Is it Ever Too Late to Start Training a Dog?

Just like humans, it’s easier to teach your dog good habits if you start from a young age. But what about if you adopt an older dog or realize you want to establish new habits in your adult dog? Are you doomed to simply accept their behavior as is? 

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. 

Potty training an older dog

There are many scenarios that could lead to needing to potty train an older dog. These are just a couple of common ones:

If you adopt a dog who has never lived inside before

With an adult dog who has never lived inside before, your job should be about the same as if you were training a puppy: it’s all new territory for them, which can actually be helpful. (And it might even be easier than training a puppy, since their bladder will be larger.) Focus on developing a consistent potty schedule and working on crate training, just as you would for a new pup.

If you adopt an older dog who has lived inside but isn’t potty trained

This may be a bit more challenging, but is still very possible to do. Your first step is crate training your dog, if he isn’t crate trained already. Do everything you can to prevent inside accidents and remove carpets or rugs where past accidents have taken place. Make sure you establish a consistent schedule for taking your dog outside and provide ample rewards for correct behavior.

Socializing an older dog 

Socializing an adult dog who has developed mistrust or aggression toward other dogs (perhaps from living in a shelter or missing out on the puppy socialization window) can be one of the most challenging hurdles to overcome but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to improve your dog’s relationship with other canines. Here are a few tips for socializing an older dog:

Practice going for walks with other dogs

Try taking your dog for a walk with a friend’s calm, well-behaved dog and gradually decreasing the distance between the two dogs while walking.

Keep greetings short and positive

If your dog is ready, introduce him or her to other dogs who are calm and well-behaved; make sure to keep the greetings very short at first and reward them with treats afterward.

Make new encounters rewarding

When taking your dog to new places, make sure to bring his favorite treats along and start with calm, less overwhelming places and work up to more difficult, stimulating environments.

Obedience training an older dog

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.