# adolescent phase - advice and tips? :)



## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

Charlie is just hitting 7 months old, and, while he's a really great dog, he has definitely hit that "teenage phase" I've been reading about on these forums since we adopted him at 4 1/2 months. Increased energy, backsliding in some of his obedience behavior... we knew this phase was coming and are focused on being good leaders and getting him through this time, but I have some questions!

Without damaging his growing bones, how much physical exercise can he get? Right now he gets at least an hour of walking a day (at least 30 min. in the morning and another 30 min. in the evening) plus a good game of frisbee and ball mid-day; sometimes more (for example, yesterday we went on an hour and 45 min. family hike. You'd think he would have been tired after the hike... but, no). We can certainly up the amount of exercise he gets - a short walk at lunch, increasing the distance of our morning/evening walks... but we don't want to hurt him! 

Is he old enough for a backpack to wear during our walks and hikes? We'd planned on getting him one someday, for practical reasons - he can carry his water and things on hikes - but definitely want to wait until his bones are old enough. Would having a barely-stuffed or even unstuffed backback help him, mentally, because he knows he has more of a job to do?

Mental exercise - we work on obedience commands every day, and I just started clicker-training this week to help guide him when he's behaving well and use that technique for our training. We've always made sure to have him give us some good behavior (sit, stay, etc.) before eating, getting petted/ear scratchies, etc.) but I think we may need to be even more consistent with this because some things that didn't really matter to me (if he was sitting or standing while I put his leash on, or before we went outside) are starting to matter much more now that he's bigger and starting to test us - I am taking the attitude that I'm glad to have more chances to show leadership to Charlie as well as shape new behaviors with the clicker. How much time should we spend formally working on obedience and training?

Classes and socialization - I was actually looking forward to starting classes this month, but the center we were going to take filled up their session (d'oh!) and then I kept asking questions about the methods there and was glad - it just doesn't seem like a good fit (more old school with their corrections style). I have found another recommended school but they don't start any new class sessions in December so we're waiting until next month for formal classes. In the meantime, we're working at home and I'm doing Lauri's "Puppy Challenge" from this board (which is going great!). Beyond the puppy challenge, are there specific socialization recommendations for adolescent pups?

This was pretty long - sorry!! Thank you all for taking the time to read and answer! It's an interesting phase, I think - some days he is so good, it feels so great to know that his training is sinking in. Other days he is kind of bananas!







Very interested to get advice from those who have "been there, done that!"


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## JerzeyGSD (Jun 26, 2008)

I'm interested to see what everyone says too, esp. about the backpack! We have been considering getting her a pack for a while but are unsure of when to get her one. 

My boyfriend and I are in the same exact place with our GSD pup of the same age, although I think she started her adolenscent stage a little bit earlier and is calmning down a bit. Although, I swear it flares up sometimes. For example, when I took her to the tennis courts yesterday for a quick game of fetch (quick because she is only interested in catching the ball maybe three times) and to just run around she didn't want to come back which lead to me in near tears as I tried to catch her. (Not to mention it was only 30 degrees outside and, because I was expected at an event in 30 mins, I hadn't dressed for the weather.) When she was done, however, she just laid down, let me put the leash on and walk her home.







I guess she just need 15 extra minutes.

What I've noticed, as far as exercise, is that going to the dog park is the best use of our time. We can do walks during the day and hikes on the weekends but a hour or two at the dog park really calms her down more than a hour or two of walking. (We don't play fetch with her because she loses interest after about 3 throws, as I said.) The mental stimulation of meeting and playing with other dogs is just great for her. My boyfriend also works on obedience and off leash training with her while in the park so that helps. 

Anyways, I guess that's all the advice I can give because I'm in the same boat. Good luck!


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## caview (Jun 30, 2008)

Charlie is so very gorgeous!!

Congratulations on clicker training behavior vs. just commands! 

We went yesterday to a SchH event and so many people commented how unusually good and layed back our puppy was (at 10 weeks) (we clicker trained (by shaping) him to lay down in such situations)!

Hope to learn a lot from this thread! The advise we got for when the time comes is to ignore and crate when the puppy starts acting up... I see he logic in it -- when the homones are raging, there is no need to argue -- just let it go and down for a bit : )

Tanya


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## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

I found a website with several articles on doggie adolescence (and lots more information as well)!

Here is an index of all the articles:

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/behavior.html

And some info specifically geared toward this stage:

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/adolescence.html (breaks down dog's development and compares it to similar developmental stages in humans) 

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/teenagedog.html 

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/Impulsecontrol.html

I found those to be quite helpful and encouraging! I'm continuing with clicker training and that seems to be going very well (it's really helping him to "get" that sitting or being in a down-stay is the way to be when I'm cooking or working....). This week, I'm also going to try adding an extra walk during my lunch (when we normally go outside and play fetch) and, in his evening walks, bring his balls and a chuckit and go to the field at the nearby school to really get his extra energy out - he LOVES playing ball and when we go to the field I can throw it way better and farther than in our backyard. We'll see how that helps - one thing's for sure - Charlie will have fun!


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## rainydaygoods (Oct 13, 2008)

> Quote:Charlie is so very gorgeous!!


 <3 Thanks! No arguments here!











> Quote:The advise we got for when the time comes is to ignore and crate when the puppy starts acting up... I see he logic in it -- when the homones are raging, there is no need to argue -- just let it go and down for a bit : )


I'm finding that, more than ever, Charlie's crate is helping him get good naps! It's as if, when he's sleeping out in the room, he is still more aware when we get up and move or something, and wants to be "in the action" and do what we're doing. When he's in his crate (even though the crate is in the same room as we are), he's able to settle down and his naps are much longer, which helps his general behavior.


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