Resources
Ages and Stages: What to Expect
Toddler Puppy
8 Weeks – 4 Months (1 – 3 Human Years)
Raising a young puppy should be a very fulfilling experience. At this stage, puppy needs to be raised with love and patience. Do not say ”NO!!” often. Understand that anything “bad” your dog does at this stage is not on purpose. In the words of famous veterinarian behaviorist, Ian Dunbar, “puppy behaviors are normal, natural, and necessary.”
This is one of the most important stages of your puppy’s development. It serves as the foundation of socialization and character development. During the toddler stage, puppies are learning by interacting first-hand with everything around them. Their curiosity is very natural, but can unfortunately lead to very dangerous or destructive behaviors like choking or destroying things. At this stage, puppy proofing the house is a must. The most common issues at this stage are: Potty training, teething and biting, barking and crying. If you have questions about raising a puppy, contact our CANIS Team!
Training Objectives For Your Toddler Puppy:
- Master “The Puppy Cycle”
- Build Motor Skills & Body Awareness
- Create easy obstacle courses that require your puppy to step over, crawl under, walk around, and push/move objects while looking for food.
- Mandatory Socialization (Exposure, Exploration and Interaction)
- People – Positive interaction with humans, (treats and toys are a must)
- Places – Take Puppies to places with different distraction profiles. Expose them to common sights and sounds while their brain is developing.
- Things – Everyday objects that may trigger fear or confusion in the future. (i.e. cars, skateboards, vacuum, fans)
- Start with these items being immobile, and make positive associations.
- Communication (Simple concepts that help with relationship and communication development)
- Name recognition & Recall
- Stay & Wait
- Condition a “Stop” cue
- Condition a “Go Ahead” Cue
- Play
- Personal play
- 1-on-1 physical interaction with your puppy (chasing, wrestling, etc.)
- Object play
- Teaching our puppy to enjoy playing with items such as balls, ropes, squeakers, etc.
- Personal play
**WARNING! – DO NOT ISOLATE YOUR PUPPY FOR THE FIRST 2 MONTHS OF OWNING THEM – Find crafty ways to expose your puppy to new environments and experiences WITHOUT letting them touch the ground (ie. a stroller, wagon, or even carrying them)**
Child Puppy
4 Months – 7 Months (3 – 12 Human Years)
This is the best stage to start training your dog! At this stage, child puppies tend to become more energetic, curious, and playful. They are going through their second drastic growth spurt, which means a lot of napping.
The baby teeth are falling out and will be replaced with a brand new set of strong adult teeth. Healthy chewing practices should be implemented to ensure your dogs teeth grow strong and healthy.
It’s very important at this stage to give our puppies the opportunity to develop hobbies and habits so that they can entertain themselves on their own. Consult with your trainer what appropriate habits are.
Training Objectives For Your Child Puppy:
- Foster Routine Development by Continuing “The Puppy Cycle”
- Value Sleep: Dogs are having a growth spurt at this age, rest is very important
- Potty Checkpoint: If you’ve been consistent, your puppy should know where the toilet is by now. Now, we need to work on holding themselves longer and longer!
- Start Leveling Up: We are adding training to the mix now as a way of mentally and physically stimulating your dog!
- Embrace Decompression: Lots of chewing will be going on at this stage as baby teeth are falling out!
- Changes in Socialization
- Puppies will be in their ”RANKING STAGE” of development . they will need “limit setting” when it comes to social interactions and play. They will push limits and explore a new set of impulses.
- Strengthen Obedience Training (Make sure you are working on three principles: FOCUS, STAY , STOP)
- FOCUS – Teach the dog to engage, and stay engaged for a short period of time.
- STAY – Teach dogs impulse control and patience by developing the STAY command. Sit, Down, and Place are acceptable types of STAY
- STOP – Make sure to introduce the mandatory “ End” of play or excitement, condition Negative markers like Uh Uh, or “enough”
- Introduce Play
- Start molding games such as tug, fetch. The game doesn’t have to be perfect but it needs to start being guided toward the criteria we will want in the future
Pre-Teen Dog
7 Months – 9 Months (12 – 15 Human Years)
This is your doggy’s transitional stage from childhood to adolescence. At this age, dogs begin to develop their independence. Hopefully by this time your obedience training is complete.
