Obedience Training of Older Dogs

Obedience training for aged dogs must be handled carefully. Training is not only physically but also mentally demanding. Differentiate between the aged and the seriously infirm dogs when training them. As a norm, the training process of dogs requires a lot of patience. However, training aged dogs requires an even more patient and calm approach.

As such, the training procedure is not affected by the age of the dog. Irrespective of whether the dog is young or old, the training techniques remain the same. However, you may have to modify certain aspects of your training to accommodate the less than perfect eyesight and hearing abilities of the dog. If necessary, extend the training period by a week but do not leave the dog half trained.

One area where persons training aged dogs must be very patient is the reaction time of the dog. Many a times, the trainer feels that the dog is purposely reacting in a slow manner. If the dog is aged, the slow reactions may be due to the overall slowing down of the movement of the dog. The dog may suffer from arthritis and this may hamper the movement. Be flexible while training the dog. If the dog finds it difficult to sit, then simply dispense with the 'sit' command. The dog will resist training if it causes pain to him. Most dogs take a bit of time to get up after a 'down and stay' command.