Adolescent Attention Spans

[kingfisher7151]

Now that Keeper has hit 7 months it appears as though we've hit the dreaded teenage stage full force. I was prepared for most of it, but I must say I've been taken aback by how quickly the changes have occurred.

 

In the last week and a half I've seen a MAJOR drop in attention span. And he obviously has had a great 'awakening', as he is now OBSESSED with sniffing, pee spots obviously are the most tantalizing. He even started chattering over a particularly delectable spot. My wonderfully focused, leash trained pup has lost his mind! All of a sudden we can't go anywhere without his constant sniffing. We were in petsmart the other day and I could barely get his attention, he just stuck his nose to the floor and never picked it up. We worked on obedience and focus exercises (click + treat for eye contact, etc) and yet even food is no longer the greatest good in his life.

 

So, how does one handle adolescence? Is it a wave you just ride through, or do you address the problems? And how do you work on building focus during this time? (I should say I have his focus almost all the time when there's a frisbee involved). I have found myself becoming frustrated, particularly on walks. He was so nice on a leash before, and now we've begun the pulling/sniffing nonsense. I'm sure he'll find his brains eventually again, but it's a little tough at this point!

[CptJack]

I try to stay consistent with important things, but lower duration and grit my teeth a lot.

 

That's mostly how I handle adolescence.

Also wine.

 

(I know that's not super useful but about all I've found to work - expect it to be crap and frustration for a good year, keep working on it, keep expecting things, keep things short, take advantage of moments of focus and sanity where I can, and keep breathing).

[twocatsandabc]

Mine is there too. First puppy ever. She's a funny thing. I do the burn all the energy thing and wear her butt out thing. Keep training short. And if it runs she fallows. Bunnies, squirrels, cats, dogs, kids... Mt kids are learning fast not to run in the house. As are their cousins. And the neighbor kids. And my husband...lol

[Maxi]

In the last week and a half I've seen a MAJOR drop in attention span. And he obviously has had a great 'awakening', as he is now OBSESSED with sniffing, pee spots obviously are the most tantalizing. He even started chattering over a particularly delectable spot

A dog will do this (the chattering) over the point where a bitch in heat pees. It's called the flehman reaction and is seen in horses, cats etc. He is taking the scent and passing it over a special organ in the roof of his mouth called Jacobson's organ.

 

Yes it's probably adolescence.. And those hormones are starting to surge.....

 

Note added in edit. Thinking about it a bit more, in mice, Jaconson's organ takes about 2 months to mature.. This would be equivalent to about 7 months in dogs. So maybe not just hormones. However, this structure adds a whole new dimension to a dog's sense of smell. I think this would probably be equivalent to us humans suddenly being able to view the world in colour when previously there was only black and white. ie there is a scientific reason why smells have become much richer, exciting and distracting to him.

Edited October 16, 2014 by Maxi

[Maralynn]

Noooooo!!!! I don't want to hear about this adolescent thing. I like the way my boy is at 6 m/o....

[RemsMom]

At four months I was thinking "This is great!" potty training is done and puppy is working wonderfully with the family! And six months hit......

 

CptJack has the right idea....wine....or whine if you are so inclined.

 

If it makes you feel any better when I tell my story almost everyone nods in sympathy. I did have one person tell me "My dog didn't hit that until seven months!"

[B Point]

Tio is 17 months and still at it....if not more since he appears to have recovered from his spinal issues. I give him the benefit of the doubt as he missed a good 6 months of his adolescence.

[CMP]

Yes, one morning my lovely puppy woke up a raging ... um ... idiot. A few days ago she went to jail (an old crate kept for this purpose and this purpose only) at least ten times in an hour and a half span for not leaving the cat food alone. By the end of it - she was grabbing a stolen bite and then just trotting over to the crate and going in, sighing no less.

 

Then she slept for 14 hours - eventually I woke her up (at 8 hours) and took her outside where she peed in her sleep basically and dropped to the ground, wanting to sleep again. Then she didn't sleep for what feels like a month but is really just about 20 hours. Then she came to every recall like a bat of hell, was nice to the cats, sat still for harnessing, didn't try to get her chewies onto the couch and didn't jump on anyone.

