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This is the last of the series of 3 article on Adolescence.
Click here for Part 2.
- Brain Challenges Tire Dogs Out Fast
The fastest way to tire out a puppy or dog is to teach him to use his brain to solve puzzles. 10 minutes of brainwork is more tiring than 30 minutes of straight physical exercise (even in adult dogs).
Use clicker training and do shaping sessions for teaching future tasks.
Spread some kibble on a snuffle mat and let him use his nose to find it. Purchase several food puzzle toys and let him go at it. No, don't worry that he may start sniffing at everything, or searching for food later. Giving him an outlet for it at home means he won't have to do it as much when away from home. It also allows you to give the behaviors a cue so you have control over it and can later use it to reinforce other behaviors you have taught him.
Don't forget that you can combine physical exercise with the mental exercise with many of the foundations skills such as teaching distance. Teach him to run to a mat from a distance, or paw target an object or run around a piece of furniture. If you really want to tire him out, practice impulse control behaviors like "leave it" and wait.
- Teach and Consistently Practice Impulse Control
If you start teaching this early on, your dog will have a solid foundation to draw from. Go back to the basics if he forgets during adolescence.
Here's a video showing how to Teach "Wait" or "Leave it" and ideas how to extend it's application for life. Make it a game and practice it often.
Here's Zen for Doorways. - Fear Periods
Unfortunately, during adolescence, many dogs experience at least one, sometimes two fear periods. They may last 2 to 6 weeks or longer. (Happily, some never do.) You can help your dog through this period by decreasing the amount of training you do in higher distraction locations where he is showing fear.
Make a list of each fear. Address each fear individually, using systematic desensitization, counter conditioning and operant conditioning. This changes how he feels about the trigger (object, environment, sound, animal or person).
The Look at That Game is helpful to start the process at a distance.
Here's a video that shows how to overcome fear of a shovel.
Next gradually integrate the trigger back into general training in more distracting environments as long as your dog is okay with it.
There are 11 things to help your dog thrive during adolescence! Use this time for training and it will help you have a great service dog on the other side! If you are having extra challenges because of your disabilities, don't forget you can get help from an in person or online dog training professional for short periods to get you over the "hump"! You can book a session with me via webcam for some concrete ideas of what you can do.