My Doberman girl is 7 months and a week old now. I am not sure if she's already in the teenage phase and if yes, when it will end - at 1 year of age?
Also, what to look for - what changes in behaviour are likely? She hasn't had her first season and I don't think she's anywhere near (at least I can't really see anysigns). Her breeder says she should come into season at 8 months, so that's in a few weeks.
She seems "normal" as usual to me so far.
Any advice from the seasoned folk?
Katie

My Weimaraner bitch hit her 'teenage years' at around 6 months old.  The signs are much the same as for a human teenager .

Basically it consisted of refusing to do anything she had ever been taught and pushing the boundarys to the limit.  If I had a penny for the amount of times that I said to people "she really has been taught to sit/stay/recall"  I would be very rich  :D

Freya still liked to sit and have a cuddle in the evening though, and she has been worth it!  She didn't come into season until she was 13 months old.  I don't know if it is a breed or a size thing that dictates seasons, but if it is size, as I believe it to be, your Dobe may not have her first season until around 12 months old.

Louise

The signs are much the same as for a human teenager .

OMG don't scare me! ;)

Does it mean she will start coming home late, hang out with questionable friends, take up smoking, and stop cleaning her room? LOL

Katie

Does it mean she will start coming home late, hang out with questionable friends, take up smoking, and stop cleaning her room? LOL

And talk back to you!

And talk back to you!

I am afraid she already does that sometimes LOL

Aaah, so the other say when I told her to sit and she looked at me as if I had two heads and didn't sit... that was it? !!!

I've found the teenage phase starts at around 7 or 8 months and can last until about 18 months (or even longer with males). By the second season a bitch is usually becoming amenable again!

You get the same sort of behaviour in adolescent dogs and bitches as adolescent humans; stroppiness, increasing independence, unexpected clinginess - hormones all over the place makes them feel very odd, sometimes sensible, sometimes silly puppies again! It's an interesting phase - expect the unexpected. :)

I was a horrible teenager. I hope she doesn't give me a taste of my own medicine ;)

The 'Kevin stage' as we like to call it can pass without being too noticeable, it really does depend on your dog/bitch some are quite hyperactive and try their luck at making up their own rules and need a lot more consistency training, others just breeze through and are always obedient and well behaved.  It's very much like us as teenagers, some are more rebellious than others.

A dog can take anything between 7 months to 3 years to come through it depending on breed, but it really is down to character and a good handler as to how good or bad a dog will behave.

Don't worry about it, it is all part of growing up and you may be lucky and not feel too much of a difference, just always be consistent. :-)

I think mine is still going through it and he is two in June!!

I was told that terriers dont go through junior they are adult by the age of 0ne.

If you'd just seen my two boys on their hind legs, front paws round each other's neck, trying to wrestle each other to the ground, then springing away yapping stupidly, you wouldn't think they'll be 7 in August. :rolleyes: I'm sure they'll grow up sometime ...... won't they?

Took my Jozi until she was 6 to go thorugh adolescence and become an adult, most of the others it has been between 2 1/2 to 3 years of age.

As this happened to coincide with motherhood I did think that made a difference, btu Jozi disproved that one, as she didn't mature until after her second litter.

Sengis just about starting to grow up now she was three in january and now I wish I had another puppy but I can,t have one yet can I? Someone talk me out of it quick.
Waiting to hear if all of all the champ doggers litters are born is making me feel very broody.

3 - get another puppy now spellmaker!! :-D Gosh, mine just turned one and I'm starting to think about number 2 already. I think a nice labby girl would be perfect...

How amny dogs are you planning to have as a maximum at any one time.

With me it is no more than 4 under 12 years of age, so they have to be 3 years apart.

If your maximum is to be two then you could wait another 3 years and you would always have a young dog and an older dog and back to the begginning again.

Jean...
Someone asked me, in all seriousness, the other day, an approximate age when Labradors who have a tendancy to chew will grow out of it. I could confidentally and comfortingly say to them 'when they die...'
'Oh' gulp 'super' was the reaction.
Grin!!!!!!!!!
Di

Fagan is 2 and never really had a teenage stage, Alf is 18 months and thinks anything without balls is fair game, he is improving though, it now only takes about 20 hollars accross the field to get him back :rolleyes:

I,m only joking Ingas nine now and I don,t like to have more than I can comfortably manage . Two is  a good number for me . I ,ll probably wait wait for Sengi to reach five years od as I usually do before I get another dog.