Hi all! I haven't been on for a while - Ariel has been doing great and we are still attending our obedience classes. She is making great progress with her loose lead walking, and is beginning to realize that not everybody we pass needs to be licked or jumped at. Lol Today we walked the waterfront, past the buses loading at the station, and past a midway being set up and she was perfect! So proud! But..... My question is, at 9.5 months is she considered adolescent/a teenager? Quite a bit of the day to day behaviour is still ok, but she's started nipping a bit again, shoving her toys into the backs of my legs, and any recall she had has gone out the window. It appears deer poo and the neighbours property are much more inviting than me, her ramped up treats, and anything else I try to entice her with. So, she gets 2 call-backs then off I go to get her. Are there any other gems that are common to watch for in adolescent labs? Please tell me no! Thanks everyone. Off to her class again tonight. So much fun and she's learning tons.
Yup...adolescence.. I had a few problems with Benson, I really had to up the ante on how interesting I was..it was tough! Worth it in the end though..Bramble who is now 18 months hit the rebel stage quite late, she was probably a year old, round about the time of her first season. I think we MAY be coming out of it now... We scoured the area for good positive training courses, they are great opportunities to train good behaviours in a structured environment. A lot of trainers have dedicated classes for adolescent dogs which can be a real godsend!
We are actually just finishing our adolescent course. One more week to go, and she's done really well at it. Next in line is K9 Good Neighbour, then the Pet Therapy course, all with the same trainer, and all with positive reinforcement training. Fun and exciting! It's just the out-of-the-norm, quirky things that are getting slightly annoying. Well, more than slightly.
