Our 4.5 month Victorian Bulldogge started going through his juvenile behavior stage about 2 weeks ago. We started him in training at 11 weeks and he did unbelievably well for the first 6 classes. Suddenly he is so defiant for me and for the trainer. She used to be able to get him to do his commands if I couldn't but at the last class he completely ignored us both. At home he is a totally different dog. He will do all of the commands on first try and exceed the time limit for sit and stay etc. There is only one other dog in class and last night she asked to just walk around doing loose leash walking, sit, stay and leave it on our own away from the other dog and it made no difference. Please help! I am at my wits end. I need to know how to get my dog to listen to me the first time. Thanks for any advice!
HELP! Juvenile Behavior!
- Thread starter magsmommy
- Start date
You have hit the teenager stage. Don't fret - it's perfectly normal. The fact that your puppy has been good means that he's a good dog and he will be again. He's just testing his limits and growing into adulthood. It's time for you to be calm, clear, and consistent. No need for harsh correction. Think of him as a new dog (a new teenager, that is) and start to focus on leadership activities and trying some new things to keep him interested, like trick training. I would back off some of the things you've been training, just for a while, to give him a change of scenery. Also continue to work on socializing your dog with places, people, and other dogs.
Enjoy your puppy. If you take things this seriously now, when he's only 4 months old, how are you going to get through all the months ahead? He's a baby. He goes through changes as he matures. His training isn't going to be perfect all the time or stay the same all the time. This is a normal stage because he's maturing and getting interested in his environment and becoming less dependent on you. Of course other things are going to be higher motivators to him than what you have to motivate him. You have to get creative and have fun. He's not being defiant. That's a human concept that you're projecting onto your puppy as though he thinks that way too. There are all kinds of things which motivate dogs to do what they do and when he's not paying attention to you, it's because something else is more interesting at that time. He's not thinking through all this logically, intentionally trying to ignore you. He's being a dog. If you don't make training fun and motivating and take it too seriously, he'll become even less interested. Keep it short, fun, end on something he's good at and then let your puppy be a puppy.