Why Teenage Golden Retrievers Are The Worst

golden retriever teenagers are tough to live with their hormones are raging they somehow forgot everything you taught them and they still think it's cute to jump on you even though they're now 60 pounds but with all these challenges there are some things you can do to help ease this transition from cute puppy to terrible teen back to your best friend one of the hardest things about the teenage phase is that they have way more energy than when they were younger it's a bit confusing not too long ago when you would take your sweet little puppy for a walk they could barely make it around the block you might have even had to carry them home once or twice but now that they're in the teenage phase which lasts from about six months of age to two years a measly walk in the park is just a warm-up and this can be a problem if your teenage golden doesn't get enough physical and mental exercise you might see unwanted behaviors like barking whining chewing digging jumping counter serving and hyperactivity well to name a few the solution to this is to give your golden retriever more quality exercise the best exercise for a teenage golden is allowing them time off leash in nature this allows them to run as much as they want and explore and sniff everything without being constrained by a leash and all this will result in a tired and content dog golden retrievers were originally bred to be hunting companions who had run through fields and water all day these are athletic dogs who need to move and being in the outdoors is their happy place now if you think I'm crazy for recommending you let your teenage golden off leash Outdoors well here are two solutions the first is to take them to a local baseball field there's lots of grass and the fields are fenced in so they're perfect for your puck the other option is one of my favorite things to do with my dog instead of letting him off leash outside I put him in a harness on a 20-foot leash to simulate the off-leash experience then we go to the park and he gets to see and sniff everything his little heart desires now to make matters worse not only do teenage Golden's have more energy but when they hit this stage they sometimes ignore you or forget all the things you taught them and this isn't just a feeling people get from their dogs there's actually a recent study to back this up the study found that adolescent dogs were more likely to ignore their owner's commands and they found that the relationship between teenage dogs and their caregivers is just like their relationship between human teenagers and their parents there's actually an increase in conflict remember when you were in emo teen and you couldn't stand your parents yeah that happens to dogs too and what's super interesting about this study is that this Disobedience was only present with the dog's primary owner the dogs in the study which included golden retrievers did not show a decrease in obedience to other people so it's kind of like how many human teenagers act out around their parents but then they behave well for other adults this can be frustrating as a Teenage golden owner especially if you've been working on their training but don't worry it gets worse there are two more reasons for this change in Behavior first a teenage dog's brain is undergoing a major reconstruction as it goes from puppy brain to adult brain and second as they become teenagers they start to realize how interesting the world is so when you try to get their attention you're competing with all the amazing sights sounds and smells around them I know that's a lot of bad news so it's time for the good news there are things you can do to help your dog listen to you and maintain a positive relationship during their teenage phase but before we get into those here's a quick reminder to subscribe to our Channel if you want to raise your golden into the best dog they can be now the first thing is to keep working on your golden retrievers training you might have done a puppy class or followed some YouTube videos at home and that's great but your dog needs continued education and practice throughout this tough teenage phase and into adulthood you might also find that you need to go back and review some earlier easier steps of training as your pup goes through all that rewiring of their brain when you do that try to match up your dog's current ability with what you're asking of them this might mean not taking your teenage golden to certain places if you know that it's going to be too exciting or overwhelming for them or it might mean setting up far away from distractions or situations where your pup is unable to listen and then gradually moving closer you can set your dog up for success by managing their environment the best you can and then you've got the teenage golden parent secret weapon your little puppy might have been happy to do anything you asked for a simple piece of kibble but now that their brain is changing and they're more interested in the world around them kibble just isn't going to cut it anymore because of this you might need to give them a pay raise Golden's often love real cooked meat like Cubed chicken or bits of steak or even cheese if you're struggling to get their attention you might want to give one of these treats a try if you want to learn more about what treats to give your golden I'll link our blog post of the best treats for gold retrievers down in the description for you now even with the most delicious steak you might still have trouble with your golden because of these hormones we all know hormones make human teenagers do crazy things but