Teenage dogs (and what to do about them) with Tina Spring

Content warning: Suicidal ideation comes up in this conversation. Help is available. In Canada or the US, call or text 988 for the suicide crisis helpline. In the UK, the Samaritans are on 116 123. 

When a cute puppy turns into a terrible teen, many people struggle. Tina Spring of Sit Happens joins us to talk about adolescent canines and how she helps people with their teenage dog in a place where many pups miss out on puppy class. Tina is also the smart, funny, and kind host of Your Family Dog podcast.

We talked about:

• the importance of puppy class and how to socialize your puppy
• why Tina offers an adolescent puppy class
• the issues that people have as their puppy becomes a teen
• the importance of food treats and seeing things through your puppy's eyes
• what Tina says when people are struggling with their adolescent dog
• similarities between parenting teenage puppies and teenage humans
• burnout and trauma in dog training
• Your Family Dog podcast and how Tina got involved

Zazie Todd and Marc Bekoff on Your Family Dog 

Zazie on YFD to talk about anxious dogs  and happy dogs 

The Beast Keepers by Julie Fudge Smith 

Colleen Pelar https://colleenpelar.com/

Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell.

The full show notes and transcript are available here: https://www.companionanimalpsychology.com/2025/09/teenage-dogs-and-what-to-do-about-them.html

Tina Spring started training dogs as a child in 1979 in 4H. Her love of dogs and of teaching led her to a career working with dogs and families. She published her first book, 90 Days to the Perfect Puppy, in 2005 and it’s now part of her online puppy rearing program that bears the same name. She is the owner of Sit Happens Dog Training & Behavior, LLC in Athens, Georgia, where she does in person and online consults and specializes in fear and aggression and the special relationships between kids & dogs. She’s also the co-host of the Your Family Dog podcast, which is a really fun and excellent podcast.

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About the co-hosts:

Kristi Benson is an honours graduate of, and now on staff with, the prestigious Academy for Dog Trainers and has her PCBC-A from the Pet Professional Accreditation Board. She lives in beautiful northern British Columbia, where she helps dog guardians through online classes. She is also a northern anthropologist.

Kristi Benson's website Facebook

Zazie Todd, PhD, is the award-winning author of Bark! The Science of Helping Your Anxious, Fearful, or Reactive Dog, Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and Purr: The Science of Making Your Cat Happy. She is the creator of the popular blog, Companion Animal Psychology, and has a column at Psychology Today. She lives in Maple Ridge, BC, with her husband, a dog and a cat.

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