FF125 The Adolescent Dog: Making a Terrific Teenager!

Adolescence is the stage where dogs have big bodies and big emotions, but brains that are still very much under construction. Between roughly 6 and 24 months, it’s common for previously well-trained youngsters to seem inconsistent, impulsive, or become a founding member of the "We Do Not Care" club.... — especially when excitement, movement, or real-world distractions are involved.

Course Details

Building Regulation, Focus, and Real-Life Skills for Teenage Dogs

This isn’t stubbornness or training failure. It’s a normal developmental phase marked by rapid brain reorganization, hormonal influence, and the emergence of breed-typical behaviors. Skills don’t disappear — they become harder to access under pressure.

This class is designed to help adolescent dogs learn how to regulate arousal, transition between states, and make better choices in everyday situations. Instead of asking for more control than the teenage brain can reliably give, we focus on recognizing the best ways to support our youngsters when they are having a hard time, and working within their limits to build and retain good habit forming skills.

Using the LEGS model (Learning, Environment, Genetics, and Self) as a framework, you’ll learn why adolescent behavior changes occur — and how to respond with strategies and lifestyle considerations that make things easier for both of you- even beyond training.

Each week builds on the last, layering skills that help dogs:

Turn excitement on and off
Pause, reset, and re-engage during training and daily life
Maintain focus around movement, people, and environmental triggers
Navigate leash work, greetings, and proximity with more thought and less impulse

Across six weeks, we’ll work on:

Engagement and marker cue clarity
Off-switch skills, pause buttons, and interval brain training
Games to build arousal up and bring it back down
Movement puzzles that support body awareness and emotional regulation
Stationing and consent-based skills for safer handling and greetings
Leash skills, thresholds, and long-line strategies for real-world success
Prevention strategies for common adolescent challenges like jumping and mouthing
Understanding the role of hormones and breed-specific tendencies during adolescence

This class is a good fit for:

Dogs in the adolescent stage (approximately 6–24 months)
Dogs who have some training history but struggle with consistency, impulse control, or focus
Sport or active dogs who need better regulation around movement and excitement
Owners looking for proactive, skill-based strategies, not quick fixes

This class is not intended for:

Dogs with severe aggression or extreme fearful behaviors.

TEACHING APPROACH

Lectures are released in clusters at the beginning of each week so that students can budget their time in accordance with the amount of reading and training required. Lectures are split into Learning Topics which introduce ideas or concepts which can be helpful for families of adolescent dogs, and Key Skills which provide written descriptions of training exercises, along with short video demonstrations. Videos do not contain any additional voice-over or instructions not already provided in the written portion of the lecture.

*** We have a brilliant Training Assistant in the class facebook study group to ensure students at all registration levels stay motivated and have help with exercises. ***

Syllabus

Week One

1.0 L.E.G.S and your adolescent
1.1 How This Class Works
1.2 Marker Cues
1.3 Off-Switch
1.4 Interval Brain Training and the Pause Button
1.5 Engagement Game
1.6 Movement Puzzle 1

Week Two

2.0 Understanding Arousal
2.1 Arousal Up/Down Game
2.2 Movement Puzzles 2
2.3 Collar Give
2.4 Leash On/Leash Off
2.5 Reporting Behavior

Week Three

3.0 Behavior Chains
3.1 Proximity Games
3.2 Prevention: Jumping
3.3 Prevention: Biting
3.4 Long Line Walks
3.5 Leash Skills
3.6 Movement Puzzles 3
3.7 It's Your Choice

Week Four

4.0 Breed/Group Specific Behaviors
4.1 Loose Leash 1,2,3!
4.2 Stationing
4.3 The Consent Test
4.4 Greeting Vs Not Greeting
4.5 Movement Puzzles 4

