Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks – Is The Adage Really True?

Short answer would be this – there is perhaps an ideal age in which dogs can be trained. An extremely young puppy can still be taught basic tricks even if they are in the process of adjusting to outside stimuli for the first time. In most cases, puppies younger than six months old can consider their immediate family as their first, and best teachers at this point. This is when they learn the elementary “social graces”.

As puppies learn the basic fundamentals from their siblings and mother, you could teach them as well by starting at the root of it all – trust. As you use verbal and visual cues to make them understand how humans react in pleasure and displeasure, this will help them along the way at a point in which they are too young to be trained formally. In a way, this also serves as bonding time, but also a good launching pad for the learning process.

The majority of training schools for canine pupils will not accept any new trainees younger than six months, due to the simple distraction of teething. Dogs also tend to grow rebellious during their adolescent stage, much like us humans. Again while formal training may not be possible, you can still work with your dog and help him get through this difficult time.

Dogs who are between 12 to 18 months of age are generally the easiest to train, or give formal training to with the biggest chance of success. Because females and smaller dogs tend to mature faster than larger and/or male dogs, the former can start training earlier than the latter. Working dogs, such as guard or guide dogs are never trained before the age of 1 or 1 ½ years, while hunting dogs are taken out with well-trained older dogs when they are 4 or 5 months old.

As far as dog training is concerned, there is no real maximum age to start. You can literally teach a dog new tricks no matter how old it may be. One of the best obedience competitors in history was a Dalmatian who started training at the age of twelve. The corporal obstacles when training adult dogs who have yet to undergo formal training would be the process of unlearning negative customs and the fact that it could take longer for the owner to inculcate the fundamental process of learning in a brain unaccustomed to formal training.

Are you searching for hotel f¼ssen for your next holiday? Our f¼ssen destination is the perfect choice.

Technorati Tags: 5 Months, Adage, Adolescent Stage, Animals, Dalmatian, Displeasure, Dog Training, dog tricks, Dogs, family, Guide Dogs, home, Hunting Dogs, Immediate Family, Launching Pad, Male Dogs, Maximum Age, Obedience Competitors, Old Dog New Tricks, Pets, Short Answer, Social Graces, Stimuli, Time Dogs, Visual Cues, Working Dogs