When do dogs start to listen? (asking for me)

(or when do kids start to listen?)

Another spring is here so dog-walking weather is back. When I didn't work, I would try to walk multiple times a week year-round with baby Sutton and two dogs since Wells was in preschool. 

Now, Wells is almost 7 and old enough to listen and pay attention and not randomly scooter off into traffic. 

Sutton, not so much. She has taken over the whining and complaining role that Wells used to fill. 

(No one tells you that when your kids are about 4 years apart, one will get really easy all of a sudden and the other will slide into that hard age. They take turns, basically.)

I'm back to walking a puppy, which I haven't really done since 2014-15. 

Here's the thing: Scout has always been terrible on a leash. Always. He's almost 12. He is still terrible on a leash.

Jett was worse than worse than worse on a leash. Jett was so bad that I took him to obedience school for a few months and they didn't even know what to make of him. He did not graduate (that I recall). I think we literally just quit. It was getting to be embarrassing. Joke was on them: he turned out to be the best possible dog to walk and 3-4 year old Wells often held Jett's leash because he was so obedient and protective of us when we were out. 

Maverick, comparatively, is not that bad. He's more just dumb and I don't trust him. But a couple of shocks and he realizes what's up and he'll walk along at my side. 

Scout does not care. He's also deaf now so it doesn't matter if he cares or not. 

I remember taking Jett and Scout to a dog park in Colorado Springs in probably 2015, and they were awful. So so so awful. Like, it was embarrassing. 

I talked to a man there who was older and he had a 12 year old dog who wasn't doing well, health-wise, and he said he'd love to have a disobedient puppy again. I get it: I'd love to have another day with puppy Jett (well, maybe 5 year old Jett). I understood what he was saying even if I hadn't experienced it yet. But anyway, I really thought Scout would've calmed down by this point. Even Maverick can hold it together. Scout is insatiable when he comes to running and sniffing and hunting. He hyperventilates the whole way to the destination, and knocks small children over to get to where he wants to be. 

So while clearly this is personality-dependent, 12 is not the age when a Brittany spaniel starts to listen.