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Hi everyone, new to Dogsey. We are a family of four plus a very cheeky Vizsla (6months old!). Any advice on his lastest stage would be great. He appears to be going though a stubborn stage, he was previously so good at everything. He now stops looks at me and carries on, when recalled! Is it a stage? He is soon to complete his good citizen at puppy class, but since the xmas break his has changed. Not just recall but growling when he eats, I have begun hand feeding in small amounts, for two meals a day but his breakfast he is left alone to eat, he will growl when anyone walks past. A few people suggested early neutering, any thoughts on this? He has recently become a very bold strong willed dog, which I suspect is down to hormones? I think he is trying for alpha dog status! I am doing the usual, feeding after us leaving meals on side till his turn, not allowing on settee, not letting him walk through doors first, have done from day 1. Anything else to send a clear message in dodgy language?
His is regularly exercised, trained everyday, never left alone and is very much loved etc etc. His parents have similar temperaments in that they are very territorial and protective. Advice on the teenage stage and benefits of early neutering?

Hi,

I have no good advice as we have an 11 week old Vizsla and I have the joys of teenage hood to come yet.

So far so good with Kibo's training, but he is strong willed in a very cheeky way. He starts puppy classes next week

It would be good to follow how you are getting on so that maybe I can be a bit more prepared!!

It's likely that he will inherit some of his parent's temperament traits.

Firstly, your dog is being a horrid teenager, not an alpha dog (there is no such thing). Forgetting training after being really good is normal in puppies when they start to enter puberty. Like human teenagers you have to expect some hormonal changes which may present themselves as 'issues'. Continue with your training and he will get through it. Neutering now may not be the best idea, he needs these hormones in order to get through his adolescence and grow up. The food guarding is something that needs nipping in the bud though. Hand feeding is good, as is throwing extras as he is eating. All the stuff about not letting him go through doors first and eating last etc. is nonsense I'm afraid.

I'm sure more advice will be coming soon.....good luck!

Thanks, I was really worrying about the alpha thing, its good to know its a teenage thing, how long does it last? I'll start trying adding extras to his morning feed.

Your baby boy has turned into Kevin.
Don`t panic, just keep up the basic training, use play and rewards to keep him interested in doing the right thing, and in a few months you will have a lovely dog again.
Please ignore all `alpha` tosh. It`s used by celebrities who know little about dogs but a lot about parting people from their money.
I recommend you think about doing some Gundog or Working Trials training with him (even if you`re not going to work him) because these dogs are very driven and love to use their noses and instincts.
have a look at these sites
http://www.thegundogclub.co.uk/Train...FQUOfAodaB_k5Q
http://www.workingtrialsmonthly.co.uk/about.html

When pups hit adolescence, many will start to act up and ignore commands, or push the boundaries...how long it lasts differs according to the individual dog, their size, and breed...

Big dogs are supposed to take longer to mature than smaller breeds, and some breeds such as labs are supposed to take years and years to mature...we adopted our dog (Springer x Collie) at 9 months old and he was very much a teenager then, and still is now 10 months later!!

We upped his exercise (he gets around 3 hours off-lead exercise - and yes, we had to do a lot of recall work!! ) and then lots of mental stimulation too! Extra stimulation can help mellow out a wired dog, so puzzle feeders and lots of short positive training sessions are good...

We also had a bout of RG with our dog too, so we just taught him that hands = good things...feeding meals from hands, throwing treats, swapping a prized possession for something really really good (we started swapping low value items for good things and worked our way up to hides and beef knuckles)...if he ever growled we knew we'd gone too far and took it back a few steps.

Good luck with your 'teenager'

Red

Hi and welcome to Dogsey. I have two male Tibetans (brothers) who have just turned 11 months. They both went to training classes, have daily individual training sessions etc etc and were beautifully behaved until about a month and half ago. However, we are just going through the 'Kevin' stage and it started virtually overnight. When asked to sit, lie, come etc they would look at us as though we are speaking an alien language or that they had become deaf overnight
However, it is just a stage and they are getting through it. One of them started becoming possessive over his food bowl and we got round that by removing the bowl and putting his food on the floor - bingo that is now sorted and his food is back in bowl again.
I really would advise against having him castrated yet. Your dog is a bigger breed than mine and will therefore take longer to mature physically - if you can hang on, I would until he is at least a year and a half. There is a lot info about castrating 'early' on the www, but ultimately the choice is yours.
Good luck and this phase will pass just keep up the training and rewards - he will come 'good' in the end.

Thank you all for the replies. Its reassuring to know he will eventually settle down! Anniebee, good luck with your Vizsla. I did at one point think whats all the fuss about Vizslas, he was such an angel, he house trained so quickly and the biting and chewing stage never seemed to happen. Hes now appears to be changing into "Kevin" and is whole new challenge. We do love him though and he has really made himself part of the family. We even trust him with the freedom of the house when we go out, without a hitch so far, fingers crossed. We no longer need the burglar alarm he has become very alert in the last few weeks.

So far Kibo has been great with house training and he's been really quick at learning commands too. He does forget sometimes that his teeth are sharp especially when he has his zoomy hour in the evenings

He starts puppy classes next week which I'm sure he'll love, also it'll be great for him to meet more puppies as all the dogs that he's met so far are adults which he seems quite confused and startled by ( not startled in a bad way )

I've read so much about the "teenage " period that I have to say I'm pretty much anticipating that that's what's going to happen, we'll just have to meet it head on and hope for the best

Hi, I'm new to Dogsey too, I have two labrdors and I can certainly say that my male labrador did go through a 'terrible teens' stage at about 11 months but it was a stage and he did grow out of it.
Something I also learnt with my last dog that had food agression I was advised to feed him of a flat plate rather than a bowl - worth a try x