Puppies typically develop the emotional maturity and temperament of an adult dog between twelve and eighteen months of age, although they may continue to occasionally exhibit puppy behavior like chewing and nipping until they're about two years old.
From 1 to 2 Years
Your dog has graduated from puppyhood. As your puppy nears age one (up to two years for a large breed), they're beginning to look and act more mature. They will probably still be playful, but now they've learned the ropes and are much better at following the rules.
6 Months - 1 Year Old
Your puppy should know all of their basic commands and have a solid foundation of potty training, crate training, and socialization. From this point on, you will continue to work with your puppy to reinforce what they have already learned!
The most challenging time of raising a puppy is the adolescent period. Dogs become “teenagers” and seem to forget everything they have ever been taught. This period is individual to each dog, but it may begin when he's about eight months old and continue until he's two years old.
Like humans, dogs go through a rebellious “teenager” phase (around 5 months to 18 months). During this time, they'll often test their owners, seeing what they can get away with. Being firm and consistent with your training will help establish boundaries.
Most puppies start to calm down as they approach their maturity age, which is usually around 12 months, but for larger breeds it can be more likely to occur between 18 months and 2 years.
Undesirable behaviours such as barking, chewing, counter surfing, house-soiling and jumping up commonly begin to occur at around 3-6 months of age. Your puppy will not grow out of these behaviours. On the contrary, it is more likely that these behaviours will worsen if not addressed early on.
There's no such thing as a dog too old to train and with reward based training methods, you can really enrich their life. It's a common misconception that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Modern dog training methods are suitable for canine companions at any stage of their life.
The Senior Stage
It is important to cherish each stage as a dog's golden years will begin roughly between the ages of 7 and 10. Their muzzle will tend to become grey and they will slow down, preferring a quiet stroll to an energetic run.
Female dogs tend to be more responsive to training and are often less prone to wandering off or trying to swap training time for cuddling time! They are also better at socializing with other dogs, which can make it easier when you're out and about trying to reinforce training.
Female dogs tend to be easier to housebreak, easier to train, and more connected with their owners—but in certain circumstances they can be more demanding of attention.
Adulthood:
Typically, this stage starts at around 18 months for smaller breeds and anywhere up to 3 years for larger breeds. By the time they hit adulthood, they will have reached emotional maturity, and that abundance of puppy energy should have levelled out.
Puppies are capable of learning basic obedience commands from as early as eight weeks old, essentially the moment they're through your front door they can begin their training.
According to Svartberg's data (PDF), a pinscher, a Bernese mountain dog, or an English springer spaniel might be the most disloyal since each ranks very low on playfulness, with moderate sociability.
Rough Collies are the most aggressive dog breed, a new study of more than 9,000 pets has found. Research conducted by the University of Helsinki found that smaller dogs are more likely to behave aggressively, growl, snap, and bark compared to mid-sized and large dogs.
Well, when it comes to the bare basics, it is never too late to train a dog. A dog can learn simple commands such as “Sit”, “Stay” or “Run” no matter how long they are as long as the owner is patient.
Your 7 month puppy may take a few steps back in training during puppy adolescence, but don't let this discourage your efforts! Learning ebbs and flows for all developing babies and continuing the education is a key to staying on track. We recommend you enroll your pup in an advanced training, tricks or agility class.
Your adult dog is perfectly capable of learning new things. Even if it has never had any obedience training in the past, your adult dog will benefit from learning basic commands, such as walking on a loose leash and lying down. An obedience class is a great place to work on this training.
The Labrador Retriever earned the crown as the “naughtiest” breed. Traditionally, people know this popular dog for its friendly and outgoing nature. Yet, it seems that the breed's strength and energetic spirit could sometimes steer them into less desirable behaviors.
The first two months are the most difficult and the following months also bring their challenges. So the answer is, it will get easier and easier, depending on how much effort you put into educating your dog. You should therefore remain hopeful in the process during the first year.
The Brat Stage starts at about 4 months and runs until about 6 months, and it's during this time your puppy will demonstrate even more independence and willfulness. You may see a decline in his urge to please you – expect to see more “testing the limits” type of behaviors.
One to three year-old pups can be very energetic, hardly staying still for a single minute. As they age, however, they will begin to take longer and more frequent breaks between spurts. Most dogs will lose that seemingly abundant energy as they pass the three-to-four-year mark.
The Root of the Behavior
Canines who are aging are likely to grow more affectionate to their human companion as their reliance on them grows.