July 1st, 2011 | By: Denise Stringfellow
Fourth article in a series on training your best friend— your puppy.
In previous articles we guided you through selecting and raising a puppy, and taming a teenage dog. This article focuses on the next stage of your dog’s life: pre-adulthood.
At 18 to 24 months, dogs look nearly full grown. Habits, good or bad, become practiced and ingrained, and the resources a young dog controls are starting to cement for life. Active youngsters are easily bored at this age, and still need plenty of physical exercise, but also mental stimulation, as well as more practice perfecting obedience skills.
So, what can go wrong in this stage? Sadly, owners are often already tired of regular training (this usually happens during the teenage stage) and now give the dog very little direction and supervision. Left to his own devices, a pre-adult dog will often do one of two things: become either overly reactive or frustratingly independent.
- The overly reactive pre-adult. Overly reactive dogs bark and lunge at other people and other dogs while on-leash. Most of these dogs are actually filled with anxiety and fear. They display aggression when they become anxious, so that whatever is causing their anxiety (unfamiliar people, dogs, etc.) will go away. Owners tend to respond by tightening up on the leash, further alarming the dog, and doing a lot of shushing and petting, which the dog interprets as “Well done! Good dog!” Rewarded behavior is likely to be repeated.
- The independent pre-adult. Independent dogs, in the absence of meaningful time with their owners, completely disconnect and seek interaction elsewhere. These dogs often bolt out the front door. When they get out to explore the world, they don’t come when called. Why should they? Home is boring. Once home, they try to make life interesting by chewing shoes, jumping on counters and digging in the yard. This type of dog will take what he wants, go where he wants and do what he wants because no one is willing to direct his energy toward productive outlets. Often, the only attention these dogs get is negative attention, which for them is better than none at all.
What, then, should you do with your pre-adult dog?
- Generalize your dog’s training. Practice commands for longer durations, in new and novel places, at greater distances and around more complex distractions. For example, be sure to practice off-leash gradually; don’t walk on-leash one day, then expect perfect off-leash control the next. Provide interim steps, such as walking on-leash, then letting your pet drag the leash for several minutes while you use only voice commands. When your pet is successful with that, work with a 30-foot-long line. When this is consistently successful, try short off-leash walks. Small, successful steps are the key to ensuring that your dog’s training is solid and will hold up to new circumstances.
- Exercise with mental stimulation. It is much harder to tire out a nearly grown dog than a young puppy.If your dog is in better shape than you, and you can’t easily tire him out, switch to activities that include more mental work. For example, instead of putting your dog’s food in a bowl, try a Buster Cube. If your dog likes to fetch tennis balls, try throwing a Frisbee instead; trying to figure out where a Frisbee will fly is much more challenging than catching or chasing a straight-in-flight tennis ball. Or, train your dog for a Dock Dogs event—not only will you add swimming as exercise, but your pet will also have to learn to stay and plan a proper takeoff into the water, both highly intellectual activities.
Remember, your pre-adult puppy may in many ways seem like a full-grown adult dog. However, he still very much needs your guidance and steady leadership to ensure that he will continue to develop into a well-trained and well-mannered companion. Slow and steady progress will help your dog master skills and gain confidence.
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