Old Dogs and New Tricks

"You can't teach an old dog a new trick." 

We all know the saying, but is it true? Can someone, in fact, teach an old dog, new tricks. Here are two proofs that you can.

First proof is Penny. She was seven when adopted into her forever home, didn't know her name, acted like she’s never seen a leash, and shamelessly ignored commands to sit and down. Her perplexed head tilt in response to training attempts said more than words ever could. She was an old dog with no tricks.

A little bit of time, patience, and effort fixed that right up. Today, Penny sits, downs, shakes, turns, rolls over, and has added quite a few words to her vocabulary. Although she did learn ‘walk’ and ‘treat’ much faster than ‘no’ and ‘leave it.’ Go figure.

Second proof is Cassie who was three when she joined her new family with not a single trick up her sleeve. It only took seven tries to teach her to sit and a few more to down. Now, she even turns simultaneously on command with her older sister.

So can an old dog learn new tricks? The answer to that depends on the human trainer and whether he or she is willing to teach.

Do you have old dog/new trick stories? We’d love to hear them! 

Nap! Good dog.