12 months

[Rosalee]

Is there something that goes on at one year old?

 

katie had her first birthday earlier this month, and i have found the past few weeks very challenging with her. Could it just be some sort of delayed adolescent thing? She has shown some teenager tendencies over the last few months, but nothing major, just some minor rebelliousness or scatterbrained sort of stuff. 

The last couple weeks have been different. It’s like every naughty thing she did as a puppy is back in full force. Like jumping up on people, having hyper leash chewing episodes on her walks, barking at other dogs on walks, barking at everyone who passes our house, chewing on stuff in the house that isn’t hers, etc, etc, I could go on. I find myself getting somewhat frustrated with her as well, though I try not to. It just seems like these are all things we worked hard on at the time, seemed to be resolved or improving and now here we are at square one, but she is obviously much bigger and stronger than she was, so jumping up on the kids isn’t cute at this stage. Thing is she hasn’t jumped up on the kids since she was 4 months old, she knows not to, why is this all coming back? If I tell her “no” I swear it’s like she’s laughing at me and thinks it’s all some great game. 

Is this the REAL teenager phase, and if so what do I do? Maybe I was sort of lulled Into thinking we were through it because she is generally a real joy and it was just the calm before the storm. Help.

 

[Rosalee]

My wayward child lol

[Braden]

Hey there! I personally think this is another teen phase. I’ve worked with my Border Collie a lot since I’ve had him. He is really well trained, but I noticed at 6 months and a little past a year, he started “testing” me and either not following commands as tightly as before or reverting back to “bad” behavior. I read somewhere that this happens so I was somewhat prepared. I honestly just went back to training basics and reinforced the behaviors I wanted and ignored the behaviors that I didn’t like. So if he jumped on me, I turned around and ignored him, etc. I found that he quickly figured out that I wasn’t falling for it and went back to the dog I knew he was. It just takes patience and consistency. He is 1.5 years old now and really well behaved.

P.S. your pup is super cute!

[Rosalee]

Thanks. That’s helpful. We will keep at it and hope things improve.

[Michael Parkey]

My Australian shepherd went through a similar phase between 1.5 and 2 years old.  All the training I'd done seemed to have disappeared.  Then suddenly when he was a little over 2, it all came back.  It was as if he knew what he learned along, but didn't have the impulse control to act like he knew it.  Keep up the training, dropping back to a simpler level if there are too many problems.  Good luck!

[D'Elle]

This is not uncommon and it's not permanent as long as you handle it right. What I do with a dog like that is I just go right back to the vary basic things I was doing when I first trained the dog, as if the dog had never learned it at all. This is the best approach because it shows the dog all over again that it is better for the dog to behave in the way he or she is trained to behave because then good things happen for the dog. It's not only a reminder of that,  but a reminder that bad behavior is not going to be tolerated or rewarded.

Almost always when a person just goes back to treating the dog like a puppy, these "testing the limits" behaviors will subside. 

[albuquerquedan]

When you said, "I find myself getting somewhat frustrated with her as well, though I try not to" I think that's worth dwelling on.  Dogs will pick up on your mood, so try to stay positive.  (I know, it's hard sometimes!).  When they're doing something they shouldn't, correct the behavior, but then the moment they stop, go back to being happy and enthusiastic.  Your positive attitude will rub off, and soon they'll go back to being the happy and enthusiastic dog they were a month ago . . . but first you'll have to live through this rough patch.  It'll pass soon enough.

Your dog is gorgeous, by the way.

[Rosalee]

Yes, she definitely is very sensitive to my moods. So, back to basics and try to stay positive. Thanks everyone!

[urge to herd]

From out of left field ~ try singing an upbeat song. Singing is great for the human body, you breathe more deeply and (IMO, I have no science to back this part up) I think the vibrations that singing creates everywhere in your body are wonderful. You don't need to sing at top volume, possibly humming might be enough. I submit this idea because singing makes me feel calmer and more alert all at the same time. I'll hum or sing when I'm anxious and it frequently calms me down. My Gibbs is fairly chill, so I can't experiment on him. If you try it, I'd love to hear the results. 

Ruth & Gibbs

[Mana19]

I can't speak for others but my BC who is now 2 years old had effectively two periods of "rebellious behaviour" similar to what you describe, at the 4-6 months and just before her 1st birthday (which coincided with her first heat).

At the time I felt like she was just testing the boundaries, it was up to me set the appropriate restrictions and provide the right incentives and environment for her to succeed. Although, chewing stopped being an issue after about 6 months, I spent a lot of time using positive reinforcement and redirection and over time we got there. From my own experience there were plenty of days were it seemed like she regressed, but do not worry. Stick to your training, be consistent and you will get there.

With my dog even to this day there are just light bulb moments where suddenly all that training clicks. You can never really predict it but if you stick to it you can get there with every problem behaviour you try to solve.