02/02/2022
Adolescence can be a really difficult time period for you and your dog. If you’re feeling frustrated with your teenaged canine, reach out and let’s chat about how we can help you get through it.
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ADOLESCENCE IN DOGS - WHAT'S GOING ON?
Adolescence is a distinct phase of development that has been identified in many mammals, and as many dog owners know, it can be a tough time for both the dog and their owner. Characterised by increased risk taking, increased social interaction, and increased emotional responsiveness, the adolescent period is often considered an important time for animals to become more independent of their caregiver. The exact timing of adolescence can vary between dogs; however, most dogs reach social maturity at some point between 12 and 24 months of age (Harvey, 2021).
On an evolutionary level, this increased independence would make sense as it would be smart for offspring to push away from their parents as this would allow them to leave the family group and spread their genes further (and prevent inbreeding).
Adolescence is also distinct from puberty. Puberty is the period of sexual maturation triggered primarily by hormonal changes. In male dogs this occurs between 6 and 9 months of age, and in female dogs this occurs between 6 and 16 months (Harvey, 2021). However, adolescence still occurs in neutered dogs despite the absence of sexual hormones indicating these are very much separate processes.
We also know that the relationship owners have with their dog impacts their dog’s behaviour during adolescence. Asher et al. (2020) that dogs that had insecure attachments to their owners were more likely to ignore cues during adolescence than dogs with secure attachments. Similarly, they also identified that dogs with insecure attachments reached puberty more quickly than securely attached dogs.
How can we support our dogs during adolescence?
Given what we know about the importance of the relationship between dogs and their owners for responsiveness during adolescence, building a strong attachment with your dog during puppyhood is key. This can be done by being sensitive to your puppy’s needs especially if they are distressed, avoiding aversive training methods, and by introducing your puppy to lots of positive experiences.
It is also important to consider that adolescent dogs are likely to be far less tolerant of frustration. Galvan et al. (2006) identified that in the face of getting a less-than-expected reward, the levels of activity in a reward centre of the brain called the nucleus accumbens drop below normal levels, meaning it can actually have a punishing effect. This is not something experienced by adults and children.
This may explain why adolescent dogs are so susceptible to frustration based problems when they are not allowed to play with a dog they have seen in the park, or if they do not get as long playing as they expect, or if someone tries to take away their food (don’t try it)! To manage this, we may be better off setting up our adolescent dogs for disappointment free situations, perhaps planning activity times and locations more carefully. Similarly, if social play is highly rewarding for your adolescent dog, rather than preventing it, you may be able to use it to reward a behaviour you want such as recall, if you have other dogs, you can walk socially with.
We are also challenged further by the maturity of the striatum, a brain region strongly linked to a number of emotional systems including pathways involving reward and fear (Casey & Jones, 2010). This is paired with the immaturity of another brain region, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) which is involved in more “logical” thinking and the regulation of emotional response pathways (Casey & Jones, 2010). This means, that adolescents experience strong emotions without always having the brain capacity to regulate them and are very likely to struggle with impulse control.
This has a number of effects. Firstly, adolescents take much longer to recover from a stressful experience than adults and it takes more energy for them to control their emotions. This means they need more recovery time after stressful experiences and more relaxation breaks during the day to avoid becoming stressed.
Secondly, this particularly seems to affect the social cognition of adolescents. With Orobio de Castro et al. (2002) suggesting that children were more likely to judge other’s intentions as hostile during early childhood and early adolescence. This may go a long way to explaining the seemingly sporadic “fear periods” often identified in dogs and is again something we can manage by setting up carefully monitored social opportunities with regular friends during these periods to prevent incidents.
And finally, they also don't have a brain structure that makes controlling their impulses easy. In fact doing so is counterinuitive. So is impulse control really something we should be training in adolescents? Or should we just manage the situation better to prevent them from being exposed to things that may trigger impulsive behaviour during the adolescent period?
Clearly, there is much more to learn about adolescence in dogs. However, with the tips above, we hope that you find navigating this difficult period a bit easier!
Full references available on our website https://animalbehaviourkent.co.uk/our-blog/f/adolescence-in-dogs---whats-going-on
And for more dog behaviour content, check out our upcoming webinars https://animalbehaviourkent.co.uk/future-events
