# How indicative is puppy behaviour of what they will be like as an adult?



## Tia (Nov 28, 2012)

Happy New year everyone. I'm having a quiet one tonight as I am not sure how our little man will handle the party noises and fire works.

My DH and I were talking about how pleased we are with Doug's progress and nature. He is 15 weeks and we got him at 10 weeks.

He is very content playing on his own, being put in his crate and when we head out he is just so excited to get his treat he runs out the doggy door to have it.

With strangers who stop to say hi he just thrives on the attention, other dogs don't really phase him even when they are growling at him he just stares.

His going well with training as he will come when called even when distracted, sits when told (and out of routine before we place his good down).

He does bite a little during excited at time but this is improving and his toilet training is going quite well.

However in terms of his nature ATM with people other animals, non barking/growling will this change as he gets older or is it likely that this is him??

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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

As Chica's mom said, you are very likely to go though a more difficult period sometime between 8-18 months, when he is an adolescent. That doesn't mean he'll turn into aholy terror, necessarily, but he is likely to listen less and and test more... just like human adolescents!

I would say that Kodi, as an adult, is more like a better, slightly more sedate version of himself as a young puppy... Fortunately that demanding, patience-trying "adolescent Kodi" faded away again between 18 months and two years!ound:


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## Tia (Nov 28, 2012)

Haha great. Thanks for the info. I am sure he will test us through adolescence but so long as I know it's coming I'll be able to see that there is light t the end of the tunnel when we do get to that stage.

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## Becky Chittenden (Feb 4, 2009)

Generally, this is him, though as others said, he might have some adolescent issues. Be sure to correct the biting, not that at this age it is a problem, but better to correct than form a habit. Seems to me like he's got it really together for his age


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## marlowe'sgirl (Jun 17, 2010)

Ah yes, I remember the 9mo stage. Marlowe has and had excellent recall. But for 2 months, "Come" became "catch me if you can!" or "only if you have super-good treats."


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## Ruthi (Nov 10, 2011)

Hmm, and I thought I was done with the bad stuff as Otis turns 1 end of January.:frusty:


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

Doug sounds wonderful. I don't think he will change. As long as you keep up with training, so no bad habits are formed. If anything he will mellow with age. Fred was a monster until he turned 1. I can not believe how different he is as an adult. He was non stop hyper. Now he is lazy and grumpy
I got Bella at 7 months and she acts the same as she did as a puppy. She is now 8 and is still calm and easy.
Scuds was my easiest and sounds a lot like Doug. He is and was always a happy go lucky dog. He was never hyper or destructive. Not a mean bone in his body. If anything, he barked more as a puppy. Now he hardly barks. 
One thing I will say is things happen over the course of their lives that could change them. Example, when Scudder was a wee pup 3 large black labs chased him to play with him. He was so afraid, not knowing they just wanted to play. He was terrified and was running in fear. I grabbed him but this changed him. He now fears large black dogs.


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## Tia (Nov 28, 2012)

Thanks for the responses. Yes the biting we have been trying to correct. The other day he knew when he did it it was wrong because that was one of the times he ran away from me. I was going to pick him up an put him in his crate and ignore him for 10 min after saying 'No' and instead he ran off and jumped into his crate so the message was lost lol but he is biting less.

He gets a little hypo just on the morning when he loves to have a run around the back yard and I think this his him burning off some energy. We walk him morning and night but not when he is in "crazy dog mode form" as we call it as e goes from sleepy and relaxed to hypo. Very funny.

We are really trying to do as much training as we can every day. The hardest command at the moment is stay. He hasn't grasped that as yet. We are getting a trainer to come to our house in the coming weeks to give us some tips and also to ensure our techniques are right.

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## lise (Sep 1, 2006)

Teds stay isnt the best although I do now have a short stay. My trainer said to try sitting him on a kitchen chair and do the stay command as Ted would never jump off (hes a chicken) so he is more or less in a stay whether he likes it or not. Thats how I got my stay.


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

Tia said:


> Happy New year everyone. I'm having a quiet one tonight as I am not sure how our little man will handle the party noises and fire works.
> 
> My DH and I were talking about how pleased we are with Doug's progress and nature. He is 15 weeks and we got him at 10 weeks.
> 
> ...


 I haven't read the rest of the posts. My gut reaction is to keep up the good work and add lots of socializing. If you want him to stay the way he is with people and other dogs he will need you to expose him to others . Take classes bring him to stores where dogs can go. Make it so he doesn't even have a reason to be scared of the out side world.


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## Tia (Nov 28, 2012)

Great advice. And I will be trying the "stay" trick too!! Thanks.

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## lise (Sep 1, 2006)

Thank my trainer. Don't forget to also train a release word like ok


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