Tags: Dogs. Canine. Pet care.
A lot is written about puppies but not much about the teenage dog. This is the most common age group to be rehomed, unfortunately. The size and breed of the dog will dictate the start and end of the teen years. Luckily it is not as long as humans! Small breeds – 5 – 10 months old Medium – 5/6 – 12 months old Large/Giant – 10 months – 2 years old There are variations and individualism to the above. We buy our puppy and know we will have issues such as toilet training and biting etc.
We have all seen lovely quiet dogs walking nicely with their owners or sitting quietly at their feet. Then we have our teenage dog that seems to take us on a constant rollercoaster ride. It seems to happen overnight, we finally manage to control our puppy and he listens to us at all times. Then the next morning it seems someone has come in and swapped dogs. We wake up to find crater holes in the backyard, huge bite marks in furniture, clothes ripped. The dog has finally found his voice and he sure uses it. We call and he won’t return whereas before he wouldn’t leave our sight.
We conquer one problem only to be overtaken by another and another …… All dogs go through different development stages and in teenagers there are two vital periods: 6 – 9 months the sexual maturity where the sex hormones kick in, and 12 – 24 months the social maturity stages where he learns how to interact and respond to changes and learning skills. Next issue will be how to survive the teen stage.
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