I was not prepared for adolescence!!!

[wontbelongnow]

@mythman We did go through the leaves phase it was the least bothersome behaviour haha

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@wontbelongnow I’m so scared for what’s coming my way

 

[slowbie]

@imagebeastmarkbeast if it's any comfort, although adolescence is absolute hell, the tantrums and cheekiness are absolutely hilarious to witness

 

[loyola]

@slowbie Our pup likes to grab shoes for attention when he throws his tantrums. Yesterday he threw my sandal at me and dramatically slammed his paws down on the ground because it was nearly lunch/walk time. I just about died laughing

 

[slowbie]

@loyola Oh my god lol, they're such drama queens!!

 

[kvasas]

@slowbie I love the little grunts and groans my boy does when I ask him to do something he doesn't want to do.

Just like a teenager.

 

[slowbie]

@kvasas Same! It's so funny. He's just always grumbling and sighing

 

[beckym6500]

@slowbie He sounds really funny

 

[peccator]

@imagebeastmarkbeast You can do it! My adolescent 7month old pupper is absolutely a menace at times, but she's also funny and cuddly and cheeky and we love it! Just adjust your expectations, our pup is only on long leads now (not off lead) or short lead so we know we can get her back if she decides to refuse my recall (which, let's face it, teenage dogs do a lot). We spent some time having 'boring' walks focused on lead training again, because it all went away. And now it's getting much better again! Rugs had to be packed up again because chewing them was a fun thing to do.

My biggest tip for adolescence from my current experience is: lower your expectations. Just, pretend they don't know the commands you so nicely taught them, and be super excited when they do what you want again. And once you made that shift in mindset, you can start enjoying seeing the progress again! Because it will come back, and get better!

 

[wontbelongnow]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Good luck

 

[thruve]

@wontbelongnow You’re speaking to my soul right now. What on Earth is the random sitting on the street, I don’t get it. My pup went from a relatively well behaved loose leash walking to either pulling me like a maniac or randomly stopping and when I call her with treats and my most playful, loving voice she just looks at me with pity in her eyes and then gracefully turns her head away.

A friend of mine who has dogs pointed out the other day that I shouldn’t be using her name, when I’m redirecting her from an unwanted behaviour with a nagging tone, which I didn’t even realise I was doing. So now I’m consciously saying her name only in a positive manner and her recall is sloooooowly getting back to normal.

Nevertheless, I hope the teenage phase won’t last long and I’ll come out of it without pulling my hair out.

Good luck to you too.

 

[cptbobproffesoromemeology]

@wontbelongnow Yuuuuup. Sounds about right!

 

[wontbelongnow]

@cptbobproffesoromemeology

 

[kalnhoja]

@wontbelongnow I think what you meant was that you were not puppared

 

[wontbelongnow]

@kalnhoja

 

[de2105]

@wontbelongnow Best advice is to go back to basics… sit, stay, name recall.

Try to keep a sense of humour about your angsty ’nobody understands me and everything sucks and I just want to be an individual…gahd!’ teenager.

Also remember they are super-sensitive at this age and it will break their heart to get yelled at (yes, even while they are being a complete in-your-face jerk).

 

[kmaynard]

@wontbelongnow TIL my puppy is in adolescence.

 

[germanangel22]

@kmaynard Mine too. And all she does is bark. Happy? Bark bark arooo. Excited? 5x bark bark aroo. Sad? Barrrkkk baaarrrkkk aroooo. Pooping? BARK BARK AROO! Ignores all commands.

 

[kimbob5688]

@wontbelongnow How old is your doggo?

 

[wontbelongnow]

@kimbob5688 My dog is 11 months JRT. 7 months was relatively ok