A small dog who pulls, jumps up and ignores a cue they knew last month is in the same stage as a 30 kg dog. The size is different. The adolescence is not.
The difference is who gets asked to do something about it. Owners of small dogs get told the jumping is friendly and the barking is what small dogs do. They get told the pulling does not matter because the dog cannot pull. All three leave you with a year of untrained behaviour and a dog nobody enjoys walking.
Yes, it is the same stage
Around the onset of adolescence, dogs respond less to the cues of the person who raised them, and that responsiveness returns later in the stage. Owners of small dogs describe the same drop, and it is the same developmental stage rather than a small dog quirk.
Adolescence in dogs runs roughly from 6 months to 24 months. Larger dogs generally take longer than smaller ones, so a small dog may come out of the other side a little sooner. There is no test that tells you your own dog has finished.
The packaging problem
The same behaviour reads differently at 5 kg. A large dog who jumps on a guest is a problem to solve. A small dog who jumps on a guest gets picked up and told they are sweet.
So the labels arrive instead of a plan, and the labels are usually about the dog rather than about the stage. A small dog who will not come back, chews the skirting and barks at the postman is not a different species. They are 10 months old.
There is a real cost to the cuteness. A dog who has never been asked to settle, or to walk on a loose lead, reaches 12 months old with the same gaps. A large dog gets the practice because the alternative is being dragged.
What is genuinely different
Timing can sit a little differently, because larger dogs generally take longer than smaller ones. Do not read an early calm stretch as the stage being over.
The short-term stakes are lower. A small dog pulling is not going to pull you over, which is exactly why the skill never gets trained.
Safety shows up in different places. Small dogs get stepped on, picked up and dropped in crowds, and a dog who is worried at ankle height needs distance rather than handling.
The equipment is smaller and cheaper, which means you can change it without guilt. A well-fitted harness and a plain 6 foot leash is the whole list.
The approach is the same, in the same order
Name the one problem that costs you most this week, and work on that alone for 2 weeks. Owners who take on 4 problems at once finish the stage with 4 half-trained skills.
Keep the criteria small enough that your dog can meet it 4 times out of 5.
Work below the level that pushes your dog past what they can manage. That is the condition for learning, at 5 kg and at 30 kg.
Behaviour change is built from management plus reinforcement together, and both halves are the same size here.
Reward-based training has been associated with higher reported responsiveness and fewer reported problem behaviours.
Tonight, 8 minutes
Whatever the size, the first session is the same shape. Pick one skill, set a timer for 8 minutes, and work where there is nothing else to do.
Recall: 6 reps down a hallway, 1 treat each, released straight back to whatever they were doing.
Loose leash: 8 sets of 4 steps in the kitchen, food down by your leg while the lead hangs loose.
Settle: a mat, a chair, and a treat between the front paws every 5 seconds for a minute.
Stop while your dog still wants a sixth rep. That is the session.
Safety note
A change that arrived over days rather than weeks is not adolescence. Sudden behaviour change warrants a veterinary examination, and pain frequently presents as a change in behaviour rather than as obvious lameness. Get help now if your dog has growled at, snapped at or bitten a person, including a person in your own house. Speak to your veterinarian and a qualified behaviour professional who works with reward-based methods.
What to expect
Nothing here changes because your dog is small. The stage still runs its course, and a dog who has not been asked to do anything for a year needs the practice back.
If the jumping, the barking and the ignoring are all happening at once, the Assessment will name the pattern underneath. It is free, takes about 3 minutes, and asks for no email address.
Today's version, in one line: pick the one problem that costs you most, and give it 8 minutes tonight.