TOBALIE

This article was written by TOBALIE in cooperation with Lisa Stolzlechner

Hard to beat in cuteness, but young dogs can make their people despair. Especially during puberty, not only the hormones in the dog’s body change, in many cases (undesirable) behavioral changes can occur. What exactly happens during dog puberty? And how you are best prepared?

When does dog puberty begin?

This period of development starts between the 5th and 10th month of life of dogs (usually earlier for small dogs than for large dogs).

How long does dog puberty last?

It follows ups and downs until our beloved friends, with about 2-3 years (bigger dogs usually later) are grown up. It is characterized by the fact that both the psychological maturity and the sexual maturity of our esteemed friends develops. The phase of sexual maturity (physical development) is usually completed earlier. With the production of the sex hormones are also many other signal substances coupled, which provide for further growth in the body of our darlings. For this reason you should also refrain from an early castration, as long as no medical reasons speak for it.

What is changing in this time?

In any case, puberty can often be accompanied by various behavioural problems that can cause us troubles:

  • The recall doesn’t work any more, according to the motto “Let go of the leash and the dog is gone”.
  • Suddenly other dogs or people are barked at or jumped on.
  • The nose is only more on the ground.
  • The attention of the dogs is everywhere, but not with their humans.
  • Your darling is more emotional (fear of things that were fine before, …).
  • They become more independent, impatient, impulsive and often more susceptible to stress. Enter the stress level in the pet profile to see correlations with events.

It is frustrating for us humans. Especially when as a puppy everything worked out great and the simplest things don’t work anymore. It’s not that your dog doesn’t want to listen to you anymore, he just can’t. Because of the changed hormones he is busy with completely different things and it is difficult for him to concentrate on what is essential for us.

What is particularly important now in young dog training, so that your darling also masters puberty bravely!?

dog harness that fits your dog

What can you do?

If your dog is in puberty and becomes a disobedient rebel, you can be reassured. The motto is: TO STAY TUNED and re-strengthen the simplest steps. To stop the training during this often difficult phase or to change to other educational methods is not effective. A young dog is primarily insecure and quite emotional in his decisions. During this time they need a lot of confirmation and positive experiences of success with their people. Otherwise it can happen that they distance themselves and prefer to go their own way. The basic attitude of this independence is of course individual, but during the young dog phase you can do a lot to strengthen the bond:

  • Your dog does not annoy you intentionally!
  • Remember your puberty, it was not easy for you and your parents either.
  • Go back a few steps in training and choose a reward that your treasure will love .
  • Do things that are fun for you and your dog, in case of doubt: tow line on!
  • Don’t strain his impulse control, rather do short training sessions more often.
  • Have confidence, soon your dog will know the signals again-quiet! Your darling needs a lot of rest periods to relieve the stress.

Keeping an eye on growth

As hormones change, so does the physique. Slowly, your darling will reach his final size. Make sure he is fed good quality food and does not grow too fast. Ideally, weigh your dog every week to keep track of the growth curve. Enter the weight in the pet profile and see the progression.

Junger Hund auf Decke

Summary

Young dogs can make us lose our minds. But with a lot of patience and above all a lot of love the first successes soon appears. Usually it is an up and down for a while and at some point there comes a time when the concentration of your best friend is constant again and calmness returns. Good power of endurance and a wonderful time with your young family member.