I've often heard about the 'teenage' like behaviour dogs can sometimes display, even when previously they have been well behaved. Can anyone tell me at what age this is likely to be, for how long and when is a dog deemed to be an adult? And is this roughly the same for all breeds/sizes. My dog is 1 next month and I keep waiting for her to stop listening to me, particularly with recall. Thanks?
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'teenage' times and adulthood
- Thread starter Peegee
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It could be anything between 6 and 18 months! As large breeds mature faster, its likely to be earlier so with yours, a year or thereabouts might be expected. But a huge amount of behaviour comes from genetics so you may be able to bypass some of the teenager stuff.
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About that. My boy didn't start listening at all until he was about 14 months, then one day I sort of realised he had become really good. Don't get me wrong, he has his moments - tonight he decided to untie my shoelaces! He hasn't done that since he was a puppy; he will be 7 in June! Secretly I quite like it ...
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He sounds quite a character. Evie has been pretty good so far. Mind you we wouldn't leave her alone with access to anything we didn't want chewing! But she's never attacked furniture or anything. I have noticed recently though that she has started to get more confident when out and off lead and now can shoot off into the woods or is happy to go further ahead of us and I'm less confident with her recall. Did actually lose her this week when she shot off into woods and didn't come back when called. I ran frantically for a while then ran home fo get husband and we both tore back to woods. She did then appear on the path I'd lost her and she was quite distressed, panting and quite timid of coming back to me - obviously she got treats and lots of cuddles. This prompted my question about age and development. Made me very wary though when out and about, and certainly upping the recall training and high value treats.
