Adolescent Dogs

Most dogs go through an adolescent period when they reach six months and this usually lasts until they are 14 months of age. However, the exact age of adolescence does vary between breeds and individual dogs. Be aware that this adolescent period can be characterized by behavior changes in your dog. De-sexing will help resolve these issues.

You should reprimand your dog for unacceptable behavior, no matter what that behavior is. If you do not reprimand your dog’s poor behavior then it will feel that it has the right to behave that way and it will take much longer to correct the behavior. What I recommend you do the next time your dog acts poorly and exhibits dominant tendencies (such as growling) is throw a heavy blanket over your dog and be sure to reprimand it. DO NOT yell, as this has no effect on the dominant dog.

Undertake the following techniques to re inforce your status as alpha dog:

If you come across your dog while she is sleeping or lying on the floor then you can re inforce your position as alpha dog by making her move so that you can pass by.

Generally I do not recommend people giving their dogs bones as this can encourage (possessive) aggression (in the wild the alpha dog would be the only one to have the privilege of chewing the bones). The reason your dog growls at you when you approach it with a bone is because it believes that it has the right to the bone and is trying to discipline you for challenging your dog for its dominant role.

Make sure that you always go through doorways first. A good method to re inforce your position as alpha dog is to walk your dog around the house on the leash, making your dog wait while you walk through doorways first.

At mealtimes make sure that she eats after all of the humans have.

Do not feed your dog tidbits or let her pester you at the table. Save the morsels and tidbits for training sessions instead.

Do not greet her straightaway when you arrive home. Make her wait until you are ready and then call her to you.

When she wants to go outside for a walk, make her sit and wait until you are ready to go.

Do not inadvertently re inforce poor behavior from your dog. You must be consistent. For example, if she is allowed to jump on you when you are playing with it but is not allowed to jump up at any other time, she will be unable to understand the difference.

Once you and your roommates have followed the above techniques, you should notice a distinct difference in the behavior your puppy exhibits to everyone in the household. This will definitely help with the talking back and barking when you tell her off, and most likely the jumping and chewing objects also. However there are other methods we can use to help get your puppy out of these particular behavioral problems.

With regards to jumping and lunging, there are a few techniques you may wish to try – some of which you may have already tried. I would recommend not really trying these methods until you have undertaken the alpha dog techniques described above for a couple of months. After this time you may wish to begin with this other training.

Your puppy should not be allowed to jump in any situation. This means that she should not be allowed to jump on family members OR strangers. If you allow her to jump up at home, she will not realize that jumping on strangers is inappropriate. Next time she goes to jump on you, move quickly towards her, then as she moves back to prevent being stepped on, tell her to sit, and praise her for obeying.

Or when she begins to jump, totally ignore her, don't even look at her. Cross your arms, and look at the ceiling. When she eventually calms down, ask her to sit then praise her. You could attach her leash, then if she jumps, tell her "Off" firmly, then give a sideways pull on the leash, so that she loses her balance, and falls down to all four paws. Praise her quickly so that she associates being on all fours with your praise. Your roommates should join in so that she knows not to jump on anyone – not just yourself.

As for chewing here are some important points to help you curb the behavior:

1. You will have to spend quite a lot of time doing corrective training with your puppy
2. You will need to reprimand your puppy effectively when you can catch her chewing (or performing any other destructive behavior)
3. You will also have to restrict your puppy’s access to chewable things when you are not around to control it

You can train your puppy to recognize that chewing anything but its toys is unacceptable, however the minute you are not around, the puppy is instantly the alpha dog and can do whatever it wants.

Spend some time every day, quietly following your puppy, so that she believes she is alone and free to do as she pleases. The aim being that you want to catch her in the act.

Startle and reprimand her as soon as she starts to chew on something. The best way to do this is verbally, or by shaking a can (like a soda can) of pebbles to startle her. Give your dog time out in another room or an area where there is nothing for her to chew. When you are away, restrict access to your roommates' rooms, and always give her plenty of her own toys to keep her busy chewing on good stuff.

