Raising a dog means good days, hard days, and plenty of days in between

You feel like you’re making real progress. Your teenage dog is getting plenty of sleep, they’re eating properly, and they’re coming back when you call them.

Then one morning they wake up and choose chaos.

They turn their nose up at the food they inhaled yesterday. They dig up a half-eaten bone and hide it under your pillow. They bark at the postie, the delivery driver, and the neighbour with the wheelie bin. They dig a hole in the lawn, pull down the curtains, and somehow manage to get on the bench and eat half a loaf of bread.

Sound familiar?

Maybe they’ve had a few big days in a row and their energy reserves are running low. Maybe they’re going through another developmental stage, or they’re finding life a bit harder while their body and brain are changing. Either way, they may be more tired, more easily overwhelmed, and less able to cope than usual.

The good news? This is completely normal.

It doesn’t mean their training has disappeared or that you need to start again. Sometimes they simply have less capacity to use the skills they already have.

So make life a little easier for them. Prioritise plenty of uninterrupted sleep somewhere they can properly switch off, offer long-lasting chews and simple enrichment activities, and keep practising the skills they already know. Swap exciting outings for relaxed sniff walks and give their growing body and brain a chance to recover.

Most importantly, remember that these backwards steps don’t last forever. It might take a few days, a few weeks, or in some cases a month or two for things to settle again. Be patient, support them through it, and before long they’ll be ready to take those next two steps forward again.