Adolescence!!! You thought the early puppy months were hard, but just when you thought you were getting the hang of dog ownership a whole bunch of hormones come along and change everything!
Suddenly, your puppy has lost interest in you, and is totally distracted by everything else in the world! And when they are focussed on you, are they doing what you ask them to? Absolutely not!!!
It’s a really difficult time, so I’ve created MY 5 STEP ANNOYING ADOLESCENT TRAINING PLAN, to help you survive those terrible teens!
STEP 1 – RECALL
If you can’t trust your puppy to recall reliably at the moment keep her on-lead to stop her from learning that running off and ignoring you is great fun! Start your recall training from scratch again with a whole new recall cue, and some brand new toys as a reward. Teach this at home and in the garden, then gradually build up the distractions with her on the long line until you feel confident that she can be trusted again.
STEP 2 – SIT FOR GREETING
When you come downstairs in the morning or when you get in from school and work ask your puppy to Sit first before you fuss her. And if she jumps up walk away from her. Also ask her to Sit to greet anyone who wants to say hello to her on a walk, and only let her greet people when she is on lead so that you can pull her back if she does start getting bouncy.
STEP 3 – BITING AND CHEWING
Stock up again on the Antlers, Yakkers and raw chews for your puppy. Give her unlimited access to the Antlers and Yakkers and 1 or 2 raw chews a day to satisfy her chewing urges.
STEP 3 – BARKING
Dogs bark for lots of reasons, but I can’t cope with the demanding barking! Barking at you when you are eating because she wants your food, or throwing a toy at you and barking at you to get you to play with her. Instead of responding to the barking make sure she has a chew or toy to occupy her when you are eating, and set aside time every day to have some 121 training and play with her where she gets my undivided attention!
DON’T FORGET…
Number 5 is a note to you, to remember that your dog is still a baby and still learning! If she does any of these annoying adolescent behaviours there is usually a reason for it, like she hasn’t had enough exercise, she hasn’t had enough running around time, or you haven’t given her enough 121 time.
Put the work in with her now for the first couple of years for a lifetime of lovely dog ownership!
Let me know what you are struggling with with your annoying adolescent!
And if you want to join us for some adolescent dog training, I have 2 spaces left on my Delightful Dog Course starting this Sunday!
Book here;
Nicola x