18 weeks - what to expect?

[Kristen]

Our boy Caspian is 18 weeks old. He had begun to mellow a little at the 16 week mark, but now has turned a corner and is crazy! I've heard people say there's a phase they go through where they are more stubborn and will test you more. Is that around this age? Also, he had really mellowed in his mouth I was, but has picked up a lot on that as well. I'm having to crate him more than I usually do.

[Kristin]

I can relate to everything you are going through right now. Looking back, Maisy's behavior seemed to be at its worst at 4-5 months of age. She began teething, was still nipping at times, and seemed to be challenging us a lot more. By six months she calmed down considerably, became much more attentive to me, and the nipping just magically stopped.

I think what helped us most during that challenging time was to keep working on the basic commands she learned in obedience classes- especially those that help with self-control, such as "wait", "leave it" and "settle". We also used many of the principles of "Nothing in life is free", such as having Maisy sit/wait before meals, asking her to perform a trick for a toy or game, etc. We did rely on the crate for enforcing quiet time when Maisy seemed out of control.

The teenage phase is still in our future so I expect more challenges to come, but I'm hopeful that the hardest part is behind us. From what I've heard and read, puppies typically calm down a bit around 6 months, and then more around a year of age.