Adolescent Dog Training Online

Adolescent dog

Welcome to Adolescence! 

The teenage phase no one warns you about. If your once-sweet puppy has suddenly stopped listening, gets distracted by everything, to seems to have "forgotten" their training... you're not alone.

About our Adolescent courses

This stage can feel chaotic and frustrating, but it's completely normal, and we'll show you exactly how to handle it. These courses are designed to guide you through the ups and downs of adolescence with practical tools, clear advice, and plenty of support.

We offer one full, self-led course, or if you'd prefer a more tailored approach, we have 4 mini-courses which you can select to create your own Training Toolkit. These courses will help you understand the adolescent phase and how to manage and navigate the world around you, together.

 

Our Adolescent courses:

  • Full Teenage Dog Training Course
  • Mini-courses:
    • Calm Greetings and Reducing Jumping.
    • Understanding and Managing Barking.
    • Recall and 'Leave it'.
    • Loose Lead Training.

Full Teenage Dog Training Course

  • Understanding adolescence – What it is, why it matters, and how to make this stage easier for both you and your dog.
  • Calmer, happier walks – Learn how to leave home on a calmer note, build reliable lead walking, and handle those big emotions when out and about.
  • Recall and “leave it” made fun – Games, techniques, and tips to help your dog come back when called and come away from things they shouldn't have.
  • Polite greetings – Reduce jumping up, manage it around children and visitors, and set up lasting good habits.
  • Why dogs bark – Understand the reasons behind why they may be barking, what their body language is telling you, and how to help them feel calmer. 

Have a specific issue?

Choose the topics that suit you and your dog best from our 4 mini-courses!

You don’t have to commit to the full course, you can simply choose the individual modules that fit your needs. If there are just one or two topics you’d like to focus on, feel free to pick and mix the ones that suit you and your dog best!

Recall and leave it

Recall and 'Leave it'

Learn the must-have tools for recall and 'leave it' training with your teenage dog.

Loose lead

Loose Lead Training

Confidently navigate the big emotions and hurdles of walking a teenage dog.

Reduce Jumping up

Calm Greetings and Reduce Jumping

Transform your teenage dog’s boisterous jumping into calm, polite greetings.

Manage barking

Understand and Manage Barking

Calm your teenage dog’s barking and grow their confidence in moments of worry.

Our Courses and Toolkits

What is a training toolkit?

When you purchase multiple courses, you build your own Training Toolkit, a reliable place for expert advice and guidance at every stage of your dog's training journey. As your dog grows, you can continue building your toolkit over time. 

What's inside your course?

Our self-led online courses are designed to help you build a great relationship with your dog while teaching them important skills and setting the stage for a lifetime of positive training. 

Why choose our courses?

Mobile friendly- Access our courses anytime, anywhere on your smartphone.

Expert support – Developed by Dogs Trust experts with real life experience.

Bite-sized learning – Easy to digest content with practical lessons that fit into your daily routine.

Learn at your own pace – flexible learning, with reminders to help you stay on track. 

How your courses work?

Step-by-Step Content - Daily lessons, videos, and training exercises you can access on your phone or tablet.

Self-Paced Learning Access new content each day after completing your daily tasks. You can take up to two days’ break without losing your progress streak, perfect for working around real life! Some people move quickly, while others take a little more time - either way, we’re here to support you.

Quizzes & Interactive Exercises - Reinforce your learning and track your dog’s progress.

5–10 Minutes Per DayEasy to fit into your day-to-day.

What comes after adolescence?

Adult how to

My dog is over 2 years old, what next?

They have entered adulthood! Learn more about our courses to support dogs in this next life stage.

Training a dog: What to expect at each life stage

Puppy: 8-24 weeks

Puppyhood is exciting but can feel overwhelming for young dogs discovering the world for the first time. As owners, our job is to guide them, build confidence, and create strong habits, routines, and boundaries early on. This foundation makes later stages, especially adolescence, much easier.

