The Modern Guide to Your Teenage Dog

Getting through adolescence together

Somewhere around six months, a lot of lovely puppies seem to forget everything. The recall disappears, the lead pulling starts, the nipping and jumping come back, and the dog who loved everyone barks at a man in a hat. Families start to wonder whether they've ruined them. They haven't. Adolescence is a normal stage of growing up, it's temporary, and how you handle it makes a real difference to the adult dog you end up with.

This guide explains what's changing in your dog's body and brain, then takes the teenage wobbles one at a time: training, recall, walks, manners, worries, other dogs, guarding and the hormone months. It starts with a "What's going on?" finder for the things families bring me most, and it follows the same approach as my online Puppy Club, so it hands over neatly if you want to go further.

I've been training dogs for over 30 years, and I wrote this the way I'd explain it if we were sat at your kitchen table together.

What's inside

• A "What's going on?" finder for the ten teenage problems families bring me most, plus when to see your vet first

• What adolescence is, when it starts and ends for small, medium and large breeds, and what changes in the body

• Inside the teenage brain: why they seem to forget everything, and why it isn't a power struggle

• Rest and routine: the overtired teenager, how much sleep they need, and teaching a settle

• Exercise and enrichment that calms your dog down instead of winding them up, and looking after growing joints

• Training through the wobbles: stepping back a level, the three things that make a cue harder, and rewards that can compete

• Rebuilding recall with a long line, step by step, and what not to do

• Lead pulling, the right kit and walks that are easier to win

• Jumping, mouthing, zoomies and visitors

• The wary phase: reading worry and building confidence without pushing

• Other dogs, play, humping and guarding toys, food and places

• Hormones, first seasons and how to talk to your vet about neutering

• Chewing, counter surfing, digging, when to get help, and what comes next

Pages to print and keep

• A weekly routine planner

• A training level tracker and a list of your dog's rewards

• A long-line recall log

• A worry diary

• A family rules card and a quick-reference page

Why this guide is different

• It explains the teenage brain, so the plan makes sense instead of feeling like a list of rules

• It starts with rest and routine, the change that helps most and gets talked about least

• It takes each teenage wobble one at a time, with steps you can start the same day

• It's honest that neutering is a health decision to make with your vet, and it won't fix training

• It's built on games plus structure, with reward-based training and no punishment

Who it's for

Families with a dog between about five months and two years old, or a puppy who's about to get there. It works for any breed, and for rescue dogs who arrive in the middle of their teenage months.

What you get

A 78-page PDF and an EPUB in one ZIP file, emailed to you straight after checkout. Read it on your phone, tablet, e-reader or computer, and print the pages at the back.