For ages dog professional dog trainers have made it very clear that the best time to train a dog is during the early stages of life, his puppy years. To the extent that many established obedience schools will not allow your dog to participate in their classes if your dog is past a certain age. But how much of this is true? Unfortunately, most of it is actually true. It is a lot easier to train a young dog than try to teach an old dog new tricks. The reason is simple, an older dog has settled down with his own mindset of doing things. It will take a very patient handler with a lot of time and undivided attention to change this mindset and convince the dog to do something else. Puppies are more receptive, given that in that particular stage of life there are in absorption mode, gathering information from people and his surroundings in order to develop a behavior pattern. Older dogs are past that stage and are really not too worried about whether or not they should do things differently.
In all honesty, it is possible to train old yeller, but the approach will need to be quite different than the one used for training puppies. An older dog has develop intelligence, and ways to cut corners in order to avoid doing what he doesn’t like, some may even develop ways to manipulate their owners into doing what they want. Looking at it from that point of view, an older dog is more likely to do something if he actually believed he came up with it, instead of regarding it as an order. For example, you wouldn’t order an older dog to sit as you would a puppy. The trainer would have to observe the dog carefully, and at the moment he sat by himself you would then voice your command and praise him, leading him to believe he came up with the whole thing. You could repeat this same process with other actions as well, such as heel, and come.
Some dogs are more stubborn than others, but some are quite easy to train. Pet owners need to understand that older dog require them to be a little tougher than usual, but also that training will take more time than usual. In some cases when you wish to correct bad, unwanted behavior on an older dog, the trainer may often get discourage the stubbornness and failure to see any results for such an extended amount of time.
In order to make the task less troublesome and dull, pet owners often take the group approach. Registering your dog in obedience classes can make the experience a lot more enjoyable. Such classes exist for older dogs as they do for puppies. Your dog will get a chance to socialize with other people and other dogs, and perhaps both will have a great time. Another good idea, would be to equip yourself with a few toys and training aids, Things like leashes, clicker boxes, whistles, and some dog game items like rubber bones, could make the activity a lot of fun.
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