Zen Dog's Yaletown Teenage Dog Training

Just when all things “puppy” start to calm down, the dust settles, and the human end of the leash takes a breather: the gnawing has (mostly) ceased, house training is accomplished, and daily routines are in place…surprise! The teenager has moved in.

The Adolescent Dog

Suddenly your once-lovable puppy is morphing into a disproportionate, slightly wild adolescent! You might start witnessing environmental excitement or reactivity for the first time. Or perhaps a sudden lack of impulse control in high-energy situations. Maybe that reliable recall has suddenly turned into a game of tag. Every lovely thing you have taught your puppy is now met with a vacant look.

Indeed. That’s adolescence!

The truth is, most people are somewhat prepared for puppyhood. They expect a few sleepless nights, some stained carpets, and maybe even the sacrifice of a cherished household item or two to those razor-sharp puppy teeth. They sign up for puppy socialization classes and devour all the relevant books. But few are prepared for, or understand the stage of development that kicks in around the 6 to 8 month mark and runs until 2 or 3 years, depending on the breed.

The Adolescent Dog’s Training Needs

Adolescence is typically when potential lifelong behavioural problems start to surface. Tragically, this is the age when most young dogs are surrendered at the local shelter or breed-specific rescue organization. People often aren’t fully prepared for, nor do they understand, this stage of development, viewing these new behaviours as a life sentence. What has traditionally worked for the puppy and what works well for the adult dog is not necessarily what the adolescent dog needs, as they are trapped in limbo, somewhere between sexual and social maturity.

As part of our extensive array of Yaletown dog training services, we offer a course specifically designed for that troublesome teenager. Our approach recognizes the main behavioural patterns that arise at this stage. Adolescent dogs are autonomous. They grapple with impulse control, and their attention towards their human. They frequently experience fear periods and struggle with risk evaluation.

They may show a lack of motivation during training and struggle to stay focused on a training task. And they require an enormous amount of sleep!

Yaletown’s Teenage Tyrant Dog Training Class

Zen Dog Canine Training’s Teenage Tyrants is a private course crafted to target these emerging patterns. We will equip you with exercises and tools to navigate this stage of development in your puppy. Typical Yaletown dog training classes may not address the struggles you are experiencing, and a one-on-one approach might give you the reassurance that all things chaotic will return to normal, as social maturity takes hold. Teenage Tyrants will help you adjust your training and keep you on the right path so that these emerging behaviours don’t become permanent. You might even start to appreciate this transition period as your adult dog slowly reveals itself.

In Teenage Tyrants your maiden lesson will be conducted over zoom where you will receive guidance on how to develop better management strategies, introduce impulse control and focus exercises, review your current training plan and bring in the concept of games and choice-based training as an integral part of effective learning for young dogs. We then shift to two lessons in your home and neighbourhood concentrating on the areas you battle most: be it outdoors with distractions or improved behaviour indoors. Often the two are interconnected.

Zen Dog Canine Training’s Offer

We will demonstrate how to give your adolescent the much-needed freedom at this stage without compromising safety. We will guide you on how to teach your puppy to work around reinforcement and to make sound choices (that respect their independence). We will show you how to instruct your puppy to relax when required and also to boost confidence through body awareness.

We will tailor Teenage Tyrants to your specific dog’s needs and help keep you on track, especially when the going gets tough! We’re also great listeners; sometimes a simple conversation can be a game-changer. As with all of our private dog training sessions, we offer full phone and email support throughout the course. And you can always book additional lessons if you feel the need.

Zen Dog Canine Training takes a significant detour from traditional obedience training in Teenage Tyrants and focuses on forging that all-important connection.