Growing Pains

Teenagers are hard to handle. They experience a lot of mental and physical growing pains as they come into their own. The same is true of dogs. When they begin making the transition from adolescence into adulthood, you’ll probably notice some behavioral changes. Your dog will become a bit more rebellious–they won’t listen as well and they might start challenging you. If left unaddressed, these mild, normal behavioral deviances could escalate into real issues like aggression, resource guarding, severe anxiety, or leash reactivity.

To prevent mild behavior problems from becoming severe behaviors, call an experienced trainer. If you live in the Hampton Roads, Virginia area, call me. I was recently able to help a young dog named Mimi overcome her transitional behavioral challenges.

Mimi’s main issues were chasing the cat and resource guarding. Resource guarding simply means she was becoming overprotective of her belongings–food, toys, sleeping area, etc. This may not seem like a big deal–these things belong to her, after all–but it’s also a way in which dogs establish dominance. You, as the owner, should have enough of your dog’s trust and respect to pull the food dish out from under their nose. Otherwise, your dog may begin thinking they run the place.

So how do we fix this? We establish that trust and respect.

For Mimi, I put together a training plan that involved basic obedience training, place training, crate training, and proper leash handling techniques. We also kept Mimi on a structured schedule. The owners’ consistency between sessions was paramount, and thanks to their commitment they began seeing positive changes in Mimi very quickly. All of these techniques worked together to keep Mimi’s focus on her owners rather than on the cat or other distractions. She learned boundaries and polite behavior. And I’m happy to say that now Mimi is on her way to maturing with grace rather than forging a destructive path into adulthood.

To learn how I can help your adolescent dog achieve the same results, give me a call today at 800.649.7297.