# When do puppies turn into teenage devils?



## arctic (Jun 20, 2014)

My puppy is 4.5 months old right now and reasonably well-behaved.

I'm not sure my endurance is equipped for a complete regression of all the hard work we have put in together to make her a good canine.

Do some puppies ease gently into adolescence and not turn into demons from ****? Or does it always get "bad" when they turn 6 months until 1.5 years of age?


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Delgado's true 'butthead' stage was from 9 months old to about 11 months old. That was the only true tough time but with patience and consistency it really wasn't that bad looking back.


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## LoveEcho (Mar 4, 2011)

Echo was a bit of a snot for a few months at around a year. Delta just turned 8 months and has some moments of "uh, no thanks" but isn't that bad. It depends so much on the dog.

That being said- I think frequently the people who have the biggest problems (and the dogs who turn into to total demons) don't have a solid training foundation to begin with. They're the people who said, "my puppy is quiet and well behaved" and didn't feel the need (or have the knowledge) to lay the foundation for rules and routine once the dog became older and more independent. If you keep up with training now, it'll pay off in spades when your puppy reaches the age where he doesn't NEED you so much anymore, but listening to you is just "the norm."


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## Courtney (Feb 12, 2010)

The Witching Hour started when he was 7 months old


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## RiverDan (Mar 22, 2013)

Not to be a jerk or anything but... Baron is just over 18 months now and his big rebellion was to not lay down for me around a year old, once.
Great dog!


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

For us, it was 8 months to 1 1/2.

We upped the training, made it clear who was in charge, and we got through it just fine.
The rebelliousness was kind of amusing, actually. But I say that in retrospect, LOL.

I will also say it wasn't that bad. There were moments, that's all.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

7 months. He is doing well with a lot of hard work. He immediately takes advantage of me being distracted. He is now 8 months and starting to be a GSD. Sometimes it was really tough and I was wondering if I have made the right choice, but I did!


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## d4mmo (Mar 27, 2013)

I'm on 6 months and the boy just decided he doesn't need to follow commands, his attention span has gone down to zero, and has decided he wants to ruin anything. 
I'm making sure he knows we won't have any of it


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## CoraGirl (Jun 15, 2014)

My girl is a year old. We had about a month of "rebelliousness", it wasn't that bad, and now she still kinda tests us by being slow to respond to commands. And the funniest part is when she's really amped up and I tell her to down to settle her, she will literally talk back to me lol. Funniest thing ever, it's like arguing with a two year old kid who doesn't want to lay down for their nap!


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## simba405 (Mar 14, 2013)

Not really such a thing as a teenage phase. Just uninformed owners who don't know how to properly motivate their dogs.


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## Ellimaybel (Mar 16, 2014)

CoraGirl said:


> My girl is a year old. We had about a month of "rebelliousness", it wasn't that bad, and now she still kinda tests us by being slow to respond to commands. And the funniest part is when she's really amped up and I tell her to down to settle her, she will literally talk back to me lol. Funniest thing ever, it's like arguing with a two year old kid who doesn't want to lay down for their nap!


Gunther is 1 year old, he not only talks back to me loudly, he will try to run away from me and then chase me, and the other day he actually slapped me. I had gently slapped him on the nose for being loudly argumentative and he actually jumped up with both front paws and slapped my hands and jumped down. He doesn't argue with his dad though. If his dad says he's a bad dog he looks embarrassed and lays down lol


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## Longfisher (Feb 28, 2013)

*Zeus's Rebellion*

I believe Zeus rebelled at about a year old when two things happened:

1) his trainer got so rough with him that we stopped employing him (I think the training got to be more about the trainer's ego than the dog's development), and,

2) he got MUCH larger and stronger to the point that my wife couldn't handle him at all.

So, the training of the dog fell to me. I'm much larger and stronger than the dog. And, I can certainly instill submission in him with just my voice.

But about that same time I changed strategies of dealing with the dog. I thought our relationship needed work and a different approach. So, rather than trying to dominate him or feed him into obedience I decided to become his best friend and greatest supporter and most tender admirer. 

Worked wonders. He's now coming up on a two years old and his obedience improves every day as does his rebellion diminish.

LF


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## Longfisher (Feb 28, 2013)

*Same with my Zeus.*



Ellimaybel said:


> He doesn't argue with his dad though. If his dad says he's a bad dog he looks embarrassed and lays down lol


The one thing Zeus hates to hear and the one thing that makes him stop what he's doing immediately and act as if his feelings were hurt is my loudly shouting "BAD DOG!!!".

He lays right down and looks away.

LF


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## Ace GSD (May 30, 2014)

Longfisher said:


> The one thing Zeus hates to hear and the one thing that makes him stop what he's doing immediately and act as if his feelings were hurt is my loudly shouting "BAD DOG!!!".
> 
> He lays right down and looks away.
> 
> LF


My 4 months old go paralyzed when his mommy and daddy mention " Crate " lol


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

simba405 said:


> Not really such a thing as a teenage phase. Just uninformed owners who don't know how to properly motivate their dogs.


Pretty rigid response to most of us who work hard and definitely see this phase. Maybe you were lucky and you had more mellow dogs.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

simba405 said:


> Not really such a thing as a teenage phase. Just uninformed owners who don't know how to properly motivate their dogs.


Ouch. This borders on mean.

People who have been working GSDs for years know that young dogs push their limits.
In my opinion, your response is uninformed.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

Hondo never really went through a bad stage. He did get more confident and acted boldly, sometimes suprising me. But he was never really a pain in the butt. 

He's four now - and every once in a while he'll blow me off. But it's more like "Oh man, didn't realize you were serious!" type blow off. Not an ignore blow off. I think that happens because as your dog gets older you tend to trust him/her more. So you'll leave your sandwich on the coffee table to go get a drink. You KNOW he's not going to eat it. You walk back in and he's drooling all over it.


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## Msmaria (Mar 2, 2013)

Around 10 months or so, but it wasnt really bad. Only lasted a few weeks and then he got alot better. Even started doing the things ive been telling him all along and thought hed never get. It was a one step back, two steps forward thing.


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## d4mmo (Mar 27, 2013)

simba405 said:


> Not really such a thing as a teenage phase. Just uninformed owners who don't know how to properly motivate their dogs.



Opinion not fact!!


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