When do you stop training your dog?

greg_nill

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#1
My Lab is now about 6 years old. I stopped training her when I considered her house-ready and that was when she was about 2. Now, I am about to get a new pup and am concerned whether or not my Lab needs training in adjusting to having another pet in the house? Need your help with this. Thanks.
 

amberdyan

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#2
I'm not sure what you mean because I never ever stop training, lol. I trained my lab/bc mix up until the week she passed away at 17. No matter how well trained your dog is, adding a second dog to a single dog mix will require some adjustment training as he/she learns to adapt to sharing life with another dog : )
 
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#3
Never!

Training is as much mental stimulation as it is getting them ready to exist in society. I'm always training something new, fixing something else or adding a new element. It keeps my dogs minds active which is just as important as physical exercise, they love training, I love training and it makes our bond that much better.


I would never would a time limit or age limit on when to stop training. I think you'll find your older dog would love to train some more. Pick some fun tricks and go for it!

As for adding a new puppy, there typically is an adjustment period when you add a new dog for your old dog. You might have to rework behaviors you thought were solid, you'll probably want to set aside one on one time for each dog. Dogs often also feed off of eachother so bad habits as well as good can rub off to other dogs in the household.

Good luck with your new puppy!
 

pinkspore

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#4
Never! Mine is 10 and training is still something we do every day because we both enjoy it so much. Training is the entire reason I got a dog in the first place.
 

MicksMom

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#7
Yeah, never. Life is training.
Same here. Training starts they day they come home (leash/house manners then on to obedience when they're old enough), and ends the day they die. I need to explain, tho- it doesn't necessarily mean teaching new things, but re-enforcing what has already been taught.
 

Brattina88

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#8
Never! Maddie's 13, and we still train for fun and also I tweak things for her since she's lost her hearing now.
 

Michiyo-Fir

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#10
Depends on the dog I guess. Nia doesn't really like training she isn't really food motivated and shuts down very easily. I pretty much stopped training her at 3 years old since she already knew everything I considered to be crucial like sit in busy situations, recall, stay, etc and had great house manners.

Occasionally I might teach her a trick but since she doesn't enjoy it I rarely do it. I do play games with her to keep up mental stimulation though like making puzzles to fit her tennis balls in so she has to figure out how to get them back.

I guess I fall into the average dog owner group where once the dog is well mannered in most situations and I have good vocal control over him/her, I pretty much stop training other than odd tricks here and there.
 

DanL

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#12
I haven't done any real training with Gunnar (who is almost 11) for a couple years. He's in "maintenance mode". I still make him do down/stay and then throw the ball, or have him stay and I'll hide it and have him search, other things like that, but that's not really training, it's using what he already knows. He never needs correction on it so it's not even brush up work when we do it, it's just what he knows is expected of him.

Of course, having a 6 month old pup more than makes up for it!
 

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