So the only thing more stressful than a puppy is an adolescent dog

[strayducks18]

Wah!!

10 month old lurcher has in the last month or so
Lost his recall
Become reactive on the lead with other dogs
Barked randomly at a little girl that walked past today
Started eating the door frames when I'm out
Peed on the living room carpet twice this week despite not having had any accidents for 5 months
Lost interest in food despite previously being highly food motivated

We're attending workshops run by a local behaviourist to tackle the reactivity but walks are still quite stressful

I'm hoping a lot is just "teen" behaviour but feels like a lot to tackle in one go!

Oh yes just when you have survived puppydom they turn into a stroppy teenager and you wonder why you spent all that time training them

Stock up on and as you will need it

Ah yes .. at 6 months my puppy was a dream - his recall was fantastic, we’d got perfect loose lead walking and he was generally delightful. I felt very smug

Then two months later he was trying to hump everything in sight, pulled like a train and snatched a croissant from a passing toddler’s hand. I was mortified....

He’s four and a half now and mostly lovely (but we still need to watch him like a hawk around food so picnic season is a nightmare..). We spend a lot of time training him and mostly he gives the impression of being a Very Good Dog bit he still occasionally has moments of madness...

Go back to basics. Do it like you did in puppy class. You’ll get there. Then you’ll have a lovely dog at the end of it. Good luck.

Thanks for the sympathy! I think you're right Ms back to basics is needed. I got complacent especially with recall as he was like a velcro puppy at first and as a result we never really did lead walks just off lead in the fields so now it's coming back to bite me on the bum!

It's not easy but thankfully they get through it and out the other side and it tends not to last very long.

My dog is 7 years old now and I'm still frequently amazed at how lovely she is to live with and how sensible she can be most of the time.

Please don’t tell me this. Ours is 4 1/2 months and is mildly trained (he’s a Ridgeback, I can only do so much!!) but the thought of larger, stronger, with hormones and even more selective hearing is mildly alarming! How long does it last for?!!

Sorry for the exclamation marks.

Yes definitely, you just start to see the light at the end of the puppy tunnel and they get thrust straight back into being a git. I hated much of Eric's first year, I don't think I'd ever want another puppy.

Ah yes, 11 month old little git here. Has chewed the telephone cable (again) this morning.
Has left me deposits on my living room carpet twice this week and shredded a whole box of tissues. It was like a snowstorm.

DH is all for taking him back for a refund.

We have a two year old dog who is the most delightful dog ever. I know it will get better.

Lol - ah yes the 'teens' - my 10 month old Golden retriever just gave me the same look at my teenage daughters used to - that "you want me to do what?" Look, when all you've asked is that they bring you the ball / put the plates in the dishwasher.

It will pass. Honestly. Just be calm and consistent. On the plus side it really doesn't last as long in dogs as it does in children

It last months rather than years. I wasn't implying that my dog at 7 years has just got through adolescence

Mine was awful from 6 months, at his worst around 8-9 months and started to get better around the 10-11 month mark.

At 19 months old he has an occasional blip in stroppyness but is now general well behaved.

It really put me off ever getting a puppy ever again. I love him so much but boy was it hard work getting here

I don’t like to sound of this at at all! I’ve got a 5 month old puppy who has excellent recall, please don’t tell me it’s all going to go to hell in a hand cart.

I think during her adolescent period was the only time that my dog almost reduced me to tears; I'm not a crier so she didn't succeed but it was a near thing a couple of times.

Sorry ThisMorning but mine was great around that time but then went completely downhill. The good thing though about having great recall at your dogs age is that although they may completely ignore you in their teens they do know what they should do so it returns once they have 'gotten over' their hormones

Sorry ThisMorning with my dog it was the recall that went, horribly.

Don't want to give you false hope.

Fuck

Oh yes, it will come back. You've done the training, your dog knows what's expected. He/she just won't be doing it for a while once they become a teenager.

Same as Pigs pup, recall was the thing that was the worst and did drive me to tears and .

You would never know that now as he keeps close by and even if he ventures further a blow on the whistle and he comes hurtling back

But she will sleep better before she looses her recall won’t she?

ThisMorning You can only hope.

So could this explain why my 7 month old lab has taken to peeing all over my kitchen, day or night, even when I'm stood in the kitchen with her?

My last boy was a nightmare in adolescence but he grew out of it.
It took five years. Sorry.

Thismorning mine started sleeping perfectly around 6 months (pretends it had nothing to do with giving up on the crate in the kitchen and dog now a permanent fixture on the end of my bed )