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How long will my puppy stay a puppy, what is adolescence and why can it be such a challenging time?

Puppy Yume
Puppy Yume

I wanted to write this after a couple of recent conversations with friends. I often mention the antics of Yume (my adopted rescue dog) and how cheeky and naughty she was and that if I have not given her enough structure or mental stimulation she would bring out her blankets and chew them. Of course, she was not actually being naughty, she was just being a dog and acting her age, but in doing the job I do, my friends like to have a laugh and poke fun from time to time! “Oh so you have a dog that is not perfect!… you should do x or do y…” While they jest, there is something important to learn from this about our dogs and actually Yume is an excellent example of why it’s important to take on the right dog for your personality, available time, lifestyle and energy levels.

I knew Yume would be work from the start. She is very intelligent, quick to learn and high energy. A lethal combination for anyone who has not got lots of time and energy themselves or does not live in an environment where they can keep their dog stimulated. Fortunately for both Yume, and me, I can offer her what she needs the majority of the time. I honestly believe that it’s likely, if she had found a different home, she could easily have driven someone a bit batty and would possibly have ended up going on to a second adoption or rehoming, maybe even more than once.

Puppy Yume

I adore her, I love her spark and her playfulness. Her energy makes me laugh and she is the perfect dog for helping me in my work with other dogs – helping them to gain confidence and learn how to play, but in the wrong home, she and her owner would have been miserable. We have long walks, go out with the bicycle and sulky – another way of harnessing her energy. However, when she was almost a year old she was still very, very much a young dog – an adolescent – and as such she was also quickly bored and struggled with impulse control. This did not mean that she was not obedient – in fact she was very obedient and was good at “down” even when at high energy. She could also break off high energy play for a recall, but that did not mean that her behaviour was yet “perfect”. Behaviour and obedience, as I am often asked to discuss, are two very different things.

When she had lots of activity and mental stimulation, when she had lots of play and was given focused work and good direction, she never thought of bringing her blankets out to play or digging extra large holes in the play area.  Note here – it is of course permitted for dogs to dig in the play area and when I put in new sand piles it even encourages them exactly where to dig… but if for example I had had a particularly busy week or had to be out a number of times, things could be a little different.

If I had less time and attention for her (despite still receiving long, active walks and other work as I never skip these) I would see the behaviours of adolescent boredom emerge. I was fortunate when she was a puppy and then adolescent, I had wonderful neighbours who love the dogs and if I had to be away longer than three hours, they would pop over and give her 15-30 minutes of play. Less than three hours and her toys, kongs or other dog friends were satisfying enough, longer than this, and she struggled.  Fortunately , my work and lifestyle meant that this rarely happened, in fact if I did a different sort of job, Yume wouldn’t have been the dog for me, but many people don’t have the options that I do when I bring a dog into my life.  For them, having the right dog for their lifestyle is important.

Many people think dogs are adults around a year to 18 months, but there are breeds that develop later entering adult hood from maybe 18 months to 3 years.   People also think that their puppy is still a puppy at 12 or 18 months however, what they have is an adolescent and this is where things can get challenging.

Recent studies and some interesting information from Sarah Whitehead suggests that dogs may reach adolescence around 16 weeks!  Yes, that young.  Some, scarily, reach it earlier!  Your puppy is no longer a puppy at 15-16 weeks, they are an adolescent.

Once dogs reach this “teenage” phase we have to be careful not to let them practice unhelpful behaviours.  Once in adolescence dogs will practice “risk taking” behaviours – this is what many owners often describe as testing their patience.  They may say that everything their dog learnt as a puppy seems to have been forgotten.  Adolescence is possibly one of the most critical periods of a dog’s development.  Doing things in adolescence maybe more neurochemically reinforcing that at any other time.

During this period, it is important to prevent dogs from practicing behaviours that may become fun and/or those that feel highly reinforcing – behaviours such as humping, chasing/bullying, running off, over stimulation and reactivity.  One of the most problematic issues I see as a behaviourist is where dogs rush up to others – this is rude behaviour and is NOT sociable!

Some breeds may even mentally and emotionally mature as late as 4 years so it is also important to research the type of dog you are planning to bring into your home.

The Ridgebacks I always thought would be late developers, but in fact by a year they were becoming really sensible and by 18 months they were lovely young dogs but still with a few things to learn.  Between 2 and 3 they had developed into lovely, confident, relaxed dogs. It still meant I had to put work in over that time, and too often owners think that they don’t have to bother much once the dog reaches a year to 18 months. In fact, we should work on our dogs for their entire lives – not just forget about training and behaviour once they hit the year old mark!

Puppy Yume

With Yume, her cheeky phase went on until around 3 years and from then on she continued to bloom.  At the time of writing (at 7 years old) she is what I would call the perfect dog, the one every family would love and who can take part in any activity they wish to do.  

A number of things influence a puppy and how well it matures mentally and emotionally too – and these include socialisation, the sex, the amount of play and the environment he or she grows up in.  It is also vital that where there are other dogs in the home, we do not rely on them alone for socialisation.  Often these dogs become highly bonded and if there are already dogs in the home, the new puppy needs twice as much socialisation externally not half as much!

It is also important to note that sexual maturity does not usually occur at the same time as mental, emotional and physical maturity and that all these things too can occur at different times in the first years of a dog’s life. Most dogs will be sexually active and fertile around 6 months of age – but they are often far from being mentally, emotionally or physically mature. This ability to breed from 6 months is the direct result of human involvement and breeding and is unique to domestic dogs. Other canids, such as wolves for example, usually start breeding around 2 – 3 years of age although it is possible for a female wolf to breed at one year of age. Female wolves will also only have one season per year with the breeding season beings around February or March so that the puppies have time to grow and develop before the next winter. With our domestic dogs, females have seasons every 6 months and generally have their first season at around 6 months. This means that they can produce puppies at any time of the year, depending on when the female was born and where her 6 monthly cycle falls.

So what’s the conclusion? Be responsible and be aware! If you are going to bring a puppy into your life, make sure your life is suitable for that puppy! It is a sad fact that most dogs in rescue centres have been abandoned in the first two years of their life, often because they were the wrong breed and energy for the human involved. With the right homework and research, the dog/human relationship can be rich and rewarding with fewer dogs ending up in rescue centres.

Tamasine Smith – Leadchanges (Dog Behaviour Modification)