Because she is so young you shouldn’t have any problem training her out of the behaviors you have been seeing recently. Be sure to reward all good behaviors as well as reprimanding bad ones. It will take time, patience and persistence to overcome these problems, but you will make a breakthrough relatively quickly in this case if you follow all the steps and stick to them.here

separation anxiety in dogs

You can find everything from doggy psychiatrists to aroma therapy for treating separation anxiety in dogs. And, as per our pill-popping culture, there are of course medications you can ask your vet about. But this option is not advisable, at least not before a concerted effort has been made to address the behavior through training.

Training involves a combination of methods, including: 1) desensitizing your departure cues, 2) toning down your departures and arrivals, and 3) staging a series of absences that gradually increase the duration they are left alone.

Crate training also plays an important part in addressing your dog’s separation anxiety, and helps to keep your house safe in the meantime. However, what it might not do is keep your dog safe from itself, since severely anxious animals can rub their nose raw or tear up their paws on the crate door. You’ll have to follow a gradual training regime to introduce this method without making things worse.

1) Rehearse Departure Cues:

Your anxious dog will sense any act or routine you initiate as you prepare to leave. Putting on shoes and picking up keys are the most common examples. These actions are like triggers for your dog’s uneasiness.

It has been shown to help your dog adjust to absences when these cues are “desensitized” – that is, you can break the association with these actions with you disappearing for a while. This is easy. Simply go through the motions of putting on your shoes, picking up keys (or whatever it is that clues in your dog to your departure) without actually leaving. 

The repetitive act, newly coupled with the outcome of ‘owner not leaving,’ will calm your dog and eventually allow them to pay less attention to these routines when they do mean you have to leave for real.

2) Tone down arrivals:

Obviously, everyone loves a wildly enthusiastic welcoming committee every time you walk in the door. But with a dog with separation issues, your ecstatically happy reunion repeatedly sends the message that, yes, this is a HUGE deal, huge enough to feel like it’s been years since you saw each other last, and could be years until you see each other next!

Extra happy returns will not cure separation anxiety; rather, they will make it worse. You need to resist the urge, and it is even advisable to ignore overexcited pets for a few minutes until they regain some degree of composure.

I trained one dog with a jumping problem and a mild case of separation anxiety. After we let him blow off a bit of steam and do a few cartwheels, he had to sit down before being rewarded with a greeting. Also, the owner would always kneel down to greet his friend, which not only helped with the jumping, but also allowed the exchange to take place in a more controlled and civil manner, and ‘on the dog’s level.’

3) Stage Exits:

Conditioning your dog to be alone, and to be comfortable without you, is the goal. It is necessary to budget time to undertake this training process. You will have to stage exits. That is, practice leaving him first, confined to another room in your house for a few minutes with you at home; next, getting used to very short exits and entrances – as short as a minute or two at first; then finally for incrementally longer absences.

You will NOT be able to leave your dog alone for longer than you have successfully “staged” with practice. Try crate training or arrange for a dog sitter in the meantime to make sure you are not taking two steps back with every step forward.

TIP: I’ve had success in some cases standing just outside the door after I’ve departed, then, upon hearing the anxious behavior – whining, crying, or scratching the door itself – I gently talk to the dog and let them know that what they’re doing is inappropriate. It not only corrects the behavior on the spot, but helps them understand that you don’t vanish when you walk out the door.

Finally, in the long run, time IS on your side. Dogs will learn that you’re always coming back, whether you’re leaving them in the car or a few minutes while running an errand, or in the house for an afternoon. They will grow in confidence as they grow in maturity.

In the meantime, some things to do and keep doing:

• Exercise – it’s my answer for everything I’m told, but it sure helps most everything
• Personal activities – remember, they’re dogs. They enjoy chewing on things. Give them something to chew on. If they’re left inside, switch on the radio.
• Visits – try to arrange short visits from friends if you work long hours. (The great thing about having a very sweet and very obedient dog is that everyone WANTS to see them)