Like teenage years in humans, dog adolescence is also a phase that changes your pup’s behavior and makes them do unexpected things. Many people don’t think about this phase of their dog’s life and are therefore taken aback when they encounter sudden behavioral displays. Typically, everyone talks about puppies’ bladder control, home training, the challenges of senior dogs, etc. The in-between stage of their growth, straddling puppyhood to adulthood, goes unnoticed. While it’s temporary, learning everything about this critical period in your pet’s life is necessary for you. It can save you from frustrations and misunderstandings due to a lack of knowledge about your dog’s development.
So, let’s delve into the guide about puppy adolescence: everything you need to know to bond well with your pet even in its most uncertain growing years.
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Adolescent years of dogs
Dogs also go through cycles of growth and development, where the first 6 to 8 months demonstrate their puppyhood, and from 6 to 8 months and 18 to 24 months mark adolescence. From 18 to 24 months, they are adults. They live almost 75% of their life by this cycle. The remaining 25% of their lifespan sees them spend their life as senior dogs. You refer to these years as gray hairs or golden years. Why should one bother about their adolescent years? That’s because your dog will drastically transform at this stage. He will have noticeable psychological, biological, and physical changes. Ignoring these effects is a mistake because adolescence is a unique phase of their life, which starts after they outgrow their puppy phase.
As a pet owner, you will have a challenging time managing your dog during this crucial stage. Therefore, preparing for this experience is better from the beginning.
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Things to expect during the dog adolescent phase
As hinted, behavioral changes will be imminent. Just like human teenagers, dogs can experience mild to extreme changes. As a pet parent, you become used to your pup’s bathroom accidents and tantrums. Its cuteness keeps your parenting going. You can laugh when your little furry friend chews up your shoe. But adolescence brings many surprises, even the kind-hearted pet parents may struggle to handle. You may wonder if your pup has lost its sweetness. Why? The streak of independence, dwindling response to cues, fearfulness, and many other things can be witnessed.
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Independence
It is a surprise to find your pup suddenly showing an independent streak. Don’t expect it to walk by your side like those old days anymore. The adolescent dogs like to explore their surroundings by themselves and don’t care whether you are visible to them. Such changes can make you doubt if your dog needs or loves you. Please avoid indulging in these thoughts. Your furry friend needs you like always. It’s just that they also now want to sniff around and do things they like to do.
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Less or unresponsive to cues
Has your dog’s adolescence period already started? Incidents like ignoring or acting as if they have forgotten cues may have come to your notice, making you wonder if your efforts have gone to waste. It can be challenging to digest this fact, but it’s their adolescence stage acting up. The phase will be soon over. So please keep patience. It is okay if it doesn’t come, sit, or do other things when you signal them through a hand or verbal cue. The blank look on your dog’s face can be disheartening. You may question yourself if you wasted your energy on him. However, these are standard behavioral displays of a dog that has entered its early adolescence stage. The effects of your training will be palpable when the pup fully matures into a responsive adult. It will be better to ignore all these unwanted occurrences at this time.
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A sense of fear
Your one-year-old can suddenly look fearful, which is a temporary onset. You may worry because your pup was always confident until this time. But it’s also normal. Dogs usually start avoiding people with sunglasses and hats. Even toddlers can scare them. All these things will disappear once they grow over this stage. As a pet parent, you can help your pup stay calm and not be fearful. Engage with it cheerfully. However, avoid forcing anything or anyone on them that causes discomfort. Conversely, you can use positive triggers like toys and treats to make them happy.
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Reasons dogs behave differently in their adolescence
More specific research on dog’s brain development during adolescent years is required. However, experts take some cues from studies done on humans, rodents, and non-human primates during these particular growth years because of the similarities in behaviors displayed by dogs and others. Researchers talk about neural pathways around the cortex that influence moods and instincts. These brain parts regulate feelings of anger, pleasure, and fear. At the same time, they also control sex, hunger, and other such urges. Like this, the cerebral cortex, such as the prefrontal cortex, influences personality traits, decision-making, social behavior, and cognitive development.
When humans enter their teen years, a part of their brain that regulates emotions, moods, and urges becomes active. However, the prefrontal cortex remains underdeveloped, which impacts decision-making, calmness, self-control, etc. In the case of puppies, this phase is more about doing things as they like rather than self-control and rationalization. While it’s an oversimplified version of science, pet parents must consider this aspect regarding their puppies, which are just going through a phase in life.
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Things to do to support your dog in its puppy adolescence and yourself
Like others, this development phase will be gone. While the puppies grow and learn to control their impulses and decisions, you can deal with them with little patience. Give them time to come out of this. Here are a few things you can do at your end to make this phase easy for your pup and yourself.
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Keep the crate
Potty training must have been successful, but there may be better times to do away with the crate, even if your pup learned to sleep well at night. During adolescence, they will be more energetic and struggle to sleep. At that time, the crate will help. If you trained your pup for the crate, this could be the perfect phase to reap its benefits. You can find your growing pup snoozing in its crate at least once daily. He can sleep better and longer here than anywhere else.
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Games and puzzles
Puppies can be high-energy in the morning and evening. You can engage them with food puzzles or lickable toys.
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Reinforcement training
When they grow up as adolescents, getting their attention to the treat and making them chase anything can be challenging. However, you can get positive outcomes by reinventing your reinforcement strategies that are fun and unpredictable. Suppose you know things that distract your puppy quickly during outdoor walks or other adventures. You can use them as a positive reinforcement when your pup does something desirable. One can also try spontaneous things, such as giving him a surprise treat for a small act, like peeking at you when you are in the outdoor area.
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Review
As your furry friend navigates through adolescence, you can review the parts of the training that it seems to have forgotten and rebuild the behavior by doing something exciting. Remember, what they learned in their behavioral training will return after they complete adolescence, but it needs some constant effort.
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Unwanted conditions or situations
During this phase, the puppies may be unable to manage situations well. As a pet parent, you will try to expose them to only those circumstances they can handle. Suppose the pup jumps on every one out of enthusiasm. You can avoid crowded areas or any such occasions for some time, thinking about your dog. While it’s a good idea to let them gain self-control, you can take a different approach to ensure better support for them. When you visit a crowded place with your dog, wait for it from the outskirts and see if it stays calm. If yes, it’s time to reward your pup.
Likewise, you can think differently when the recall behavior training seems to go kaput. Suppose the pup runs away when you stand up in a long queue. Please don’t give anything to convince your dog to stay near you. These choices are complicated but can reward you and your canine friend greatly.
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Misconceptions about dog adolescence
It’s common to write off a dog’s behavior as bad when it chews or digs into something as a side effect of adolescence. Please understand that these happen in dogs due to hormonal changes and the process of brain development. A lack of socialization and training is also a reason. Another common misunderstanding is that adolescent dogs will outgrow these new behaviors. If you don’t help them manage the developmental changes, the dogs will continue to indulge in them even after maturity.
Everyone must note that canine adolescence is shaped by environment, diet, socialization, workout, and genetics. While behavior and personality changes depend on their genes, physical and mental growth relies on diet, exercise, and environment. Socialization is also necessary to make them comfortable in the presence of other people, animals, and conditions.
