More and more people like to keep a dog as a pet, but do you really know a dog? Many people think that the dog is just a little animal, but it's just like a human being. A recent article by Lucy Asher, an animal behavior researcher at Newcastle University in the United Kingdom, was published in Biology Newsletter. And in this article, she says that dogs, like human teenagers, have puberty.
Her research team observed the behaviour of 378 dogs over a long period of time and found that the dogs were relatively obedient and responsive at the age of eight months. Of course, it means to their masters, not to some other stranger. However, when the dogs pass this period, their character changes somewhat, becoming more stubborn and less inclined to obey the master's orders.
It seems that the Wangs, like us, will experience a youth that seems less successful. During this time, they will have a negative attitude towards those who take care of them.
“This is a very important period of the dog's life,” said Lucy Asher, “Many dogs will become less cute during this period, leading the master to feel very challenging in raising them, and it is difficult to control or train them again. But their masters should realize that, like teenage human children, their dogs are just going through adolescence, and this period will end up passing.”
In an experiment with a group of 93 Labrador dogs, golden hairhounds and their hybrids, researchers found that eight months of dog training was more difficult than it had been in the first five months. In training similar to sitting down, they are more reluctant to respond in accordance with orders.
The next research is the most interesting. When the research teams gave orders to these eight-month-old dogs to strangers, they did not show the same reluctance as when they faced their owners. Seen here, do you remember yourself: people say things that make sense, but parents don't listen.
In order to validate this result, a further 285 Labrador dogs, Goldenhounds, German shepherds and their hybrids were studied and additional evidence of such effects was found. They let the owners or trainers who are not familiar with the dog do similar experiments and document the dog ' s compliance with orders and the speed of reaction.
Similarly, 8-month-old dogs are more reluctant to obey their master ' s orders than dogs of 5 or 12 months old. And when dogs grow from five months to eight months, their compliance increases with age.
Asher stated: “It is of the utmost importance that the master not punish the dogs for their incompetence or alienate his pets from them because of their discomfort. This attitude also makes the problem worse, as it does when dealing with teenage human children.”
Of course, some experienced dogs friends have discovered similar phenomena, but it is painful to be correct in dealing with the problems of adolescent children. Asher's article also shows that eight-month-old dogs are also among the highest in all age groups. Asher believes that if the owners of abandoned dogs are prepared for this and are aware that their pets have reached puberty and that hormones and brain changes are occurring in them, the likelihood of dogs being sent to shelters for this reason is much lower.
Naomi Harvey, an animalologist at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom, also said: “Many dog owners and professionals know or speculate that when dogs reach puberty, their behaviour is difficult to control. Until now, however, no professional statistics and records have been made. Our research shows that there is a high degree of consistency between the changes we see in dogs and the human parents. As in the case of young humans, the conflict between the dog and the owner in adolescence can be very painful for the primary caregiver. But this is only a transitional phase.”
Parents around the world are very upset about dealing with the problems of young children, and it would be very useful for parents and children if we could better understand the period and find a simple way to deal with and communicate with them. For dogs, too.
We often say that dogs are human, and that doesn't seem to be the case. They also have a sense of joy and sadness and a similar process of human growth. Now that many people see dogs as their own family, we should know them as well as we know them and treat them as family.
In conclusion, it is hoped that all of you will take care of their abilities and responsibilities before taking care of them because of love and kindness, and that once they have been taken care of, they will be responsible for their entire lives. There is a spirit in all things, and good to the animals is good to yourselves.