Dogs become typical teenagers pushing boundaries when they hit puberty, researchers have found.

Dr Helen Whiteside, who is head of research and innovation at Guide Dogs, warns any new puppy owners that their pet's behaviour is set to nose dive but not for long.

Experienced dog lovers will have discovered the rebellious phase as they grow from puppy to adult, but a new study has finally revealed just how naughty they get.

The research from Guide Dogs and the University of Nottingham reckons that new puppy owners should expect a nose dive when they reach eight-months-old.

Expert Dr Helen told the Daily Star: "If you think about it in human terms, teenagers just want their independence don’t they? Pushing the boundaries, they want to get out there away from mum and dad.

Puppies become less responsive to people they know at eight months

"What we found was that they’re less responsive to the people that they lived with when they hit eight months old which is puberty like being a teenager kind of phase compared to when they were five months and 12 months so they definitely went through a rebellious stage of life.

"It correlates obviously with them coming into sexual maturity, a lot of dogs are coming out of that puppy stage and into that adult stage so a lot of hormones going around their body.

"Again with humans it’s a similar thing so we suspect that it is a little bit about them coming into sexual maturity, coming into their own, lots of hormones running around giving them different feelings so they are kind of in that state where they’re just pushing the boundaries a little bit."

Dog playing fetch
It is at eight months old when puppies look to challenge their owner's authority more

Dogs have been domesticated by humans for thousands of years so it is difficult to compare them to foxes and wolves, yet this teenage phase in dogs matches up with their wild relatives.

It is at a similar age that predators are desperate for freedom away from their own parents.

Dr Helen said: "Even from an evolutionary biology perspective, thinking widely about wolves or foxes in the wild, they go through this dispersal period where they come to this puberty or sexual maturity period.

"They would be looking to move away from mum and dad and get out of their so it does make sense from an evolutionary, biology perspective that these hormones coming into sexual maturity affects their behaviour because that is what happens to wild animals as well."

Puppy hug
Puppies will grow out of the so-called teenage phase

What makes the study so interesting, Dr Helen said, is that it found dogs going through puberty are better behaved with strangers than their owners, like a teenager kicking off at home before acting good as gold in front of friends' parents.

When given instructions, hormonal puppies adopt "selective hearing" just to see how much they can get away with.

Dr Helen explained: "If they’re asked to sit, most dogs know how to do that and what we found was that they’re less responsive to the people that they lived with.

Puppy by slide
Puppies deliberately challenge their owners

"It took three or four times for the dogs to actually respond to the sit cue, whereas when a researcher the dog didn’t know, said sit, the dog was much more likely to do it.

"So there was much around the behaviours that the dog knows but maybe a bit of selective hearing going on, when it was from someone they really knew and comfortable with.

"But actually when somebody came in that they didn’t know, they sort of toed the line a bit more and were more responsive to those cues."

Guide Dogs has launched dog training subscription service full of the charity's expertise, Good Dog.