did you know that it's the same with your golden hormones help your dog develop into an adult and they may also trigger some unwanted behaviors the main one you might see is urine marking yes this is common in males but females can also work you'll probably make lots of pit stops on your walks which is totally normal but sometimes the marking can become an issue indoors even if your pup is potty trained it could happen at your house or a friend's house so just keep an extra eye on them during this time you might also see more humping and again this goes for both males and females this often happens when they get over excited so you might have to step in to give them time and space to relax and compose their feelings and speaking of humping if you've got a female Goldie she'll get her first heat cycle during this time and be able to become pregnant it's critical to learn the signs of a female's heat cycle so that you can keep them away from intact males or else she can have puppies and male golden owners you're not off the hook here yet because your male whether he's neutered or unneutered will become more interested in females now and if you have an intact male it's your responsibility to make sure they don't mate with any females I know your golden doesn't want to have to pay child support for eight expensive little puppies you just gotta keep them under control and speaking of keeping them under control it's a lot harder now because teenage Golden's are so much bigger and stronger than they were a few weeks ago what used to be cute are just a minor inconvenience back then is Now obnoxious and maybe even dangerous for example an 8 week old 10 pound puppy jumping under grandma isn't a big deal in fact it's actually pretty cute but a 60 pound teenage golden jumping on your grandma can get pretty dangerous trust me puppy nails and blood thinners for Grandma do not go well together when you combine their increased size with more energy impulsivity and Independence well you can find yourself in some pretty chaotic situations with your dog one key to dealing with a bigger stronger dog is to control the environment this might mean that you put your freshly baked muffins on top of the fridge so that your pup can't get on the counter and grab them behind your back or it might mean that you have to tell your neighbor they can't come over to pet your dog because you know that he's gonna jump up on them by controlling the environment your dog is in you can adjust their behavior as they learn to make better choices of course training is another way that you can keep your dog from causing Mayhem or possibly an injury teaching skills like keeping paws on the ground while saying hi to people or chilling on a mat when you cook can prevent a lot of unwanted behavior that your bigger dog is now capable of this is a much better solution than yelling at or punishing your dog as they go through this tough transition phase I know I don't need to be telling you that but there are some folks out there that need to hear you might also look at changing up the gear you use when you're out and about with your dog a longer leash like a seven or eight foot leash can actually prevent pulling for a lot of goldens because they have more room to move without hitting the end of the leash and a front clip harness can help you stay balanced if they do fall I'll link our favorite harness and longer leash down in the description for you and then we've got the Wild Card change that your dog goes through in the teenage phase changes in social behavior with other dogs even if your puppy was the friendliest little fluff when they become a teenager that may change between hormones and brain development a lot of teenage golden owners see shifts in the way their pup engages with other dogs you might see reactive Behavior like barking and lunging reactivity can be a complicated issue and there may be several causes including frustration fearfulness pain and aggression but for many young friendly golden retrievers that barking and lunging is due to the frustration of being restrained by a leash because they can't go and say hello adolescence comes with bigger feelings both positive and negative and so that frustration might look a bit more explosive now that they're a teenager you might also notice that your previously happy-go-lucky golden is now starting squabbles with their dog friends this can be really stressful as a dog owner as they mature it's normal for them to go from enjoying playing with just about every dog to being more selective and less tolerant these issues can be challenging and can escalate if not handled properly so if you're experiencing reactivity or doggy conflict then you might want to consider reaching out to a professional dog trainer and I mentioned this earlier but if you want to have a calm dog even through the crazy teenage years this next video on what to do every day to have a calm golden retriever can help you thanks for watching and I'll see you in the next video thank you

Channel: Golden Hearts

Views: 67,502

Keywords: Golden retriever, golden retriever puppy, golden retriever dog, golden retriever puppies, golden retriever tip, golden retriever tips, golden retriever training, golden retriever puppy training, dog, puppy, golden hearts, golden retriever care, Teenage golden retriever, teenage golden retriever puppy, golden retriever teenager, train golden retriever puppy, golden retriever puppy energy, golden retriever energy, golden retriever barking, golden retriever digging

Id: 3sffMEf_Mo8

Length: 10min 1sec (601 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 06 2023