# Can you teach sn old dogs new tricks?



## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Our Brooks is 9 years old. When he was 6 months old, I took him to Petsmart for some obedience classes. We learned the basics, which over the years have somewhat stuck...but I am realizing now that (due to owner laziness and lack or persistence) his "obedience" has fallen off (he only remembers how to sit or lie down if I am holding a treat).
While he is basically a pretty easy dog in our own home, we recently visited friends for 2 days, and he acted like a 2 yr old (kept taking things off their shelves, got into their dog food-despite being told No).
Has anyone started re-training a dog at this age?


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Also, when he knocked over the friend's dog food storage container and she and I came upon him eating the dog food and we told him "no!, he didnt stop. I had to pull him back by his collar to get him away from the food (he always approaches food as if he hasnt been fed in weeks even though he is fed well and weighs the correct amount).
How would you train a dog to stop eating something hes not supposed to eat on command?


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## Jennifer1 (Mar 31, 2012)

You can definately train an old dog!
Maybe go back to a basic manners class to get back into the routine of training.

I don't know how to pull a dog out of a vat of food! I did know one person that trained their dog to only eat after it was given a command word. They lived in a bad area and had to take their dog through some alleys during the walks and didn't want him to eat things he found in the alley. I have no idea how they trained that though


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

You definitely can train older dogs but you're working against years of built up habits. A _very_ good "leave it" or "drop it" would have helped with the spilled food. If you do a search for training those you should find some videos (Kikopup etc.) there should also be some prior discussion of them here on GRF. Good recall would also help. If the dog's recall is really good you could call them to you, get a hold on them and then deal with the spilled food.

eta: I've taught Gracie (10 months) to wait for her food and not start eating until she gets the ok. We started working on it when she came home and practice it at every meal. Consistent practice and gradually increasing the difficulty is the way to achieve this.


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

Thanks all, I do need to work more with him on these things.


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