---
title: "Your adolescent dog forgot everything. Here is what is happening."
description: "Six to eighteen months, the hormones, and how to hold the line without a fight."
url: https://evapup.com/journal/adolescent/adolescent-dog-regression
category: "Adolescent Dog"
author: "Sam Okafor"
published: 2026-08-07
updated: 2026-09-13
---

# Your adolescent dog forgot everything. Here is what is happening.

Six to eighteen months, the hormones, and how to hold the line without a fight.

Around six months the recall stops working and the puppy who sat on cue starts staring at you. This is normal, temporary, and manageable.

## What changes

Hormones rise, the brain rewires, and the outside world gets far more interesting than you. Fear periods come and go. None of it is defiance.

> **Spay and neuter timing.** For large breeds, waiting until growth plates close may protect joints. It is a conversation to have with your vet, not a date on a calendar.

## Hold the line

Go back to a leash indoors if needed, pay well for the basics, and stop asking for things you cannot enforce. A cue the dog ignores gets weaker each time.

### Exercise and rest

More physical exercise does not fix an adolescent. Sniffing walks, training games, and enforced rest do. Growth plates are still open, so skip long runs and jumping.

---

Eva may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. Prices and availability are shown as of the time we last checked.