# Puppy Developmental Time Line



## GolddogGus (Apr 22, 2009)

Great question! It's been a long time since we have had a puppy and I was thinking the same thing the other day. I look forward to hearing what others have to say. Thanks for asking!


----------



## caseybc (Mar 26, 2009)

My puppy Mac is 16 weeks old and he lost his first tooth two weeks ago. He now has 4 adult teeth and it looks like a few new ones are on their way. It was kind of scary at first when I saw blood in his mouth as I wasn't expecting his teeth to fall out so soon but our vet said he's doing fine.


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Tooth loss: as early as four months, but don't be surprised if it doesn't happen until 5. Be prepared for extreme chewing from the age of 4 months through 12 months, though, since even after the adult teeth are fully emerged, there's another phase of discomfort when they set in the jaw. The worst chewing stage is often the last one, since the dog has full adult teeth, full adult jaw muscle, and a very strong urge to chew.

Adolescence: all the time. Some dogs don't settle down until 2-3 years old. Common challenge ages are 6, 12, and 18 months. You'll often see big backslides in training, but they tend to be temporary tests that dissipate when you answer them with firm, consistent training.

Exercise is the first step is tackling an uncouth adolescent dog. An exercised dog is calmer, more relaxed, and simply doesn't have the energy to challenge you as aggressively. Most kinds of exercise involve looking to you for leadership too, so they help modulate the challenges in that way too.

Fourteen weeks is pretty much the end of the sensitivity period, so be prepared for a pup who may suddenly get pushier, mouthier (if you haven't been totally successful with anti-bite training), and more adventurous. It's a really fun time if you're in a class or have an experienced trainer to work with, since it's also an increase in working and athletic ability.

Puppy kindergarten time!


----------



## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

many Goldens are surrendered to shelters at the 9-10 month age.....right at the peak of adolescence. If only their owners knew that with time, patience and consistent training....they would have a wonderful dog in a few short months....


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

LibertyME said:


> many Goldens are surrendered to shelters at the 9-10 month age.....right at the peak of adolescence. If only their owners knew that with time, patience and consistent training....they would have a wonderful dog in a few short months....


Which is such a horrible shame, since it's exactly when the dog's jaw is hurting with the final setting of the teeth. I bet the dog is chewing everything and acting bratty, and instead of doing a little research or getting some help with training, people just dump the living being who has depended on them his whole life and would surely love to behave properly if he just got clear communication from his owners.

It makes me so, so angry.


----------



## Sucker For Gold (Jan 13, 2009)

Gracie started losing her teeth at 15 or 16 weeks and it seems like it took 2 or 3 weeks before all of the shark teeth were gone. Around 13-14 weeks we saw a dramatic decrease in biting/mouthing, only to see it resume with the adult teething. Now at 22 weeks we still see more play biting than we would like to see, usually in the evening only, but she's getting MUCH better at mouthing.

At 22 weeks I can't say I've seen ANY signs of bratty adolescence....yet!! To the contrary, I've seen an increase in attentiveness and desire to learn in the past month. She has been a real challenge to potty train, but in the past 2 weeks we have seen some major advances....we are almost there. We have also seen major advances with other difficult issues that we have been working on for a month or more like jumping when greeting people, and periods of excessive barking. The barking now is almost non-exsistant and when it does happen a quick "quiet" does the trick. All of these improvements came in a dramatic short amount of time after working with them daily for quite a while. So for us so far, the very beginnings of adolescence have been wonderful. I do realize that this could fall apart at any time, so I'm thoroughly enjoying every single moment of it.


----------



## kwhit (Apr 7, 2008)

Here are a few sites I found. Don't know how accurate they are, but still interesting to read:

http://www.diamondsintheruff.com/DevelopmentalStages.html

http://www.thepuppynetwork.com/puppyinfo/puppy_development.html

http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/tips/puppy_development1.php

http://greatdaneservicedog.wordpress.com/puppy-basics/puppy-behavior-development/


----------



## esSJay (Apr 13, 2009)

Molson is about 20 weeks or so now (5 months on Thursday), and in the past 2 weeks his shark teeth have mostly come out. He lost 2 teeth while wrestle-playing with his new girlfriend (a 10 month old American Bull Dog) over the weekend (and bled all over her white fur), and then last night before bed we could see a little blood in his mouth again so when we opened it up we saw another tooth hanging out so we pulled it. All of his front baby teeth are gone and have been either replaced by the adult tooth, or a small gap with the stump of the adult tooth moving in.

He's started to find joy in chewing things that aren't his toys, but has yet to destroy anything yet. However, with that being said, he has definitely been spending more time chewing on his Nylabones (which he didn't care for in the first few weeks). When I catch him chewing on his non-toys, he gets to practice the "give" command and gets rewarded with a few bits of kibble and his Nylabone.

Fur-wise, he has been working on his racing stripe of adult fur on his back for about 3 weeks now, and just this past week his puppy fur is starting to come out pretty easily with the brush. I can see a hint of a thin, long and white-ish undercoat coming in too.

As far as adolescence, I think _tippykayak_ is right that it doesn't really have an expiry date on that for a few years. Molson just started giving us some attitude in the past 2 weeks and practicing his selective hearing. I have doubled up the training time and activity level when he starts getting like that. It definitely helps!

For housebreaking, I think he has finally gotten the hang of it and it's been a minimal number of incidents for the past 2 weeks and accident-free for about 8 days now. yay! With this success, Molson has been allowed to spend a few nights a week sleeping on his bed beside ours at night, outside of his crate.

I think I'm overdue for another round of photos of Molson so I'll try and post them later this week with an update on his progress!


----------



## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

I had one other thought: it's really important not to wait out adolescence or hope a dog grows out of undesirable behavior. I'd never advocate harsher methods during testing phases, but I do advocate increasing the frequency of training sessions, taking classes at a good positive training center, and working through the challenges, rather than waiting for them to end on their own.

Sometimes dogs do outgrow stuff, but just as often they ingrain it as a lifetime habit. It's a bit of a gamble if you don't confront problems head on. Just a tip from somebody with a 6-month-old feisty pup.


----------



## NewToGoldens (Feb 5, 2009)

What a great thread!

What types of issues crop up between 6 and 18 months?

I have a now 7 month old un-neutered (so far) male who (knock on wood) really has been great. He's becoming a little overly enamored of a stuffed animal  but other than that, he's pretty enjoyable to have around!

What might be in our future?

Thanks!


----------

