Adolescent phase

[achieng]

My pup is about 8 and a half months old and has started refusing to listen to some cues, specifically “sit” and “come.” What have y’all done to correct this behavior?

Some extra notes about my dog. She is reactive to handling and has anxiety. We follow positive reinforcement only and work very closely with a behaviorist veterinarian as well as trainer. We’ve made a lot of progress but recently have noticed new behaviors like this pop up.

 

[bushido8000]

@achieng Welcome to canine adolescence. When things like "sit" and "come" translate into blank stares, as though the human is speaking another language, and if dogs had middle fingers, they'd be flipping theirs to us 24/7. As frustrating as it is in the moment (my last dog that I raised from puppyhood had a particularly bad adolescence and literally brought me to tears multiple times throughout), it is normal, and it is a phase that you will get through. Be sure to keep reminding yourself of that.

For me, I essentially went back to the basics to reinforce the training, as though she was just learning things for the first time. Short training sessions with high value treats, and I always kept treats on me for those instances outside of a training session when she did offer a requested behavior, so that I could reinforce that. Outside of that, I basically just waited out the adolescence phase.

I also strongly recommend wine for the humans. Ok, I'm kidding. Kinda.

 

[centerofwealth]

@achieng Ohh I feel for you! The teenage phase is definitely one of the most difficult phases where they will test you as much as they can! I have a reactive teenager (15 months) and have tried a lot and am certainly no expert. One tip that requires some patient is, you tell them sit they don’t you ignore them. You don’t say sit sit sit sit until they sit and reward. They only get a reward if they do it the first time round. And consistency of course…Also I second the other comment, some wine for you or anything to help keep you relaxed

 

[tryallthings]

@centerofwealth What if they don’t care about treats? My pup sits fine throughout my house and used to in the car. Now she consistently won’t sit in the car and doesn’t care whether she gets a treat or not, even if they’re high value. I take her out and she does it just fine. Put her back in, she does not care - high value treats or otherwise. She just hit adolescence.

 

[williamsnodo]

@achieng As others have said it’s a phase, and your pup is going to go in and out of it for probably the next year or so. Be kind and patient with yourself and just keep reminding yourself that it’s puppy adolescence. You’ll have good days and bad days!

 

[godly_wife]

@achieng It’s learning history and the adolescent brain. Make things a little bit easier and give more grace. You could also work on engagement games. I really like Leslie McDevitts up down game

 

[melzy]

@achieng Stay the course with the obedience training and if you need to take a couple steps back in training to make it easier for them (re-introducing lures, lower distractions, and so on) then do so. Increase management and don't be permissive of disobedience: Long-line her and if you ask her to come, don't let her do anything else until she complies with the command. When she does, reward generously and let her decompress for a few minutes doing her own thing. Show her that she is allowed to be herself and do what she wants, but she must cooperate with you first.