Week Five

5.0 Unwanted Behaviors
5.1 Stationing 2
5.2 Greeting People
5.3 Leash Skills- Thresholds
5.4 Movement Puzzles 5

Week Six

6.0 Hormones
6.1 Proactive Strategies for Teens
6.2 Stationing 3
6.3 Leash Skills- This Way
6.4 Threshold Skills 2
6.5 Movement Puzzles 6

Prerequisites & Supplies

Pre-requisite skills: Handlers and Dogs will do best in this class with at least a basic understanding of marker cues. Motivational interest in food as reinforcement (dogs with previously trained toy skills may be able to substitute toys for some, but not all, exercises). Equipment: A six foot leash and a longer line (10-15 feet is my preference if you are new to handling a long line) A cot, or bed that can function as a station. A little bit firm and elevated is best as this makes it most easier for our dogs to know for sure when they are on it, vs off of it. A raised platform- big enough for your dog to sit on it. Something like a Cato board for medium to large-sized dogs. You can also build one yourself by stacking foam puzzle mats (available at any department store) and duct-taping them together. Two heavier dishes (heavier stainless steel, or ceramic- so that they are difficult to bump out of position) Access to a few low-distraction training spaces and one or two mid-level distraction environments A container that your dog cannot open (like a plastic sandwich box container) - ideally something your dog hasn't been trained to interact with already. We will also make use of household objects and items already found in your training spaces- get ready to get creative :)

Sample Lecture

Teaching the Pause Button

While training this behavior, think of it as a Pause Button:

Training is not over
We are not ending the session
We simply want a brief, clear break with no additional behaviors

The behavior should:

Pay well
Feel easy
Become expected during training pauses

Step 1: Build Value for the Prop

Lure your dog onto the prop, deliver a short series of rewards, then cue a release (cookie toss or another clear release strategy).
Repeat.

Make sure the prop doesn’t move when your dog steps off—brace it with your foot if needed.

Skip this step if your dog already has a strong history with the object.

Video example:

Step 2: Add Short Duration (Up to ~10 Seconds)

Gradually build up to about 10 seconds of stillness, using periodic rewards.
Release before your dog starts offering extra behaviors.

Key points:

Reward general stillness
Don’t wait so long that the dog starts guessing

Successful process:
Rapid rewards → gradual tapering → timely release

Common mistakes:

Rewarding right after movement
Waiting too long and getting a flood of behaviors

Tip:
If extra behaviors appear, toss a cookie, reset, reward more frequently, and release sooner.

Step 3: Fade Rewards Gradually

Begin reducing the number of rewards only if your dog can:

Stay on the station
Avoid self-releasing
Refrain from offering other behaviors

If any of those slip, add reinforcement back in.

When to Use It in Real Training

Work through these progressions on their own—but as soon as your dog is solid at Step 2, start using the Pause Button during other training sessions (at whatever level is successful).

Example:
Leroy using a mat Pause Button between retrieve reps

Reps and Sets

For this week, define one set as:

10 seconds work
10 seconds Pause Button
Up to 10 cycles maximum

Think: 10 / 10 / 10

That said, success matters more than numbers.

High-intensity exercises (like retrieves) may require:

Fewer cycles
Shorter work intervals

Example with Leroy:

2 retrieves
10-second Pause Button
Repeat only a few times

Lower-arousal exercises may allow for more repetitions.

(We’ll build on this in the next lecture.)

Homework

Grow your dog’s Pause Button behavior.
Once your dog is reliably at Step 2, begin using it during other training sessions—either with skills your dog already knows or alongside the next lesson.

This pause skill will become a powerful tool throughout the rest of the course.

Instructor

Erin Lynes

Faculty

Erin (she/her) is a lifelong dog enthusiast from Quesnel, British Columbia, Canada. Erin is certified as a Karen Pryor Academy Training Partner, a Certified Professional Canine Fitness Trainer, a Licensed Family Dog Mediator, and as a Cani-Fit Leader, ...

FAQ

Explore the questions we get asked most often and find out everything you need for a smooth experience with us.