What Age to Start Training Your Dog?

You can start training your dog at any age! For example, if you have a puppy, you can start training them as young as 8 weeks old.

If your dog is no longer a puppy, you can start training them as soon as you are ready to start!

What Age is Too Late to Train a Dog?

Don’t worry, dogs of almost any age can be trained!

I recently trained a 10-year-old dog. The dog was not as enthusiastic about training as a puppy would be and required more time to learn certain things, but there was eventually some major progress!

Why Should You Train Your Dog?

Training your dog means teaching them to communicate with you and helping them understand what’s expected of them.

Unless we train our dogs, they have no idea what it means when we call them to “come” or ask them to “sit and wait.” They also don’t understand many other things, such as why they can’t pull on a leash when something exciting is happening, why it’s not okay to harass a neighbor’s cat, or why it’s not okay to jump on strangers.

A trained dog equals a stress-free pet parent life. You can trust your dog to stay alone in the house without destroying anything, take them to public places like traveling or a coffee shop, and trust them off-leash since they are trained to come when called and you don’t need to chase after them.

Training gives your dog mental stimulation. Many people think their dog needs physical exercise but forget about mental exercise. Many working breeds need mental stimulation; otherwise, they get bored. Bored dogs mean dogs looking for fun by digging your backyard or destroying your couch.

Learning about dog training is learning about how to understand your dog better. You gonna learn about dog body language, understand how they feel and why the act the way they act.

And last but not least, training your own dog means building a strong connection and bond with them. If your dog ignores you on walks or when outside, try training them for a couple of weeks. You will notice how they become more interested in spending time with you.

What Things Can I Teach My Dogs?

You can start with basic obedience where dogs learn some manners: sit or lay down when asked, stay in a designated area and patiently wait for something, respond to their name, come when called, and go to their bed when asked.

Other important skills to be trained include walking nicely on a leash without pulling, dropping a toy when asked, not engaging with an object or a person when asked not to, not running out when the front door is open, loading into the car and staying inside until released, allowing grooming and nail clipping, not stealing food from the table, not jumping on guests, and greeting them politely, etc

What is the best dog training method?

Positive reinforcement is the most efficient method for dog training. It’s based on latest science and humane handling of animals. Positive reinforcement exercises teach dogs good behaviors and rewarding dogs for performing them, instead of punishing for bad behavior.

Progressive trainers no longer use punishment, correction, force, dominance, or any aversive tools like prong or shock collars (e-collars). We don’t need them anymore since we have plenty of exercises that can train dogs everything they need to know using positive methods only.

How to Start Training My Dog?

You can either hire a trainer right away or start training on your own. Find some video tutorials for basic commands like “sit,” “stay”, “come”, “leave it” etc, and slowly add more skills to your dog’s repertoire.

Eventually, you can enroll in a training program to learn more advanced skills and understand the principles of dog training. This will allow you to teach your dog anything and resolve any issues.

Can You Train a Dog by Yourself or Should You Hire a Trainer?

Any person who devotes enough time to learning about dog training can train their own dog. Lots of information on dog training is available online and if you feel comfortable navigating it, you can at least try teaching your dog some basic obedience skills.

But if you want to go beyond basic obedience skills like sit and stay, there is a lot of benefits hire a trainer (or enrolling in an online course) because you will get a more structured approach to dog training. Dog trainer will create a step-by-step plan for your dog and coach you how to train your dog. They will make sure you don’t make any mistakes in your training process. You will also receive a constant feedback wether you are doing everything right and how to improve things if something doesn’t work.

So hiring a dog trainer actually means hiring a coach that will help you train your own dog and show you all the necessary training exercises as well as help you learn to understand your dog better.

What’s Better: Group Classes or Private In-Home Training?

Private in-person lessons are always more efficient than in-person group ones, but since there is a huge budget difference, many people choose group classes over privates. If choosing group classes, a better choice is to go to a dedicated dog school and not to classes in your pet shop, since the latter are usually very basic.

