Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks

Many people believe that once a dog learns or does not learn a particular behavior that it cannot be changed.  Old dogs can learn new tricks though. 

If you have a particular behavior that develops in your dog that you do not like, you can change it.  It may take some hard work, patience, and time but it can be done.  Treats are your best friend just like they are when training a puppy.

We have a dog in our family that is about six years old and begs for food.  This is something that he has been doing since he was a puppy.  He barks and begs until he gets exactly what he wants.  This is a behavior that can be changed.  Dogs have the ability to learn at any age.  They are creatures of habit.  Something they do today is something that they want to do tomorrow. 

You want to start re-enforcing the behavior that you want and not rewarding the old habit that you do not want.  It is going to be much harder to change a habit rather than teach a habit. This is the reason why it is important to decide what behaviors you would like your dog to have when they are a puppy and train them early so you don’t have to go back and change a habit later. 

The key with a dog is to reward the positive and ignore the negative!