02/09/2026
Adolescent dogs often make us question ourselves and wonder what is your dogs understanding of life. There are definetely good and bad days. This is worth a read.
Surviving Adolescence: The Period That Can Shape the Dog You Live With for Life
Adolescence is probably one of the most misunderstood stages in a dog’s life.
Your lovely, engaged puppy suddenly seems to have forgotten everything you’ve taught them. Recall disappears. Other dogs become more interesting. They’re more easily distracted, more emotional, sometimes more reactive, and seemingly far more opinionated about the world.
And this is often the point where people panic.
But adolescence isn’t your dog suddenly becoming a different dog. It’s a developmental stage — and how we navigate it can have a huge impact on the adult dog that eventually emerges.
I’ve experienced this myself with my own dogs, including Tai and Strut. Dogs I knew incredibly well suddenly presented behaviours, reactions or challenges that weren’t necessarily there before.
And that’s where I think we need to understand the difference between management and avoidance.
Management is sensible. If your adolescent dog is struggling in a particular environment, you don’t continually throw them into the deep end and hope they learn to swim. You create distance, lower the difficulty, use reinforcement and prevent them endlessly rehearsing behaviour you don’t want.
But equally, we shouldn’t avoid everything that becomes difficult.
If your adolescent dog suddenly reacts to another dog and you decide they must never be around dogs again, that one moment can very quickly start defining their life.
Sometimes something happens.
It doesn’t necessarily mean this is who your dog is now.
The Rule of Three
One of the things I use when something unexpected happens is what I call my Rule of Three.
The first time, I notice it.
The second time, I pay very close attention.
The third time tells me I potentially have a pattern developing and I need to actively address it.
That doesn’t mean ignoring behaviour. It means not immediately turning one incident into your dog’s identity.
Because behaviour is complicated.
There may be hormones involved. There may be fear or uncertainty. There may be a reinforcement history developing. And there may simply be genetics beginning to show themselves more strongly as the dog matures.
A puppy’s genetics haven’t disappeared just because they were sociable at 14 weeks old.
Your herding dog may become more environmentally aware. Your guarding breed may become less interested in strangers. Your terrier may suddenly discover that hunting is considerably more exciting than you are.
That doesn’t mean socialisation has failed.
It means your dog is growing up.
Socialisation doesn’t mean everybody has to be your friend
This is particularly important during adolescence.
For me, socialisation isn’t about creating a dog who wants to interact with every dog and every person they meet.
It’s about creating a dog who can function comfortably in the world.
As dogs mature, their social preferences can change. Some become more selective. Some become less tolerant of rude behaviour from other dogs. Some simply stop wanting to interact.
That’s okay.
The goal shouldn’t necessarily be to make them love everyone. The goal is to teach them how to navigate those situations successfully.
That might mean passing another dog without interacting. Choosing to disengage. Returning to you. Being able to watch something without needing to become involved.
And sometimes it means recognising that your dog simply doesn’t enjoy certain interactions and advocating for them accordingly.
Prevention matters
Where adolescence can become problematic is when temporary behaviour gets rehearsed enough that it becomes established behaviour.
A dog who barks at another dog once isn’t necessarily reactive.
But if they bark, the other dog disappears, and they repeat that sequence another 50 times, they are learning something.
This is where reinforcement history matters.
We want to prevent rehearsal where we reasonably can, while simultaneously teaching the dog what we do want them to do.
That balance is incredibly important.
Protect them without wrapping them in cotton wool.
Challenge them without overwhelming them.
Give them opportunities to succeed without expecting perfection.
And remember that the dog standing in front of you at 12 or 18 months old is not necessarily the finished product.
One of the biggest lessons Tai, Strut and many of my other dogs have taught me is that maturity matters.
Sometimes the answer is training.
Sometimes it’s management.
Sometimes it’s changing the environment.
And sometimes the dog simply needs time to grow up.
The Takeaways
* Adolescence is a developmental stage, not your finished dog.
* Don’t turn one difficult moment into your dog’s identity.
* Use the Rule of Three to help distinguish an incident from an emerging pattern.
* Manage without avoiding the world completely.
* Remember that genetics, hormones and reinforcement history all influence behaviour.
* Socialisation is about teaching your dog to function confidently, not making them interact with everyone.
* Prevent unwanted behaviour being endlessly rehearsed while teaching the alternative you want.
* And perhaps most importantly: give them time to mature.
Adolescence can be frustrating, messy and occasionally make you question everything you thought your dog knew.
But it passes.
Navigate it thoughtfully, keep the bigger picture in mind, and the difficult adolescent standing in front of you today may become a very different dog once they reach maturity.