In these early weeks, puppies learn what the world is, where they can go, and basic skills like sit, settle, and loose-lead walking. Our courses are designed to help you build these essentials and support your puppy’s growth.

 

Benefits of training a puppy:

    • Curious and eager to engage, making it easier to capture their attention. 
    • Quick learners, absorbing new information easily. 
    • Fewer bad habits, so you can establish good behaviours early. 
    • Builds confidence in new environments and situations. 
    • Strengthens the bond between puppy and human. 
    • Improves communication, helping them understand cues from the start. 
    • Helps prevent future behaviour issues through early guidance.

Common challenges:

    • Short attention spans, keep training sessions to 1-3 minutes. 
    • Mouthiness and nipping, especially when overtired or teething. 
    • Training inconsistency, skills need reinforcement throughout life. 
    • Easily distracted, especially in busy environments. 
    • Developing impulse control, so patience and calm behaviour take time. 
    • Limited bladder control, meaning accidents and frequent breaks are normal.

Adolescent: 6-24 months

From 6 months onward, dogs enter their teenage phase; a normal but challenging period filled with big physical and emotional changes. You may see new fears, reactivity, or moments where your dog seems to stop listening.

Routine, good habits, and stepping in when your dog feels overwhelmed are key to getting through this stage.

Our Teenage Dog Training Course gives you the tools to understand these changes, manage behaviours, and keep your bond strong throughout adolescence.

 

Benefits of training an adolescent dog:

    • Better learning capacity as their brains mature. 
    • More physical ability and energy for fun, skill-building activities. 
    • Strengthens your bond during a big developmental stage. 
    • Reinforces earlier training and prevents habits from slipping. 
    • Builds emotional resilience through structure and consistency.

Common challenges:

    • “Selective hearing” - really just distractions and curiosity taking over. 
    • Big emotions that can lead to overarousal or exaggerated reactions. 
    • Testing boundaries and ignoring cues they previously knew. 
    • High distractibility in new or stimulating environments. 
    • Energy spikes that make calm behaviour harder. 
    • Fear periods causing temporary sensitivity.

Adult: 2+ years

Things begin to slow down in the adult dogs life stage. Hormones start to settle, behaviours start to reduce in severity, and the training that has previously been done has helped them grow into a well rounded dog. Dogs are creatures of habit, and although things may feel easier now this is where training tends to fall to the wayside and can lead to bad habits and routines forming. 

While adult dog's don't need as much support or guidance as a puppy or adolescent dog does, an adult dog still needs to stay consistent with their training to avoid it being forgotten or completely lost.

 

Benefits of training an adult dog:

    • More stable hormones, making focus and calm behaviour easier. 
    • Greater impulse control compared to puppies or teens. 
    • Stronger attention span, allowing longer and more effective training sessions. 
    • Clearer preferences and personality, making it easier to tailor training. 
    • Reliable learning ability adult, dogs can pick up new skills just as well as younger dogs.

Common challenges:

    • Established habits, good or unwanted, may take longer to adjust. 
    • Harder to undo undesirable behaviours, but change is absolutely possible with consistency. 
    • Lower motivation in some dogs, especially if they have had little training in the past. 
    • Less flexible routines, making new patterns slower to form.
    • Need for ongoing consistency to maintain and build good habits.
Dog Training Online

Dog Training Online

Practical, expert led training to help you raise a happy, well behaved dog at every stage of their life.

Training with Dogs Trust

The Dogs Trust approach

At Dogs Trust we train dogs using reward based methods, and do not advocate the use of any training equipment which changes behaviour by causing pain or fear in dogs.

Dogs which are trained with rewards enjoy learning. They are a partner in the training sessions and often 'offer' new behaviours to see if they get a reward.

Reward based training works to change behaviour and enhances the bond between dog and owner.

Have a question?

Get in touch for more information about our online training courses at Training@dogstrust.ie.

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