Maturity

Dylan ran fantastically at flyball training this past week. He was thoroughly enjoying himself, performing beautiful box turns and getting excited on the line. (Dylan doesn’t get excited like the girls do, he just huffs quietly and dances a bit). Someone commented on how well he was doing, and I said something to do with him being 3 1/2, and he should have clicked on by now! A further comment about Labradors maturing at 4 reminded me that most dog’s really don’t mature until they’re three or four, and that I had forgotten that rather important fact.

Some dogs are always grown up, and some dogs mature mentally way earlier (or later!) than that. I read somewhere that a strong dog takes a year for each leg to settle down, but then, neither of my dogs are strong dogs. (Mollie is, or would have been when she was younger. But then, Mollie has never grown up). I wouldn’t really expect them to take until 4, but I shouldn’t really expect them to be proper adults until they’re at least 3.

Kim changed at 3 years old from being a complete wild child to being able to pay attention and exercise her self-control. It was just like a switch had been flicked on her 3rd birthday. It didn’t immediately get easier, but the difference was noticable, particularly at agility.

I hadn’t thought about it for years, and I certainly hadn’t considered that Dylan might grow up a bit too at 3. I’ve always said he isn’t very mentally mature, but maybe he is starting to hit his stride now; he’s been noticably more into his flyball over the past month, and it’s suddenly stopped being something to worry about and something instead to just enjoy. I can’t say I’ve noticed a difference in his agility, but we haven’t competed for a while now and so I’ll see how he goes at Wilmslow and Wyre. I keep forgetting that he has only done one show at Myerscough, in February this year, and it seems like such a long time ago. We have come on leaps and bounds since then.