In my experience, group classes are okay for some dogs but not so okay for others. For example, group classes are okay for puppies and younger dogs without major issues, but often not so good for adult dogs, especially if they have some behavior issues. By “no issues,” I mean the dog is a regular mild dog, somewhat well-behaved, but needs to learn basic obedience like sit/stay/etc.

Dogs that should avoid group classes and choose privates, include any dogs that are timid or aggressive around other dogs, dogs that are easily spooked or scared around people, dogs that are excitable to the extent that they can’t focus on you, or dogs that need more in-depth training. Choose a private trainer or enroll in online training instead.

What is better: a private trainer or an online course?

An online course or dog training app is more budget-friendly, but it requires good discipline on your part. Without a trainer, many people enroll in an online course but fail to follow through with the whole course and end up not achieving the training results they want.

Having a private trainer means you will have regular sessions and a training plan for each week. The training plan will be customized to your particular situation and your dog’s needs. If certain exercises do not work with your dog, the dog trainer will choose different exercises or modify the current ones. In addition to training exercises, you will receive consultations on how to handle certain situations with your dog and what other tips and tricks can help.

How long will it take to fully train a dog?

Although there is no definitive answer since every dog is different, if you train for 10 minutes daily, your dog will learn basic obedience skills in 4-6 weeks.

If your dog has behavior issues such as reactivity, aggression, fearful behavior, or strong leash pulling, you would need to teach your dog basic obedience first and then work on behavior modification. This might take up to 8-20 weeks of total training.

Dogs with separation anxiety issues can require 2 to 6 months of training.

How often should you train your dog?

To get results, you need to train your dog daily with short sessions. If you train your dog only once or twice a week, it will take forever to learn even one simple skill.

Ideally, you can train your dog twice a day, with each session lasting 5 minutes. If you can only have one session, let it be a 10-minute session per day.

If you work from home and have a somewhat flexible schedule, you can even break your day into several short 1-2 minute sessions and have a lot of them.

If you will hire a trainer you will also have one weekly hourly session with your trainer.

What is basic obedience training?

Basic obedience is beginner dog training. During basic obedience, dogs learn to perform certain common behaviors when asked. This will include sitting and lying down, staying in a designated area, recalling (coming when called), walking by your side etc.

During training we teach dogs to recognize verbal cues (commands) and respond to them accordingly.

What are the most common commands/cues for a dog?

A cue (or command) is usually a word (verbal cue) or a hand gesture that signals the dog what behavior they should perform.

In modern dog training, we don’t use anymore “commands” and use “cue” instead. The idea is that we don’t “command” our dogs but “cue” them what behaviour is expected right now. So it’s the same thing but a different name.

The most common cues are: sit, down (=lie down), stay (=don’t move from designated spot), come, leave it, drop it, place (=go to your bed or designated place), heel (=walk by your side).

Other cues that some trainers add to the repertoire are: find it, touch, look (or watch me), break/free, etc.

What Issues Can Dog Training Resolve?

Any behavioral issues your dog has can be resolved through proper training. Some severe cases might require consultations with veterinary behaviorists as well as prescribed medication on top of training.

Examples of behavioral issues that training can help with:

• Dogs that pull on the leash all the time.
• Dogs that bark at strangers or other dogs.
• Fearful dogs that don’t allow their nails to be clipped or their hair to be groomed.
• Dogs that jump on people.
• Dogs that show signs of aggression (lunging on leash, barking, growling, attempting to bite, or biting).
• And more.

Can You “Fix” Dog Behaviour Issues with One Training Session?

NO.

If fixing dogs with one session was possible, we would not have so many dogs surrendered to shelters or so many dogs with aggressive or reactive behaviors, etc.

