How teenage dogs can drive you barking mad
DOGS turn into rebels with four paws when they become adolescents, just like human teenagers.
Man’s best friend is less likely to obey their owner when hitting “puberty” at about eight months, researchers said yesterday. But, just like many a teenage human, dogs respond better to strangers.
The tendency to rebel is stronger among dogs that are insecure, which again mirrors human teenagers. And in another parallel, they are more likely to enter puberty earlier.
But this can have serious consequences because it is the time when dogs are most likely to be abandoned or rehoused as owners find them too difficult to handle.
The study, by universities in Newcastle, Nottingham and Edinburgh, says it is the first to find evidence of adolescent behaviour in dogs. Dr Lucy Asher, of Newcastle University, said: “This is a very important time in a dog’s life. They
John Ingham
are often rehomed because they are no longer a cute little puppy and suddenly their owners find they can no longer control them or train them. But their dog is going through a phase and it will pass.”
The study in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters first looked at 69 labradors, golden retrievers and cross breeds of the two at the ages of five months – before adolescence – and eight months during adolescence.
Dogs took longer to respond to the “sit” command in adolescence, but only when given by their caregiver. The response improved for a stranger between the five and eightmonth tests. Researchers also studied 285 labradors, golden retrievers, German shepherds and cross breeds.
Owners rated them less obedient in adolescence but trainers found them easier at eight months than five.