Training An Adult Dog
You have probably heard you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. Well, this is not exactly accurate you can have success training adult dog but it will not be without challenges.
You may have to exercise more patience with an adult dog in fact than a puppy, but with diligence and attention you most assuredly can teach your old dog a thing or two.
Age
The first consideration when training adult dog is exactly how old is the pet? Puppies are fairly outgoing, adolescents are more leery and an older adult dog can be pretty set in their ways. The age of the dog you are trying to train will affect which training methods will work the best.
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Adolescent
A dog can be technically grown but still be in adolescence, this age dog will many times appear hyperactive and curious while at the same time being leery of new people, sounds and objects.
Training adult dog in adolescence will require time and patience to train. You will want to introduce people, noises and new places to the dog slowly and calmly, and your training methods will need to be similar. This is the type of dog you will want to be gentle but firm with once you have established trust.
Adult or Unsure
If you have adopted a new dog from a rescue or pound there is a good chance you will be unsure of their age. Many people prefer an older dog to a puppy because generally house training and chewing issues are already dealt with.
You should be aware that adopting an adult dog like this means you are adopting baggage from the dogs previous owners. Go slowly at first until you determine a bit more about the animal.
Choose a Training Method
There are many options for training adult dog and you may need to try a couple before you find the perfect fit for you and your dog.
Clicker training, lure, rewards, and all or none rewards are all viable options. The latter of the three is one of the most effective tools for training an adult dog, however lure and reward is probably the most practiced.
When you use the lure and reward method you will first request the behavior, such as sit. You will then lure the dog into the correct position on the floor, as you raise a treat in front of him the nose generally comes up and the rump goes down, giving you the desired behavior, which you promptly reward. It may take a bit of practice but before you know it your dog will be performing like a champion.
Bottom Line
When you are training adult dog you must exercise patience above all else. Physical punishment or harsh screaming will never garner the results you are looking for.
Establish a firm but loving relationship with your pet and you will find that training adult dog becomes much easier and rewarding for both you and the animal. Sometimes a previous owner will have inadvertently “trained” a dog to have some bad behaviors.
When you are talking about an older animal this will take some time to overcome. Nevertheless if you persist and are consistent with your requests and rewards you will achieve your training goals.
