Yesterday he knew it. Today - as if he had never heard of it
Almost every family remembers this day. The dog who for six months followed you about like a shadow suddenly stops in the yard and looks somewhere past you. His name is said a second time. A third. And he is still reading a scent that turned out to be more interesting than you that morning.
Familiar sounds that had long stopped raising questions start raising them again. Concentration appears and disappears within the same hour. The emotions are bigger - both the joy and the alarm. That early ease, when everything seemed to work by itself, becomes rather less reliable.
And here a thought arises naturally: he is testing me. He wants to be in charge. He has forgotten everything we learned.
He has not forgotten. And he is not testing you. Adolescence is not a fault of character - it is an intense period of biological and social development during which a dog simply cannot keep up with himself.
It is not only the body that changes
The brain, the hormonal system and the relationship with the environment are all maturing. Physical capacity grows fast - and self-regulation cannot keep up with it. So an adolescent can be bold on Monday and timid on Wednesday, and both times it will be the same dog.
He notices other dogs, smells and movement far more. The ability to come back to attention weakens for a while. Not because he does not want to. Because the world has suddenly become much louder.
One thing is important to understand: these fluctuations do not mean that the early learning was worthless. The foundation has not gone anywhere. It simply has to operate in a new, more complicated body - rather as a familiar route becomes harder when you walk it with a much heavier rucksack.
The “dominance” explanation is seductive in its simplicity
When behaviour becomes inconvenient, it is very easy to call it a struggle for power. The explanation is convenient: there is a cause, there is a culprit, there is something to be done.
Contemporary veterinary behaviour science warns against applying dominance theory as a general model of the dog-human relationship. Barking, pulling, jumping up or a poor response to a cue are not in themselves an attempt to take over as head of the family.
But the danger here is not the label itself. The danger is what it does to the question. Instead of “what does this dog lack right now, or what is too hard for him?” a person starts asking “how do I win?”. From that moment the relationship turns into a contest, and the real cause of the behaviour goes unnoticed - often close at hand, within easy reach.
Why pressure can make the situation worse
At a sensitive stage of development, punishment works quickly. That is precisely its trap. The visible reaction is suppressed and it looks as though the problem is solved - but the fear, frustration or over-arousal has gone nowhere. The dog becomes quieter. Not necessarily calmer.
A reward-based approach does not mean an adolescent lives without limits. He needs limits, and he needs more of them than a puppy does. The difference is that they are set understandably and ethically, and the person sees not only the result but also how the dog feels while it happens.
For a family, adolescence is also a mirror
This period very quickly reveals whether the rules of the house are consistent, whether expectations match the dog's age and whether the family is moving in one direction. When everything was going well by itself, such things are invisible. When it stops going well, they show up within a week.
Something more personal shows up too: a person's relationship with mistakes. Is a swing in behaviour taken as information, or as a personal insult?
Something more personal shows up too: a person's relationship with mistakes. Is a swing in behaviour taken as information, or as a personal insult?
In the “Flying Aussie” guide we pay a great deal of attention to the roles a person can take - the perfectionist, the critic, the blind follower of a method, and the observant ally. Adolescence very quickly reveals which voice is in charge at the time. A demand for perfection creates tension, and the dog is the first to feel it. Curious observation leaves room for solutions.
This stage passes, the relationship stays
Adolescence has no single precise start and end date, and we deliberately avoid naming it in weeks. Different dogs mature differently, and behaviour is affected not only by age but also by health, environment, earlier experiences and individual temperament.
That is exactly why, during this period, an ongoing relationship with the breeder and an ethical trainer becomes most valuable. Not because every fluctuation is a problem - most are not. But because an experienced eye tells a normal stage apart from a situation that genuinely needs more help rather faster. For a family living with it every day, that line is often hard to see.
Not correcting an adolescent, but guiding them through it
The goal is not to get the convenient puppy back as quickly as possible. That puppy will not return - he is growing up, and that is how it should be.
The goal is to help a young dog become an adult partner without losing trust. In adolescence it often seems that the relationship is weakening. In fact it is only changing shape. And families who go through this stage without rushing usually say the same thing afterwards: the relationship became deeper than it had been before.
Invitation: “Skraidančios Ausytės” families can get in touch beyond the first week. Adolescence is one of the reasons a lifelong relationship matters to us, rather than the handover day alone.
For the editor - supporting sources: AVSAB Dominance Position Statement, AVSAB Humane Dog Training Position Statement, the adolescence and owner-mindset chapters of the “Flying Aussie” guide. Avoid giving precise universal age ranges as a guarantee.