Older Dogs Training - How to Train an Older Dog

Dogs, like humans, and many other species, can be taught new things, even at an advanced age. The adage, 'you can't teach an old dog new tricks' is a falsity. My ten-year old Golden is still happy to ‘play’ in new ways and is mentally alert.

However learning new behavior often tends to be a matter of unlearning old ways. It takes focus, patience and guidance to modify or extend those habits after years of repetition.

Physical limitations always need to be taken into account. An older dog may want to do all the things a three-year-old dog does (running, jumping, retrieval, obstacle course maneuvers and so forth), but they tend to tire more easily and lose interest more rapidly.

Expect to carry out more repetition and make training sessions shorter time chunks. Make obstacles lower and runs shorter. Instead of throw the ball twenty times, throw it two or three times. Hearing loss occurs in dogs, too. Don't assume they're ignoring you when at a distance and facing away.

Allow for longer recovery periods between sessions. As long as you consider the dog will usually want to go longer than is safe or healthy, an active game of fetch is still a possible source of enjoyment. Ligaments get stretched more readily and injuries become a possibility if you over do it.

Keep food rewards for older dogs at a minimum. The desire to reward an older dog for a new behavior is even more pronounced than for younger dogs, of whom we expect more. But older dogs can also more easily be 'over treated'. They shed pounds more slowly and gain weight more readily.

Consistency and repetition, as with younger dogs, is still the key. To help cue the dog, have specific play periods that begin and end around the same time of day. Similar areas for specific activities help provide a sense of familiarity as background for new lessons.

When working with my Goldens the backyard is for tennis ball fetch, the forest never. But that fetch behavior in the yard can be extended to the forest to retrieve fallen deer antlers.

Even in older dogs, it is possible to channel digging - a natural behavior in many breeds, and almost impossible to erase entirely - into harmless areas.

A ten-by-twelve foot area of the pen or yard where the dog is allowed to indulge, for those not lucky enough to have a forest in the backyard, can help release the urge. The boundary can be marked by variation in scent or ground composition. Their sense of smell remains keen so even older dogs can learn what is theirs to play with and what isn't.

Older dogs are less malleable so focus more on building on the dog's existing strengths. One individual will be excellent at fetch and release, the other more inclined to hang onto the ball. One excels with a Frisbee, the other never understands. Work with the individuals characteristics instead of trying to force desired behavior from them.

The more able ‘fetch and release’ dog can more easily be taught to bring the paper in. A good candidate for pulling an object along by a rope is the dog more predisposed to hang onto a ball. These can all be used to your advantage. The possibilities are limitless if you work with the dog, rather than against it.

         

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