Teenage trials

Balou is rapidly approaching a year - only a month and a bit to go! He is still growing and resembles a lanky teenager, still not as big as the fully grown male Leonbergers we've met, but getting there. He is also very much the adolescent in his behaviour, he is becoming more assertive, especially around other dogs - he even told another dog off for the first time recently when its attempts to get him to play just became too much. He still remains a lovely, cuddly boy but we are at a critical time where we need to make sure he doesn't start to get the upper hand - at least as far as his interactions with humans are concerned!

Another interesting thing about adolescent dogs is that older intact males will ALWAYS make sure they are put in their place. Balou recently met two older boys, an 18 month old who was very friendly but a little too rough for Balou, much like an older child shoving another around he was very keen to show Balou that he had a little extra muscle and experience. We also met a four year old boy who bossed Balou around as soon as he saw him - even going so far as to knock him over and sit on him! I found this all very funny, Balou a little less so. It was interesting because there was no snarling or growling from the older dog, he just knocked Balou over and sat on him, just to make his point that he was the older more macho dog perfectly clear.