Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Adolescence - What a Wonderful Time!


My baby is definitely no baby anymore! Kash has reached his six month milestone, and reach it he did! This last week and a bit has made me realize that he has definitely entered the realm of "adolescent" - my friends, I have a teenager on my hands! And with that, comes new challenges, many of these are the same challenges that many of my clients face from day to day!

- Learning about his little "nuggets"  - he is definitely cognizant of his developing manhood. His interest in the ladies has piqued, and he is quite the comical flirt.  He has also discovered the joys of lifting his leg to urinate - the first few times quite funny as he ultimately peed all over himself, but I think he'd tell you that he's a pro now!
- His impulses have decreased once again. A normal aspect of adolescence, as I instruct all my clients to expect that with development, adolescence sometimes brings setbacks to basic impulses and skills as they mull their way through the swamp and fog to adulthood. Lots of impulse control work, regular training, and sit/down stays are helping him through what is also a difficult time for him!
- His playstyle with buddies has changed. It is no longer that care-free play of puppyhood, where it doesn't matter who's who, and everyone plays with everyone. He very much is now interested in "who" he is meeting, and now greets different dogs, differently. He has been experimenting with his "voice" as a greeting, it's one thing he did find at adolescence. It's coming along quite nicely though. He remains quite stable throughout, although he succumbs to the odd "rude encounter" from time to time.  But he loves when all the boarders come to stay, and looks forward to romping with those new dogs.

Through it all, he's still the same sweet, loving, sassy, smart boy - his brain has just been flipped upside down for a couple of months while he gets the next set of "life lessons" figured out, and makes that move into adulthood when it all smooths over again.  This that part in every "parent's" life when they look at that teenager and wonder what they can possibly be thinking.  LOL. But as we've all been there, we understand that adolescence is a time of more learning and sometimes a hard time for everyone, dog and human alike! 

I have no fear that Kash will develop into a wonderful male like Zipper..........in a few more months! *G*