've taught them.

You just have to keep trying, keep close supervision on your pup, and do your best to prevent unwanted behaviours and continue reinforcing the good ones! And if you must, go back to kindergarten and help him along if he's just not understanding you.

There is a lot changing in your boy at this time - physically, sexually (if he has sexual organs still), socially, emotionally. His brain is changing just as much as his body is, and it can be just as stressful for dogs as it can be on their parents. [

] Just hang in there, and remember he WILL mature eventually! The brain farts don't last forever.

Kim MacMillan