Yes! Your dog is never too old for training. And neither are you!
Now that doesn’t mean that age doesn’t have an affect on your dog’s training. The older a dog is, the longer it has had to practice any number of behaviors, both good and bad. But don’t let your old dog fool you into believing that she’s too old and you’re now stuck with her behaviors forever.
Yes, it is true that we tend to see faster results when training young dogs and puppies. Dogs are very impressionable at a young age, they want to please you, and they think that you’re the best thing around. So of course we can teach them a lot!
But there’s also a lot to be said for learned behaviors: the longer a dog has to practice any given behavior, the more ingrained it becomes for her. If your dog gets to bark out the window every day, that’s going to be harder to work through than a puppy that doesn’t bark yet. If your dog pulls on the leash every time you step outside and has for the past four years since you brought her home, you’re going to have to unlearn that behavior and instill a new expectation for your walks. Compare that to a new pup that has no idea what a leash is or just how exciting the world is yet, and there’s a different level of training that needs to take place.
But again, please don’t believe that your old dog is a lost cause. Old dogs can and do learn new things every day, so there’s no reason that yours should be an exception. Take a look at this clip where we talk about how and why we can and should keep training old dogs. It’s god for them, and it’s good for you!