 

Then she was an embarrassment of badness, even stealing a piece of cake from a plate on my mother's table! Outside she goes ... ten minutes later one of the workers is yelling ... the "little black devil" is busy digging up the freshly planted bulbs. And a LOT of them. Would she stop? Nope. Would she let go of the one she decided was lunch? Nope. Did she spend some time in jail? Yep. Did she care? Nope ... took the time to have a nap and work on her personal grooming needs.

 

I will say this - she makes me laugh my ass off when I am not rolling my eyes back in my head and wondering why I ever thought another puppy was a good idea :/

 

I actually LOVE this phase. They're getting so "themselves" and their personalities are really starting to form. They're learning things a mile a minute and awareness is clicking almost visually. You can see the wheels ... "Ah ... I get it". Sadly, one of the first things they get is that you are really not going to hurt them and a few minutes in a crate is not so bad if you get a taste of Whiskas :/

Edited October 16, 2014 by CMP

[gcv-border]

... and a few minutes in a crate is not so bad if you get a taste of Whiskas :/

Smart girlie! She has run the "Risk vs. Reward" analysis!

[Root Beer]

For the most part, I'm not seeing a lot of changes with Bandit so far, other than that he is bigger and stronger and he knows it and obviously likes it.

 

But I am seeing him push Dean and Tessa's buttons a little bit. For the most part, they are both just like "whatever - we don't take you the least bit seriously", but he is starting to be a little less adoring of them and a little more like they are his personal playthings. We shall see where that goes. Generally when I redirect him, he redirects nicely, so I have been able to keep him from annoying them all that much.

 

He is also much more interested in scents than he was, but so far he hasn't become ridiculously intent on sniffing the world.

[Maralynn]

Kolt has gotten more pushy with Kenzi and her response is "knock it off you little punk". My SAR team had progress evals last night and Kolt did the best of the three six m/o pups. I'm guessing that his hormones haven't quite kicked in the same... But I was really happy with how he did.

[Shetlander]

At nine, Quinn still chatters over female pee, although he is neutered and the females are spayed.

 

And until he was about two, he had these horrible Irish Setter Moments where he was wildly distracted and acted as if he had never met me before. The only thing to do was stop training and try a bit later when his brain returned. Unfortunately, he turned Irish Setter on me at a private agility lesson so I spent the entire hour saying, "No, really, he knows this." (Contacts, weaves, start line stays, paying any attention at all to me) while the instructor looked pityingly at us. By the end of that lesson, I was ready to say, "No, really, he knows his name."

 

The rest of the time, he was super keen and a blast to train. I actually really enjoy adolescent dogs much more than puppies. They can do more and I find them so much fun (Irish Setter moments, aside).

 

To build focus, make yourself as rewarding as possible. To compete with wonderful smells in a barn where we took agility classes, I had to really step up the treats. Quinn is also extremely into play, so fetch and tug toys are great rewards. Don't train when you are tired or feeling irritated. Be FUN and also don't let the dog self reward with behaviors you don't like. Be patient. There is a marvelous adult dog in that pup.

 

Apologies to any Irish Setter lovers. I'm sure they are lovely dogs. :-)

[moosikins]

I think Callie is just hitting this phase at 6 months old...Sometimes she listens, and sometimes it's like we haven't spent any time on training.

 

She's also decided that she's going to bite us regardless of the consequences. She learned early on that nipping wasn't okay and only soft mouth was okay for play. Lately, she'll start out with a soft mouth and then chomp down and looks so pleased with herself (she does not bite hard enough to break skin, but it HURTS anyway!).

 

She also refuses to get off the couch. She'll jump up and try to shove us off. If we tell her "Off", she'll just snuggle deeper into the cushions. When she gets picked up and gently tossed off, she just hops right back up! The bratty thing knows she's not allowed and does it anyway.

 

I guess we'll find out on Thanksgiving if she can control herself or not. One scratch on my parents' leather sofa and we'll have having puppy stew along with our turkey if my dad has his way!