Dogs go through 'moody teenager phase' during puberty, new study finds
21 May 2020, 00:23
It's possible that your young dog could indeed be going through puberty if they're acting up.
An interesting new study has revealed that dogs also go through a moody teenager phase when they hit puberty, which can cause them to act differently.
The study was conducted by a group of British universities who found that dogs can go through stages similar to those of human teenagers when they reach a certain age.
Researchers monitored 69 dogs before hitting puberty - at five months old - and then again when they hit puberty at eight months old.
They found that in adolescence, the puppies took longer to respond to their commands, such as "sit" even if they were already trained and knew how to do it.
As well as this, the study involved a questionnaire with a whopping 285 dog owners who all reported very similar results, with pets that were in the puberty phase being a lot harder to train.
Dog Wears 'Doggles' And Hangs Head Out Of Car Window!
Dr Naomi Harvey, a Zoologist who was one of the study's researchers spoke to BBC's Newsbeat and said: "What we found is evidence that dogs do show a period of reduced obedience towards their owners and this is specific to their owners not to other people."
Explaining that they also noticed the dogs did not tend to act out when a stranger was present, she compared this behaviour to the human one of "taking it out on your mum.
Dr Harvey continued: "It is associated with all of the issues going on inside the dog during puberty.
"The hormonal fluctuations and the remodeling of the brain to become an adult brain cause a lot of issues."