So what happens when you see YouTube videos showing results within one session? First, you don’t see behind the scenes and what was cut out from the video. Second, it’s easier to show progress in one session, than to keep it longterm. If you are drilling the same exercise for an hour, by the end of the session, most dogs would show progress, but I guarantee that the next day, most of those dogs would go back to square one.

For a dog to learn certain behaviors and consistently show these behaviors in different situations, you need to train these behaviors several days in a row for few weeks. The harder the behavior, the more practice and time it will require to learn.

What Can You Teach Your Dog During One Session with a Trainer?

It all depends on your dog and how motivated they are to interact with you or with people in general.

In general, during one hourly session, you can try exercises for about five different behaviors, and in most cases, you would see some progress during one session. For example, your dog will learn to sit when asked or start to respond to their name.

But in order for your dog to always respond to this cue, you have to practice it every day in different places until your dog responds every time without delay.

What Happens If You Don’t Train Your Dog?

If your dog doesn’t listen to you or has destructive behavior right now, it will not go away with time. Most probably, it will even get worse.

Untrained dogs are usually unsafe to be off-leash, they will misbehave in public, and create unnecessary stress for you when you need them to listen to you but they won’t. Training is a way for you and your dog to establish communication tools, clarity of what is expected etc.

What if My Dog Is Not Motivated to Train?

Start by figuring out why there is a lack of motivation.

Here are a few examples:

• You started with very complicated training exercises. Try splitting a complicated task into smaller, simpler tasks and start there.
• You are not using reward-based methods, or you are not using the right reinforcer (for example, try using more high-value treats).
• Training sessions are not fun for your dog. Try a different approach, location, or exercises.
• Your dog is not food-driven at all. Change the feeding routine, diet, use different treats, or start with food drive exercises.
• Choose game-like exercises and incorporate play into training.
• Keep training sessions super short – 30 seconds max.
• Try a different trainer, approach, exercises, training locations, or set up.

Again, if you are stuck with this challenge, a professional dog trainer can help you. Let them know about this in advance so they can come up with a plan to get your dog excited about training.

How to Find a Good Trainer?

When researching trainers in your area, try to understand their training philosophy and wether it suits you.

Choose trainers that mention positive reinforcement, reward-based training, and force-free methods.

Avoid trainers who mention shock collars, any punishment (as it is proven inhumane and unnecessary), balance trainers who use corrections, and trainers who feel the need to dominate dogs or become pack leaders (as it goes against what is science-based). Also avoid trainers who teach you weird methods like: biting your dog, growling or barking at them, pinching them or leash correcting, leash choking, depriving them of food or sleep or water, forcing dogs into long-stay timeouts etc.

When having the first session with your trainer, pay attention to the way your trainer treats your dog and the way they treat you. You should feel that you trust the person and their methods, there are no red flags in the way they handle your situation, and you can safely ask questions and get respectful, caring answers and explain the process. Avoid trainers who are dismissive, disrespectful, showing i-know-it-all-attitude.

Positive trainers use training exercises that are fun for dogs, that are meant to set the dog for success, where dogs get rewarded for correct behaviours. Exercises are not supposed to stress or scare dogs, positive trainer would always make sure that while performing the exercises we watch the dog emotional state, so the dog doesn’t get overly frustrated or stressed.

As positive trainers we want dogs (and clients) enjoy the process, because learning process happens when the learner enjoys the process.

What about sending my dog away for training?

Board & train kennels that take dogs for several weeks can be both good and bad.

Mostly bad, especially for long-term programs, because it is very stressful for dogs to be away from their families, stay locked up in a crate/kennel all day, and be around strangers all day. Many board & train kennels use aversive tools like shock or pinch collars as well as various types of punishment (leash correction, pinching etc) to make the dog scared to misbehave. They don’t necessarily teach the dog to behave correctly but make it unpleasant to misbehave. So what happens to some dogs when they return home is that, with time, they revert to the same old behaviors or just shut down and become docile. So be very careful when choosing a right boarding kennel for your dog.

