#219 Adolescence or Something Deeper?

Ever wonder whether your dog’s “selective hearing” is just teenage chaos or a sign that something deeper is going on? We walk through a clear, humane framework to tell the difference—using simple observations you can run at home and a checklist we use in the training room. Across five domains—learning speed, retention, problem‑solving, self‑control, and response to novelty—we show how patterns emerge and why those patterns matter more than any single bad day at the park.

Chapters

• 0:02 Countdown and Framing the Issue
• 0:08 Rough Starts and Owner Questions
• 0:47 Trainers Observe, Not Diagnose
• 1:15 Learning, Memory, and Problem-Solving Checks
• 1:56 Self‑Control, Recovery, and Novelty Response
• 2:31 Pattern Summary and Next Steps

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:02

Five, four, three, two, one. You know, over my twenty plus years of training, I've occasionally been asked to evaluate things that go beyond simple behavior. You know, sometimes a client tells me that their dog had a rough start in life. Maybe there were complications at birth, or maybe the puppy was attacked and sustained injuries at a young age. And then you fast forward a year or two later, and the owners are wondering, is this dog's behavior just normal adolescent chaos? Or is there something deeper going on? Now let me be very clear up front, trainers are not veterinarians or neurologists. We don't diagnose medical conditions. But what we can do is observe, document, and notice patterns that help us understand whether we're seeing typical learning and energy or something that might need a second look from a vet. So what do we look for? At first, learning speed and retention. If I teach a hand target how many repetitions before the dog gets it? And then I check, does the dog remember it after a break? Can they perform it in a new location? And what about problem solving? If I put a treat under a cup or a towel, does the dog figure it out or give up? And then there's memory. If a dog watches me hide a treat and then has to wait for about ten seconds, can they still find it? Self control and regulation are also important. Can the dog switch gears smoothly? From sniffing to coming back when called? Can they handle a short delay before they get a reward? And after excitement, how fast do they recover? And there's also the response to novelty. A new object, a strange sound, do they show curiosity, cautiousness, or an extreme overreaction? So here's the big picture. If a dog learns well, remembers skills, and shows self control and regulation, but has tons of energy, that's usually adolescence and training. But if a dog struggles across all of these areas, learning, memory, problem solving, regulation, that could be a sign that something deeper is going on. And that's when I would tell the owner, you know, I'm not diagnosing anything, but these patterns look unusual. So you might want to double check with your vet. So remember, trainers don't diagnose, but we do observe. We look for patterns, and then we use those patterns to help us guide training decisions. And if needed, to point an owner toward the right professional help.