Pet Tip of the Week:Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks

By Dawn Watson


Okay so you just rescued Spot from the local animal shelter. They say he’s about a year old but when you get him to your veterinarian he tells you, Noooooo, he’s about six years old! You can do one of the following things when you’re offered this news:

  1. Get him a cushion and retire him to the corner of the living room and give up on teaching him anything OR
  2. Get him a trainer who is willing to work with an older dog and make him the best dog he can be!


Many times an older dog is capable of an unlimited amount of new behaviors, from sitting up, to polite, on-leash walking, to opening the refrigerator to fetch you a cold one after a hard day’s work! All it takes is a little patience and lots of praise.

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