The good part about board & train is that not all kennels are bad, and often some dog trainers (myself included) who practice positive-only methods will take client dogs for board & train. In my case, I would take only one dog at a time, and that dog would be living in a regular house with me and not in a kennel.

It’s also important to understand that board & train is not a replacement for in-home training. Most professional board&train would require at least 10 private sessions afterwards, so you will still need to train your dog on your own.

Another problem with sending your dog away is that, dogs are good at discriminating between different handlers. They would “behave” when handled by one person and go naughty with another person. So instead of sending your dog away, I would always encourage you to learn to handle and train your dog yourself!

Is Dog Training Only for Younger Dogs?

Nope! Dogs of any age can be trained.

Is it possible to train senior dogs?

YES!

Mental stimulation through training will keep your dog active and healthy. Senior dogs might seem slow to learn new things at first, so they would require patience on your side, but they absolutely can be trained and will eventually be very excited about training. If your dog has medical issues, make sure to double-check with your vet.

The challenge will arise when your dog had problematic behavior for many years. Training process to fix this behaviour will definitely take a long time to do, but it is not impossible!

Should you train your puppy or wait for them to get older?

Start training puppies as early as possible! You can go to puppy classes or do training at home when your puppy is as young as 7-8 weeks. Start with very basic training and eventually move on to intermediate and advanced skills as your dog matures.

Puppies, especially when young, are very excited to spend time with you, so they will be excited to train and will learn quickly. It’s much easier to teach dogs when they are young then when they get older and develop bad habits.

Can All Breeds Be Trained?

Yes, absolutely all breeds can be trained for basic obedience, contrary to what some pet parents choose to believe 😉

It true though, that some dogs are easier to train than others. For example, very social dogs (the ones who like to be around you and want to please you) or working dogs, will be more eager to train.

But even dogs who don’t care about hanging out with you or don’t get easily excited about treats can be trained if proper exercises are used. I have experience training such dogs, and you start with a dog who barely engages in training on the first session but after several sessions, they run to you as soon as they see you grabbing a training pouch.

Do You Need to Train Small Dogs?

YES!

It’s a big pet peeve of mine that we let small dogs get away with certain behaviors that bigger dogs would never get away with, such as barking and snarling at people, jumping on strangers, not knowing basic commands like sit, stay, and come, not letting others approach their pet parents, or being afraid of everything and constantly barking.

For some reason when smaller dogs show this behaviours pet parents just give up and live with that. While all of these issues can be resolved with training, and training itself makes your dog more confident and mentally enriched!

Are there dogs that are not trainable?

There are definitely dogs that are more challenging in term of training than most and those dogs often end up in a shelter.

But based on my experience, when we consider dogs “too stubborn” or “too dumb to learn,” that is just not true. Those dogs weren’t properly trained, they are confused about what is expected of them, or they are impulsive and were never taught to control those impulses.

Some dogs with serious behavior issues will require a long-term daily training plan, certain changes in the way we handle those dogs, and medication prescribed by a vet. But even those dogs are not untrainable.

Sometimes dogs have underlying medical issues that haven’t been recognized by us yet and that what makes some dogs seem to be untrainable. So always check with Behavioral veterinarian before rendering your dog as lost case!

What is Separation Anxiety and Can it Be Helped with Training?

Separation anxiety (sometimes called isolation distress) is when dogs become stressed when left at home alone. Some dogs don’t mind being alone as long as there are other animals at home, while others don’t like to be separated from humans.

For some dogs, separation anxiety manifests as barking and whining when their pet parent leaves, while for others it may be urinating or destroying the house when left alone.

It is important to note that dogs do not behave this way because they want to annoy us. They are literally so anxious that they do these things out of stress, because they cannot control themselves at this point.

To help a dog with separation anxiety, you can hire a trainer or enroll in an online course. Online courses from separation anxiety specialists are actually very effective for this particular problem.

Training for separation anxiety may last from 2 to 6 or even 12 months.