# big bad teenage phase



## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

was just curious when do gsds usually enter the big bad teenage phase where they pretend they dont know the commands anymore and think they own the world? 

also when does it usually end? for working lines? I hear people talking about was always curious about it. any rough estimates?


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Depends on the dog but Shasta started hers when she was about 8-9 months old and has been off and on since. That seems to be the average i've heard. Supposedly the 1st birthday is when they remember how to behave and obey again. lol. We'll see. Shasta's 1st birthday is in 4 days!


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## Elaine (Sep 10, 2006)

There is no teenage thing; there's the age when the dog discovers your training is lacking. Dogs with good solid training, don't go through this.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

bam!!!!



Elaine said:


> There is no teenage thing; there's the age when the dog discovers your training is lacking. Dogs with good solid training, don't go through this.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Elaine said:


> There is no teenage thing; there's the age when the dog discovers your training is lacking. Dogs with good solid training, don't go through this.


 
hmmm.... maybe i should kick my husband out then. His training is SEVERELY lacking. Poor Shasta gets so confused when he wants her to get off the couch and he says down instead of off. Looks at him like he's out of his mind.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I agree with Elaine, however some dogs will go thru a reactive stage, and that seems to hit around 9 months. 
You just need to work them thru it. 

Another time during the teething stage, pups will not be as engaged for training lose focus, but again you work thru it!
I don't subscribe to the "butthead" stage....Its an excuse on the handlers part, IMO.


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## lanaw13 (Jan 8, 2011)

Elaine said:


> There is no teenage thing; there's the age when the dog discovers your training is lacking. Dogs with good solid training, don't go through this.


What would you consider the minimum requirements then for good solid training that would need to be accomplished before this time period? And when does it start? 8 or 9 months? 
I want to make sure I try to get all the training in I can before then, but want to make sure I focus on the right things....


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

dogs can understand different phrases for the same command.
if i want my dog off of the sofa i can say "get down", i can point
to the ground, i can say "let's go", "get off the sofa/bed".



KZoppa said:


> hmmm.... maybe i should kick my husband out then. His training is SEVERELY lacking. Poor Shasta gets so confused when he wants her to get off the couch and he says down instead of off. Looks at him like he's out of his mind.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

Well and my male dogs did hit a point where they started challenging- usually around 18 months. You'd see it in small things- they'd protest a correction with a growl, they might not want to get off the couch or give up their ball- which previously had not been a problem. It didn't last long as it was dealt with pretty swiftly. Anka also hit a point around 12 months where she started to sort of say "And if I don't...What then?". Well at that point she learned "Well then..."  So again not long. Maybe a couple weeks.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

my girl is really good hopefully it is because i have been doing things right lol


jklatsky how would you deal with a growl towards you? i have never had one of my dogs do that to me. sometimes they have demand barked if i want them to do something before i throw their ball but i would ignore them and turn my back till they stop then id make them repeat what i wanted them to do before i threw the ball.


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## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

doggiedad said:


> dogs can understand different phrases for the same command.
> if i want my dog off of the sofa i can say "get down", i can point
> to the ground, i can say "let's go", "get off the sofa/bed".


 
oh i understand that. I just have very specific commands i teach my dogs and my husband refuses to cooperate and makes things difficult. Her down means lay down. Off means get off. Sit means sit. Come means come. They understand a great deal but i teach specific commands for a reason. My husband likes having a reason to yell and be mad at the "stupid" dogs. He grew up with supposedly well trained dogs and assumes its okay to undermine training. Which i dont care how well trained a dog is, dont undermine the training. The dogs his parents had and currently have, zena excluded, are supposedly well trained but they're completely stupid. they know sit but barely. Hubby leaves the training up to me for a reason.


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## CarrieJ (Feb 22, 2011)

> Elaine
> There is no teenage thing; there's the age when the dog discovers your training is lacking. Dogs with good solid training, don't go through this.


I definitely agree and I do regret the fact that my dog was seven months old when my mother had her last stroke. I wasn't barely home for two months. In and out of the house. So I definitely got a Who the **** are you? attitude from the dog.




> onyx'girl
> Another time during the teething stage, pups will not be as engaged for training lose focus, but again you work thru it!
> I don't subscribe to the "butthead" stage....Its an excuse on the handlers part, IMO.


Again, I wonder if my dog would have behaved differently towards me if I had spent more time with her at this age and if things would have been easier 7 months through 15 months if things had gone differently. I have made up for lost time, but it was a big set back in the relationship with my dog.
The thing is no matter how frustrated that I got with her challenging me at every turn; I didn't back down and did buck up to getting her to an acceptable behavior where we were both happy.

*but she was a poo face*


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