05/10/2020
As promised for all of you wanting to know more about teenage collies:
UNDERSTANDING THE BORDER COLLIE: LIVING WITH A COLLIE TEENAGER
Most of us appreciate that adolescence - or the transition through puberty to adulthood - can be a time of considerable physical and mental upheaval for humans. But not all of us realise that the same can apply to dogs, as they leave their more puppyish dependency on us behind, and begin to develop - or experiment with - more independent ways of thinking and behaving.
Canine adolescence, too, can be tough for dogs. And something of a watershed moment, where all the different growth pressures, as well as neurological and hormonal changes, going on in their bodies may more strongly expose any deeper weaknesses in their physical construction (such as Hip/Elbow Dysplasia) or inherent nature. If a dog is going to show more marked tendencies towards fear, aggression, more obsessive behaviour patterns or heightened social anxiety when out, it is likely to be around this time.
Adolescence will typically begin in collies around 6-7 months, and will be more obvious in changes like bi***es having their first heat, or male dogs beginning to c**k their legs and scent mark. Thereafter it can last until up to two years. However, in every dog adolescence can be a different experience, in terms of the changes it brings in them, and how long these will last.
Some dogs will sail through their adolescence barely changed in any way, whereas other collie teenagers may present you with more challenges. They may, for instance, seem to have suddenly 'forgotten' all the earlier training you did with them, or no longer come back to you so readily when called. It can be easy to view this as the dog becoming more 'defiant' in outlook, when really the dog's capacity to maintain greater focus/concentration/responsiveness is being greatly compromised by the pressures of growth.
Every day the dog's body is growing, their brain needs to make new neurological connections to all the new cells and tissues that are developing inside. This can render their brains like constantly overloaded power stations, and poorer memory, focus, or even more impulsive and reckless behaviours can all be the result. Dogs can suddenly seem much clumsier too. These behaviours should all right themselves again once growth is complete, and providing the quality of the earliest training you did with your collie, as a puppy, is really sound. Because adolescence, alas, can also highlight any flaws inherent in our own earlier training of our dogs.
Sometimes, at adolescence, collies may seek to more actively avoid doing something you are asking them to do, not just down to teenage 'brain fog', but because this is an aspect of their deeper developing nature - i.e. one that is more obsessed with control, and a fear of losing or surrendering this control to others in any context. As outlined in my books, this is a part of some collies' inherent wiring that you must know how to recognise, and work with, in all elements of their training and daily management, if you are not to have a far more frustrating life with them.
My books also highlight how a better evaluation of any collie's basic nature - and more personal strengths or vulnerabilities - in puppyhood can make you that much more prepared for the dog's adolescence later, in terms of what is likely to become a bigger issue for them as they grow, and what you might do, in advance, to stop this happening.
In truth, no matter how bad it can sometimes seem for some owners, most collies do get through the trickier waters of adolescence, to become far more civilised adults later on. Expect some bumpier moments inbetween. But never lose faith that the lovely dog you had before adolescence, won't return to you again if you just hold on tight and see the journey through.
One thing I have not had time to mention here is the impact of neutering procedures on dogs, and the effect these can have their later physical and psychological development or health, if done too early; including before or around adolescence. But this will be the subject of a later feature.
All text ยฉ Carol Price 2020