How to Train a 2 Year Old Dog

Whoever said you can't teach an old dog new tricks must not have had the small amount of patience required for basic training. There is no reason why you cannot train a 2-year-old dog to do many of the same things that you can train a puppy to do. The primary difference between teaching a puppy and teaching an adult dog is that puppies have an eager-to-please attitude and tend to be much more excitable. A little bit of age is not enough to make it impossible to train an older dog, especially not a 2-year-old dog. Here is a basic tutorial on training a 2-year-old dog.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Treats that are easy and quick to eat
• Clicker for training

1. Determine which tricks you are interested in teaching. There are a myriad of different tricks that your dog can learn, but some are more important than others. Can your dog sit? Stay? Lay down on command? These are more important tricks to teach than fetch or roll over, but all can eventually be taught.

2. Decide how to do the actual training. There is more than one training method available to you, and each has its own rewards and drawbacks. It would be beneficial to explore numerous different types of training. Make use of positive reinforcement, which involves adding something or offering something to reinforce a behavior. When it comes to training a 2-year-old dog, offering a treat in exchange for a positive behavior is an excellent way to train.

3. Consider adding additional elements into your training plan if good old positive reinforcement isn't getting it done. Clicker training, for example, is an excellent means of keeping your dog's attention while giving commands. Your dog is essentially conditioned to hear the clicker and acknowledge it as your way of saying "Hey, listen to me, and you will get a treat." You can condition your dog to be assertive when you use the clicker, responding to you and whatever command you cite, knowing that you will give him a treat if the response is carried out.

4. Use positive reinforcement. While you may feel like your patience is being tested at times, you should never resort to punishment of any kind, because punishing your dog for not performing can have a negative effect, backfiring and preventing your training efforts from ever having the results you seek.

5. Be patient and work with your dog every day. Training a 2-year-old dog is not difficult, but just like with training any animal, it does take time, patience and understanding.