What dogs are always on....and cool tags too...go to fetchingtags.net
Did you ever meet someone who was chronologically an adult but acted like a teenager? You know, self absorbed, irresponsible, defiant and frankly, immature? Of course you have.
There's a ton of stuff out there on adolescent and adult human development. Fascinating stuff.
But the focus of this article is on the adolescent to adult dog and developmental delays in dogs. Why? Because I see this a lot in my practice as a professional pet and service dog trainer.
If you better understand the role you have in helping your growing dog mature emotionally and behaviorally, it can help in the overall relationship. And if you're stuck in a rut with your dog's adolescent pranks, take cheer. Your dog is either going to grow up (usually the larger the dog, the slower the maturation but certainly by age 3 any size dog should be considered an adult) or, if he's much older and behaviorally delayed, with the proper guidance you can catch your dog up to speed in no time.
People who call for professional help have some compelling reason to finally get them to pick up the phone and call or boot up the 'puter and email and to my mind, it is the symptom that compels them to call; what a good dog training professional does is get at the root cause and teach owners how to fix it.
Quick tips for spotting developmental delays.
1. If your dog is over 5 months old and is known to be healthy, does it still have "accidents" in your home? Fido is not "telling you" he needs to go out to potty or hiding the offense in an obscure part of the home or away from your viewing eyes during the deed?
2. Does your 3+ year old dog jump on guests, destroy your property, mash his muzzle into crotches to "just say hi" or otherwise act obnoxious even though you have asked, nay, TOLD HIM NO?
3. Do walks on a leash turn into potential knee, hip or shoulder replacement surgery risks because of pulling, lunging, or otherwise reactive behavior when your dog sees a squirrel, other dog, or even a leaf falling off a tree?
4. Have you ever put on an easy walk harness and seen your dog stagger around like she's drunk!? This is what I affectionally call the mind/body disconnect. Not harmful, very informative, very temporary.
If the answer to any, some or all of these questions is "YES, OMG, that's my dog", then you are guilty of enabling the adolescent behavior or you have acquired a 2nd or 3rd hand dog who lost his/her home because of a previously enabling or aloof human who just gave up in the delusional belief maturity would just happen.
Think about what you would like the dog to do instead of all the things you don't want and set your pooch or pooches up for success. If you need help figuring out a plan, contact a local trainer or even find a suitable consultant long distance who can help lay out a logical training plan that's customized for your own dog's needs and get cracking. Just make sure you select someone who uses positive methods, has a track record of working successfully with clients, ask for references and check them out, and turn over the leaf from "I love my dog but don't like her very much", or, gasp, "I hate my dog!" into "I just love everything about my dog."
Comments
LOL! My dog doesn't do any of those things but is at a deep emotional level developmentally delayed. I love him anyway and just give him extra time.
Very good suggestions for normally delayed dogs though and people need to realize all dogs are different. One might be slow to potty train but walks great on a leash at an early age.
With regards to dogs hiding their business in the house, that results from being yelled at and/or beaten for having an accident.
It's amazing what people will tolerate from babies but expect puppies to be able to control their bowels at a young age.
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