joshuawithmartin
New member
"Teenage dogs? Evidence for adolescent-phase conflict behaviour and an association between attachment to humans and pubertal timing in the domestic dog"
This is probably something that is not exactly surprising news to most of us but still interesting to see research on this.
I also wanted to share as just an important reminder/something to think about for folks here who are dealing with adolescent dogs! It's so important to recognize the stage of life and development that our dogs are in when thinking about training, behavior, bmod, expectations, etc.
Quote from abstract:
"we found a passing phase of carer-specific conflict-like behaviour during adolescence (reduced trainability and responsiveness to commands), an effect that was more pronounced in dogs with behaviour indicative of less secure attachments. These results indicate a possibility for cross-species influence on reproductive development and highlight adolescence as a vulnerable time for dog–owner relationships."
In regards to training from cues to bmod, I think this is a noteworthy quote:
"Reduced responsiveness to a well-established command (‘sit’) was considered as a proxy for reduced obedience. The population of dogs were sampled at pre-adolescent (n = 82 aged 5 months) and adolescent (n = 80 aged 8 months, of which 69 were tested at both time points) time periods. Dogs responded less to the ‘sit’ command during adolescence, but only when the command was given by their carer, not a stranger (the carer and stranger were the same people at both time points). The odds of repeatedly not responding to the ‘sit’ command were higher at 8 months compared with 5 months for the carer (odds ratio (OR) = 2.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.46–3.11, Z = 2.01, p = 0.044). However, the response to the ‘sit’ command improved for the stranger between the 5- and 8-month tests (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.25–0.63, Z = 1.96, p = 0.049)."
From the discussion:
"Unfortunately, the welfare consequences of adolescence-phase behaviour could be lasting because this corresponds with the peak age at which dogs are relinquished to shelters [32,33]. Welfare could be also be compromised if problem behaviour results in the use of punishment-based training methods [34] or causes carers to disengage, as it does in humans [35]. It is hoped these issues could be avoided if dog owners were made aware that (as in humans) problem behaviour during adolescence could be just a passing phase."
This is probably something that is not exactly surprising news to most of us but still interesting to see research on this.
I also wanted to share as just an important reminder/something to think about for folks here who are dealing with adolescent dogs! It's so important to recognize the stage of life and development that our dogs are in when thinking about training, behavior, bmod, expectations, etc.
Quote from abstract:
"we found a passing phase of carer-specific conflict-like behaviour during adolescence (reduced trainability and responsiveness to commands), an effect that was more pronounced in dogs with behaviour indicative of less secure attachments. These results indicate a possibility for cross-species influence on reproductive development and highlight adolescence as a vulnerable time for dog–owner relationships."
In regards to training from cues to bmod, I think this is a noteworthy quote:
"Reduced responsiveness to a well-established command (‘sit’) was considered as a proxy for reduced obedience. The population of dogs were sampled at pre-adolescent (n = 82 aged 5 months) and adolescent (n = 80 aged 8 months, of which 69 were tested at both time points) time periods. Dogs responded less to the ‘sit’ command during adolescence, but only when the command was given by their carer, not a stranger (the carer and stranger were the same people at both time points). The odds of repeatedly not responding to the ‘sit’ command were higher at 8 months compared with 5 months for the carer (odds ratio (OR) = 2.14, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.46–3.11, Z = 2.01, p = 0.044). However, the response to the ‘sit’ command improved for the stranger between the 5- and 8-month tests (OR = 0.40, 95% CI = 0.25–0.63, Z = 1.96, p = 0.049)."
From the discussion:
"Unfortunately, the welfare consequences of adolescence-phase behaviour could be lasting because this corresponds with the peak age at which dogs are relinquished to shelters [32,33]. Welfare could be also be compromised if problem behaviour results in the use of punishment-based training methods [34] or causes carers to disengage, as it does in humans [35]. It is hoped these issues could be avoided if dog owners were made aware that (as in humans) problem behaviour during adolescence could be just a passing phase."