08/01/2026
🐶🧠 The Adolescent Brain: Why Dogs "Forget" Their Training
Has your puppy ever gone from being the perfect student to acting as though they've never heard the word "sit" in their life?
You're not imagining it.
A comment I often read is:
"My puppy knew all of this last month. Now it's like they've forgotten everything!"
The good news?
They almost certainly haven't forgotten.
They're growing up.
🧠 Adolescence is a period of major brain remodelling.
Between around 6 and 18 months of age (depending on breed and individual development), a dog's brain undergoes significant structural and functional changes.
Rather than simply getting bigger, the brain is reorganising itself.
Neural circuits are strengthened, refined or removed in a process known as synaptic pruning. Frequently used connections become more efficient, while those used less often are eliminated.
Think of it as the brain upgrading its wiring.
🌿 The emotional brain develops before the thinking brain.
One of the biggest reasons adolescent dogs appear unpredictable is that different parts of the brain mature at different rates.
The limbic system, which processes emotions, novelty, reward and motivation, develops relatively early.
The prefrontal cortex, responsible for executive functions such as impulse control, decision making, attention and behavioural flexibility, matures much more slowly.
The result?
Your adolescent dog has a powerful emotional accelerator ...
.. but the brakes are still under construction.
This developmental imbalance has also been documented in humans and many other mammals.
🐾 Why does your dog suddenly stop listening?
It's usually not stubbornness.
It's biology.
During adolescence many dogs become:
✅ More easily distracted.
✅ More interested in exploring their environment.
✅ More sensitive to exciting or frightening stimuli.
✅ More motivated by social interactions.
✅ Less able to regulate their emotions.
When arousal increases, attention shifts toward the environment and away from the handler.
The behaviour you've taught is still stored in memory.
It simply becomes harder for the brain to access under high levels of excitement or emotional arousal.
🧬 Hormones play a role too.
As reproductive hormones increase during puberty, they influence motivation, risk taking, exploration and social behaviour.
Entire males may become increasingly interested in scent marking and locating females.
Females may become more independent during hormonal cycles.
These hormonal changes don't "cause" unwanted behaviour on their own, but they can amplify existing behavioural tendencies.
🎯 Training isn't lost.
It needs strengthening.
One of the biggest mistakes owners make is assuming their adolescent dog is being wilfully disobedient.
In reality, adolescence is a time when dogs need more guidance, not less.
The behaviours learned in puppyhood need to be practised in many different environments, around increasing levels of distraction.
Behavioural reliability isn't built in the lounge room.
It's built through hundreds of successful repetitions in the real world.
❤️ What helps?
✔ Keep training sessions short and enjoyable.
✔ Continue rewarding behaviours you want to see.
✔ Lower your expectations in highly distracting environments.
✔ Prevent your dog from repeatedly rehearsing unwanted behaviours.
✔ Provide appropriate physical exercise, enrichment and opportunities for species appropriate behaviours such as sniffing and exploring.
✔ Be patient. Brain development takes time.
🌱 The exciting part?
Research suggests that adolescence is also a period of remarkable neuroplasticity.
The brain is especially responsive to learning and experience.
Every calm choice.
Every successful recall.
Every loose lead walk.
Every moment your dog chooses to engage with you instead of the environment ...
.. is helping strengthen the neural pathways that will support behaviour throughout adulthood.
At Emerald Park, I don't view adolescence as a stage to survive.
I see it as one of the most important windows of opportunity in a dog's life.
Because while it may seem like your dog has forgotten everything ...
Their brain is actually learning how to become an adult.
And with patient, consistent guidance, those early foundations can become lifelong habits. 🐾
Donna Williams,
Emerald Park Border Collies.
www.emeraldparkbc.com
"My mission is to improve the life of at least one dog today!"
