Webster defines adolescence as: "youthful, exuberant, immature, unsettled." Some puppy behaviorists think puppy adolescence hits between 7 and 12 months. My research shows that most dogs exhibit at least some of these common adolescent traits: selective hearing; refusal to do previously learned commands; reversion to puppy behaviors such as mouthiness, destructive chewing, jumping and barking; lapses in housebreaking and just about anything else to drive their "house mates/trainer" a little crazy. The good news is that this period in a dog's life doesn't last long; the bad news is that it lasts WAY longer than we want.
Mariko is not quite 5 months and is already starting to display a little of this behavior. For example, last Wednesday when I told her it was time to go to work, this was the result:
Okay, so maybe this is a one-time occurrence. Thursday when I said, "Mariko, let's go to work," this was the result:
Apparently we have more fun at home than at work (imagine that)!
Once at work; however, she was on her best behavior. I even took her to her first "official meeting" in Salt Lake (four hour meeting no less). She behaved very well. We did take one potty break, other than that she stayed under the table and was very good. We even had people leave the room when the meeting was over and proclaim they had no idea there was a dog in the room :-)
We started in an intermediate obedience training class last week (Mondays and Saturdays). I love intense training because the puppies are always VERY tired when we get home. After Saturday's class she slept for four hours. Life was good!
This week we will continue with training and try to hurry these teenage months right along.
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