They start testing boundaries and become more curious of how they can control the world around them. This transition can happen abruptly or gradually, depending on the personality of the dog. Having the right foundation of obedience can help your dog have more understanding and respect for you. It is at this age when barking, growling, and acting boldly can start.
Your dog will need guidance on how to conduct themselves socially, like meeting family members, strangers, and other dogs. Bad manners like barking, jumping, pulling. mouthing, and lack of patience become very prominent at this stage.
Training Objectives for your Preteen
Social hierarchy begins to form at this age (hormone changes affect potential interaction with other living beings and their surroundings). Marking, signs of dominance, testing limits, and shifts in priorities may be seen. Your dog is influenced by new hormonal changes. Some of these changes also include status seeking behaviors and lack of cooperation… AKA “typical teenage behavior”
- Maintain Routine
- Your dog is still growing and changing, they will continue to need additional exercise and sleep for good development.
- The puppy cycle never ends! Keep it going.
- Monitor socialization and watch for changes
- Remember, the key to successful socialization is your dog having good social skills and conduct – Observe if your dog has changes in their behavior with surroundings. If you observe concerning behavior changes, please contact a trainer!
- Incorporate distraction work and decision making into your training
- During the teenage stage you will be competing with a lot of distractions like dogs, squirrels, etc. It is a normal by-poduct of the dogs development and it is important to train our dogs to know how to make decisions around distractions in order for us to stay ‘relevant’.
- Step up your play
- You should be very proficient in a couple games by this time. (ie. Fetch, Tug-o-war, Frisbee).
- You can and should start using play as a reinforcer in training!
***Dogs will be going through ‘puberty’, so there is a possibility of behavioral changes.***
Teenager Dog
9 Months – 18 Months (15 – 19 Human Years)
After the pre-teen transitional period, your dog is determined with a new direction at life. At this stage, dogs go through a “strengthening stage”. They want to strengthen their bodies, mouths, and wills. This is a natural part of development to prepare your dog for adulthood.
During the teenage stage, the dog’s place in the family is being determined. If a dog at this stage has too much freedom, a dog’s natural instinct to become a protector and portray leadership will develop. It is very important that we focus on maintaining certain levels of manners and obedience. If proper chewing habits have not been developed by this age, your dog will seek to chew things that are challenging to them, like wood, hard plastics, and metals. If your dog is showing behavior similar to the ones listed above, call a trainer immediately to get a consultation. This can be one of the most challenging times to raise a dog.
*Very high percentage of dogs going to the shelter are at this stage in their life. If we do our job right during the first 3 stages, we can ensure that Los Angeles will be one step closer to being a no-kill city.*
Training Objectives For Your Teenager Dog:
- Typically by this time it is safe to start integrating our teenagers into the house more and begin to trust them in sections of the house.
- If we have done our job correctly to this point, our dogs will have healthy ways of calming and soothing themselves when they are alone and will know the basic rules of the house.
- Now is the time to explore and test giving your teenager a little more freedom!
- Socialization
- Continue trying to reinforce good social skills and manners. If you see any concerning changes, consult with a trainer.
- Expand your training horizons
- Continue to condition your dog’s obedience in different environments (public spaces like parks, hiking trails, etc). The more environments you train in, the more reliable the obedience will be.
- Ensure you balance this out by allowing your dog a healthy amount of exploration in these new environments!
- Continue to maintain the play/games you’ve developed with your dog!
Young Adult Dog
18 Months – 3 Years (19 – 25 Human Years)
By the young adult stage a dog has developed their own “COMMON SENSE”. The last 18 months of experiences guide the way they make decisions. During this stage dogs will become more selective of who they like, and don’t like. That decision can be towards people and other animals.
Dogs who lack socialization tend to show signs of irrational aggression at this stage. A dog’s insecurities at this stage can now become their fears as they become more selective in nature.
Training Objectives For Your Young Adult Dog:
- Audit your dog’s behavior, consult with a training professional, and work on any weaknesses you might see!
Adult Dog
3+ Years (25+ Human Years)
An adult dog is now mature. The way your dog thinks is now solidified. By this age you will get a good sense for your dogs true personality.
If by this age your dog has not shown any concerning behavioral issues, it is safe to say the likelihood of them developing is very slim, but not impossible.
Training Objectives For Your Adult Dog:
- As dogs mature, they may experience preference changes (ie. may not want to play with younger dogs as often, may want to rest more, may want to spend more time at home, etc.) Pay attention to these changes to stay in tune with your dog as they are not uncommon!
