05/18/2026
If you wake up one day and feel like your cute puppy is not the same anymore… acting crazy, ignoring your cues, jumping and barking at everything…well, your dog might have just entered puberty 🙈
This time is intense (speaking from experience here after raising two high-drive Australian Shepherds myself and training hundreds of dogs)
Here’s why:
🧠 During adolescence, dogs go through major neurological changes, especially in areas of their brain connected to impulse control, emotional regulation, decision making, and stress responses.
In other words:
their body may look grown, but their brain is still learning how to process the world.
They are not trying to drive you up a wall - their brain is LITERALLY changing!
If you are struggling with your teenage pup and want to learn to understand them better, with patience and awareness for their development - follow along. In the next post I will share what you can do to adjust your training to raise a confident and well adjusted dog (without losing your mind!)
