Is it ever too late for dog obedience training?
Jedediah Lang
2025-07-14 17:07:19
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I personally don’t believe there is a too late. My father has two jack russel terriers, 3 and 4 years old, that he has never trained. They have plenty of behavior that is not very nice - they bark at their leisure, they jump om visitors, and one of them can get pretty aggressive and has bitten people. I have told my father this very recently and he doesn’t think much of training. I’m writing this partly just to express myself on an issue that pains me a lot, partly because I’d appreciate tips, pointers, and anecdotes on dogs getting trained later in life.
Sanford Bergnaum
2025-07-14 13:59:20
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The short answer is: no. While it’s usually harder to train an older dog than a puppy, it’s never too late to train a dog — you just have to be willing to put in the time, patience and determination required to create boundaries, establish new habits and eliminate destructive behaviors. They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but with patience (and plenty of positive reinforcement), most adult dogs are capable of learning new commands. If your dog is elderly, he may struggle to learn complicated new tricks but may still be able to learn simple obedience commands like sit, stay and come. The key to obedience training an older dog is practicing consistency and making sure you reward them positively for every good behavior. If you’re trying to eliminate a destructive behavior, make sure to replace it with a positive behavior for long-term behavior modification success.