I met with a client this week who has been struggling with her dog for a couple of months. His body is big and he's passed his first birthday, but he still behaves like a puppy. He has accidents in the house; he chews anything and everything (no piece of furniture is safe); he doesn't heed signals from her other dogs when they shun his exuberant behavior; he's very needy; and he still needs enforced nap times. Basically, he's a 120 lb puppy and his owner is quite frustrated and downright concerned. Her veterinarian told her that she doesn't discipline the dog enough; her neighbor told her the dog needed more training; and her family has told her that the dog isn't welcome at family events until she can get better control of him.
When I observed this dog, here's what I saw immediately: A puppy. Not an adolescent dog. Not an adult dog, but a puppy. A BIG puppy, but a puppy nonetheless. His behavior was consistent with what you would expect to see in a 6-8 month old puppy, not a dog who had just celebrated his first birthday. He wasn't being defiant when he pulled on the leash, he was excited to explore! He wasn't being defiant when he chewed on the furniture, he still needs direction to appropriate chewing outlets and boundaries to help him make the right choices. The hardest thing is going to be helping this big puppy move past his fears and uncertainty when out in public so that it's safe for his owner to walk him (when he gets scared or spooked, he wants to bolt for home).
Dogs, just like people, can experience developmental delays. Those delays can be genetic in origin, or they can be due to something that happened during the dam's pregnancy, during birth, etc. Some puppies get stepped on or laid on, and some are born as singletons or the runt of their litter. All of these scenarios could result in a puppy, and thus a dog, with developmental delays.
If your dog has developmental delays, you will need to be more patient with her. She may take longer to get through puppyhood, experiencing longer or more frequent fear stages, having accidents in the house more often, and seemingly ending up over threshold or being more reactive than other puppies or dogs her age. Thus, while most people report their puppies, regardless of breed, being completely housetrained by the time they are 10-11 months old, a puppy with developmental delays may be 18 months old before reaching that milestone. And while most puppies go through four fear stages in their first year, a pup with developmental delays may seem to be stuck in a fear stage for weeks to months at a time. It is also true that while most gangly, loose-limbed puppies become sleek, well-coordinated adolescent dogs, those with developmental delays may seem off balance or uncoordinated a bit longer. One caveat to all of this, however, is that you can't just assume that an adolescent dog who is still having house training accidents, or is fearful, or seems to trip over her own feet has developmental delays. Your first step always is to visit your veterinarian and rule out the other, medical causes for these behaviors before assuming that a developmental delay is the culprit.
So, back to my client. She's been to see her veterinarian several times to rule out medical issues because she was sure her dog must have had a bladder infection given the number of accidents the dog was having! Nope, the dog is perfectly healthy, just really a 6 or 7 month old puppy living inside the body of a 1 year old, young adult dog. So, here's what we are going to do to ease my client's anxiety and help her dog thrive and mature to the best of his abilities:
Set and maintain clear boundaries: While my client had crate trained her dog as a puppy, she'd quit using it once she thought he was an adult and wouldn't need it anymore. We are bringing back the crate for nap times, and enforcing those nap times, to make sure this dog is well-rested. We are also introducing an x-pen to confine the dog when he's awake but can't be supervised. That way, he can't chew the furniture or constantly pounce on her senior dogs for attention.
Adhere to a predictable schedule: Having a set schedule that the dog can predict and that the owner can stick to will be key. A lot of anxiety for dogs comes from not knowing what will happen next, or thinking it's time for something to happen, and then it doesn't. For dogs with developmental delays, willy-nilly schedules, missed walks, etc. are not just frustrating, they are anxiety-provoking and stressful.
Increase both the mental and physical exercise the dog receives daily: Two walks a day with a focus on sniffing and exploring are a must. Simple, interactive toys like snuffle mats and food dispensing balls to build brain connections are also necessary. The third component we are adding in are balance and coordination boosters, which will ultimately increase the dog's confidence. Using wobble boards, hula hoops, and bosu balls, this dog will learn to balance his big body, lift himself a few inches off of the ground, etc., thus making him able to step off of a curb without tripping over his big feet.
Increasing the amount of time the dog is on leash: We are going to keep my client's dog on leash more; he can drag it around the house so that someone can step on it, if need be, to keep him from jumping up. He can also be walked on leash inside the house to increase his confidence with being on leash and help him to learn not to pull. There is no hard and fast rule that says walks on leash need to be outdoors. Leash walks can be done anywhere, inside the house, in your yard, in your garage, etc. Anywhere you have space to walk with your dog is an opportunity to work on leash etiquette.
Clear communication: Using hand signals and verbal markers, my client will make a bigger effort to connect with her dog. He watches her all the time, waiting for feedback, and now she's going to make a conscientious effort to give it to him. She's going to let him know when he's having success by saying “Yes!” and doling out treats and use redirection and time outs for when he invariably makes mistakes. She's going to learn t-touch so that she can use handling and massage as a way to calm her dog and reinforce their bond.
We all learn differently and at different paces. Some people find math easy, for example, and others think of math as a foreign language that they just can't figure out. Dogs are just like us in that regard; some find learning to walk on a leash to be very easy, while others find it quite challenging and anxiety provoking. There's one thing we can all agree on: The world of dogs and dog owners has plenty of room for all types of abilities and aptitudes.
As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.
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