Teenage dogs are horrid aren’t they!

[3ormoredogs]

Please remind me that this will pass

Mines gone from almost perfectly behaved, putting my old dog to shame even to a hormone fuelled lunging barking lunatic with no recall whatsoever

Today’s activities consisted of lunging at every dog we have passed despite my offerings of ham/chicken for a nice sit. Chewing my bannister and wall when I was putting out the washing and spending the second walk trying desperately to puff himself up and cause trouble with another young male dog who was also doing the same on the other side of the field
He’s also woofed at just about everything that’s passed terrifying most of my small village in the process as he is not a small dog!

Previously he’s never even given dogs a second look so I’m presuming it’s hormones and the dreaded teenage phase, he’s 13 months and I thought we had escaped unscathed until now.

Trainer has been called and we are back to class this week. Only stopped 2 months ago as he was doing so well and we were finding it too boring.
It’s also back to single walks as him behaving like this and my other dog together are too much to handle which means 4 walks a day for me...joys!

Is anyone else in the same boat who wants to cry about it with me

Oh those times are really horrid. Have some

My Springer is 7.5 months and my sweet biddable puppy changed virtually over night into a rebellious nightmare. The main problem is his recall. He used to trot happily next to me off lead but now chases every bird, squirrel and rabbit in the park. He comes back but only when he’s ready, so back on the long-lead which makes walks less stressful but less enjoyable in other ways. He seems to have forgotten other basic commands too. I now understand why this is the most common age for dogs to be rehomed.

My pain is heightened by having 3 DCs also mid puberty so they are all tests. My perfect recall puppy has taken to running and hiding at home time, growling at much harder dogs and eating food of the kitchen top. Dickhead.

Not tests but twats!

My 6 year old rescue is going through this atm. I have had him for 3 months. He was a poppet in the first few weeks but has morphed into a barky shouty lungy teenager when out. He is still a poppet at home. He only had his bits off in October so maybe the hormones are still adjusting. I have arranged training for him but he is ruining our walks for now

Ours has just turned two and finally started improving again. So yes it passes. But OMG I don't think we'll ever have a Puppy again, that teen phase nearly killed me.

2! please don’t say I’ve got another year of this
The puppy phase has been a breeze in comparison, hopefully it gets easier for us all!

On a brighter note my separate walks have been easy this morning, no reactions from either dogs but it’s still rubbish having to do the same loop twice! They must be fuelling eachother for some reason

@3ormoredogs

2! please don’t say I’ve got another year of this The puppy phase has been a breeze in comparison, hopefully it gets easier for us all!

On a brighter note my separate walks have been easy this morning, no reactions from either dogs but it’s still rubbish having to do the same loop twice! They must be fuelling eachother for some reason

Mine's a medium to big dog. If yours is smaller I hear it can pass more quickly

Teenage dogs are arseholes.
Feel free to post him here. Older wolfhound has decided she won’t tolerate puppies being a PITA. She’s very good at stopping that behaviour.

My older lab was just like a non verbal Kevin the Teenager, all but saying “I hate you” whenever we told her off for being a little sod.
Recall vanished, shouting abuse at other dogs, huffing, throwing herself down and sulking and even answering back.

My pup is wilful now at nearly 5 months. (She is a more self willed I breed, which I won't specify, as it's unusual and a bit outing)
She grabs everything, runs off grinning with shoes, rugs, etc, jumps up, and comes back when she feels like it. She's stopped the puppy biting but now we have “I’m not biting, I'm just touching you with my teeth”
She knows perfectly well what she is and is not allowed to do and smiles engagingly when she is being bad. We are determinedly not allowing ourselves to be (too) charmed, as she's going to be a big dog and I hate badly trained dogs around me.

Sadly not a small dog. He’s also not very intelligent either which isn’t helpful!

@Giggorata mine sounds exactly like yours at the moment

Those of you with multiple dogs, do you walk separately or together?! It’s such a pain doing 2 walks but they have both been much better apart so it seems the logical answer!

Mine was 2 this weekend... still a work in progress
However compared to when she turned 1 and decided to react to every dog, most men, and god forbid anyone in a black hoodie... she's steadily improving!
We went out for a meal last night..first in over a year and she only barked at one waitress, actually allowed a strange man to fuss her and lay quietly while we ate... a few months ago that would not have been possible!

And she's starting to come back much better if she's off lead...although it's a long line if I think there are deer or hares around..

Mine also looks like a wolf and if she's in a gobby mood she sounds truly terrifying, even though it's all her being a scaredy cat! She was perfect until her first season, AWFUL after her second and now post spay her hormones are settling and she's mostly reasonable!

