Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached adolescence.

There are two things that I have read about when it comes to adopting a puppy: one is the adolescence phase, and one is the honeymoon phase.

These can be marked by misbehavior, and just general brattiness. But it can cause even patient dog owners to have adopter's remorse, and sometimes even return the dog in question.

I have realized that not only has Miles reached adolescence, but the honeymoon phase is officially over.

This has been marked by sleeping less, pulling the leash more when we walk together, INCESSANT barking, an unhealthy fascination with catbox snacks, and doing things like eating my knitting.

I have been working on a sweater for the past two weeks, and I looked away for one second, and there was a portion of it in shreds. This is what it looks like now:



It took quite a bit of repair, but it looks better, and with only a few snags, which I can live with (because they're on the wrong side, as opposed to the right side, which you are now looking at).

I have chosen to take this as an educational experience and have been working harder to not leave things out in the open for him to get. I now keep all of my knitting in a laundry basket, and keep it on top of the washer.

The barking...oh my goodness, the barking. He barks at everything. I mean, everything. We have to keep the door closed because he barks out the door. We have to keep the curtains closed because he will bark at the window. He has taken to barking at the television today.

We have been trying to work with him, but it is hard to get a dog to stop barking. The reason for this is that barking is part of a dog's instinct - dogs will bark when their protective instinct kicks in, and there's not much a dog owner can do to fight that. Dog owners sometimes take the route of debarking surgery, but I am of the opinion that it's as cruel as declawing a cat - which is to say, way too cruel to even consider. So, we are going the training route, with the "shush" command, and it's not working so much at the moment, but I'm hopeful.

In spite of all of his crazy bratty antics, which I must admit are few and far between, he still makes me laugh pretty much constantly. I also have to put into perspective that he's only six months old, and that if we continue to be diligent in his training, then he'll continue to be a great dog.

Next up for us is clicker training. We aren't going to start doing it until we absolutely know what we're doing - if we're not careful and educated in our approach, then we could reverse the training we've already done with him, at which he is now a total champ. I actually am really excited to start it - I think it will take him to a whole new level as far as his training is concerned, and we will be able to get him to do adorable things, like smiling on command (which is something we've REALLY been wanting to do), rolling over, all that other good and fun stuff now that we've mastered things like wait, sit, down, come, etc.

So, the next chapter will be exciting. We've got lots more to cover, and we will continue to learn more about Miles every day. He's such a good boy.