Naturally, when someone decides to get a dog, they’re seeking a puppy that is as young as possible, mainly because they’re easier to train. With a puppy, it’s much easier to create certain habits that will stick with him as he grows up. Many people who would be willing to get an older dog avoid doing so because they’re afraid about training it, so the real question here is:Â can an old dog be trained or not?
Well, to give an example of this answer, let’s take a regular human adult. Unlike children, learning a new language is considerably difficult for a grown up person – but not impossible, right? With time and practice, it can be done. Likewise, an older person may not be able to practice contortionism because of physical problems or just lack of sports. The same rules apply to dogs.
Yes, a dog can be taught new tricks and habits regardless of its age. However, it takes more time and patience than with a regular dog, simply because older pups have already developed their own habits. If a dog had been trained when he was young, though, it will be considerably easier for you to teach him other habits because his brain has got used to the learning experience.
In other words, it might be more difficult to convince an old dog to let go of his bad habits than to learn new ones, simply because that’s what we call the comfort zone for humans. Either way, if you have some extra free time and you’re really keen on having fun with a pet, a dog’s age is just a number.