I'm hoping by the time she's 5 (plus we are starting work with a behaviourist to iron out some of her rude greetings) she will be a sensible dog!

Puppies are real bastards with sharp teeth.

Teen dogs are stubborn and unreasonable.

Old dogs are expensive.

Honestly, there are only three or four years where a dog is manageable. Why do we even bother with the buggers?

My Thug is 9 months... he hit adolescence at 6 months... recall vanished over night, barks at every dog that passes the window, want to jumps on everyone and everything, tears every toy put in front of him to pieces. 🤦‍♀️

I'm just relieved to know it's a phase and hopefully will pass! Love him to bits though 😁🥰

Ah. I have found my people. My previously perfect little lad turned into a shit at precisely 7.5 months. He is 8.5 months now and there are good walks and bad. Still love hoim to bits obvs but having to become very stern and attentative. I swear there's a new glimmer of intelligence in his eyes though. Please say it is so. And how long does this stage last?

16 month old lab here. He is such a pest. He needs heap of exercise and the best way for him to get that is free roaming in off-leash parks. But most of the time he has to stay on leash because I won’t allow him to be a play bully. He can’t be trusted not to play too rough with small dogs, old dogs and reactive dogs. He doesn’t read clear dog signals that even I can read and I am not of the same species. Occasionally we come across a suitable dog and, after consultation with the owner, he can play. But it’s not enough. I keep telling him to stop being a play arsehole and he would have so much more fun.

@MangoSeason I feel like you could be talking about my 18 month lab!
We walk him on a long lead so that he can still get that exercise and I reckon 7/10 walks he's fab, yesterday was one of the 3 and he managed to rip my jeans and get out of his harness (we are buying a new one!). I just couldn't believe how awfully behaved he was. About an hour later my husband took him out (I had cut our walk a bit short) and he said it's the most we behaved the dog has ever been for him.
The dog just thinks he can go and say hello and play to every other dog (especially small ones!!) and he thinks every other dog wants to play with him.

11 month old psycho here. His recall fell out his arse at 6 months old, almost overnight, and since then it has been a stressful time out on walks. I even posted on here a while ago "when did you start enjoying dog walks?" (I was looking for "oh around 18 months/2 years, it all just clicked!" and the responses were not reassuring!) but I do see flashes of the dog he is growing into. His dog manners are getting better, his people manners are getting better, his recall proximity to distractions is getting better, it's just a long old slog with tiny increments of non linear progress. I liken it to my preteen daughter who thinks everyone is cooler than me and thus will only walk home from school with me and her younger siblings if she doesn't get a better offer. My dog is much the same - everyone else is much cooler than me and it's only over time that he will realise that actually if he hangs around me he will get chicken and pate and a tennis ball.

But yes, much like the DD, sometimes he does make me need a little cry! (and to be fair when I do cry he is devastated and needs to put his 22kg arse on my lap and lick my face until I stop lol)

Lab x Springer here, he was an absolute arsehole in his teenage phase, stole, chewed, lunged.
Now 6 years old and an absolute gent, incredibly well mannered. Sending for all teenage regression dog owners.

@3ormoredogs

surely like all teenagers he's just misunderstood

You know what would help? Posting a pic of him

My one is a nine month old thieving hooligan. She back chats me more than my pre teen child does and does not like to be told no.

10 Mnth springer cross here - I will pray for all of us.

@fourquenelles

My 6 year old rescue is going through this atm. I have had him for 3 months. He was a poppet in the first few weeks but has morphed into a barky shouty lungy teenager when out. He is still a poppet at home. He only had his bits off in October so maybe the hormones are still adjusting. I have arranged training for him but he is ruining our walks for now

Aw, it's because he loves you. He is passing through the be seen and not heard in case she sends me back to rescue stage and is now letting everyone know “she is MINE, go away, I'm not sharing” stage.

Get ready for barking at the postman stage/barking from asleep if startled, great fun, miss my rescue dogs.

Curlygirl is the barking from asleep if startled a phase then? My 10 month old ddog has just started it be now I'm worse at telling people to be quiet when she's asleep than when the kids were babies!

I remember this vividly and dog is 12 next month, never having another puppy. She’s only really calmed down since lockdown last year.

She had been quite good at letting puppies know when they over step the mark so when I saw someone with one the other day I said she was fine to play and would say when had enough, thinking it would be good for the puppy’s socialisation.

I was very wrong. She forgot her age, started leaping around and egged the puppy on, was pretty embarrassing!