What happened after we adopted Jake?

For those who read our post about how we adopted Jake, here is an article I wrote in June 2009.

You see, when you adopt a puppy, life doesn't just come easy. A puppy is A LOT of work. And when you have mastered the house broken stage and your life is finally more settled, your puppy goes from puppy to ... puppylescent. Yup. Just like an adolescent.

Here is what could be considered like a Part II of a puppy story :

Being a new pet owner, I wanted to share my experiences with a teenage dog.

 

Jake just ate his second dog-bed

As the new teeth were coming out, Jake’s behavior started to change. And not in a good way.

Oh no. It did not. 

He started to bark when I was spending time on the computer or, worse, when I was telling NO and DON’T (don’t chew, don’t jump, don’t steal my socks or any kind of underwear). He started to run, to be a turbo puppy. Outside or inside, it made no difference to him, with his behind almost touching the ground while he was running, his ears in the back of his head and his tongue hanging out on the side of his mouth.

A puppylescent without appropriate training

Crazy dog.

His hygiene habits started to regress. For those who don’t know, carpet is now the new grass.

Some of the frustrations I was going through with those changes sounded awfully familiar to me. So I made a short list of my puppy’s newly acquired behaviors.

1. Unexpected burst of energy, followed by a nap that is like a mommy’s sleep: nothing can wake him up.
2. An order is followed by nagging, barking and running away from me.
3. When mommy’s busy, it means that it is okay to go in her bedroom to steal what he wants. It is also okay to let mommy know when he is not happy by barking. This, lately, happens a lot.
4.  If daddy gives him more treats than mommy, his loyalty goes to daddy and vice versa.
5. Have the ability to destroy what he wants. With his teeth.

After reading this, something in my mind clicked. It did sound exactly like what I know about teenagers.

Does that mean that…

My dog, acting like a teenager ?

No way! But the more I was reading about it, the more I was talking about it to professionals, the more all the fingers were pointing toward the only possible conclusion.

Adolescence 

I also learned that from 0 to 5-6 months, a dog was going through puppyhood. Adulthood comes only at around three years old. Quick calculation. That’s means that teenage years last about… two and a half years.

In order to make life easier, my puppylescent is going to start obedience lessons. Oh, yeah.

Jake, a.k.a Buster Brown, you are going to learn how to fetch, drop, sit, lie down, heel and all those other commands that somehow, you and I have not been able to work out. I will do what is necessary for you to become a responsible teenager. Because I have every intentions to keep you for a very long time.

And I intend to keep my shoes a very long time too.

The original article can be found here : http://gomestic.com/pets/my-dog-is-a-teenager/2/