The saying ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ is commonly used to describe humans who are set in their ways and unwilling to try to learn new things and suggests learning is more effective when we are young.

So, is this a fair analogy and true of our elderly dogs?

Sure, it can be harder to motivate an older dog but what we find rewarding changes as we get older, and this just needs to be catered for.

If you want to get your old dog jumping through hoops for the first time or rolling on its back pretending to be superman (yes my dog does this but more on that another day) then you might be disappointed but if we are realistic and find something more suited to the physical level of older dogs and use super tasty rewards as motivation then wholeheartedly yes of course you can teach your older dog new tricks.

There are many benefits of teaching older dogs new things. If the dog no longer partakes in some of the things it used to enjoy such as agility classes, muddy walks, or chasing a ball then these things need replacing with something new to prevent boredom and keep the dog mobile and using its brain.

Anything that is positively reinforcing and forces the dog to use its brain will also help keep anxiety levels in check which commonly increase in older dogs.

Examples of great new things to teach your older dog include:

Target training or ‘Touch’.

This can be taught with the dog stood up, sat down or lay down and can be advanced later to involve your dog touching a target or seemingly kissing a teddy instead for extra cuteness and to impress visitors.

Calmly hold your hand within touching distance from your dog’s face and wait……………for your dog to inquisitively sniff your hand………..this can take a while………..be patient!

Once your dog has touched your hand praise your dog and give a tasty treat reward. Keep doing this until your dog has a lightbulb moment and begins to repeat the touch after every treat. Now you can start to add the cue (the word you are going to use such as ‘touch’ or ‘kiss’) every time your dog touches your hand.

Always remember to let your dog come to you and never push your hand into its face.

Remember the smaller the treat the more times you can practise without too many calories but if your dog shows signs of boredom or frustration, shorten your sessions. A couple of minutes is fine.

There are lots of videos and advice available demonstrating this trick as it is so popular and quite easy to train.

Dogs Trust https://www.dogstrust.org.uk/dog- advice/training/tips-tricks/target-training

Battersea https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2BDAzor0GY

Find the Treat

Dogs have amazing senses of smell (between 10’000 and 100’000 better than ours depending on the breed) and love to use their noses to find treats. This gets your dog moving, using their brain and is positive and enjoyable as it results in something tasty and so gets those happy hormones going.

You can either scatter some dry dinner or treats such as small cubes of cheese around a room or small area of the garden or patio and encourage your dog to ‘go find’ and pointing in the direction of treats. Your dog might need lots of encouragement at first with pointing in the right direction but will eventually ‘go find’ without your help.

You can play this game with small plastic tubs placed upside down around the room and a treat under only one of them.

You can also play this game with dogs lay down if not so mobile by putting a treat in one of your closed hands but offering the dog both hands. The idea is when the dog nudges or snuffles or even eventually paws at the correct hand you open it to reveal and allow your dog to take the treat.

Snuffle Matt or Ball

All dogs love snuffle balls or matts but these are especially good for elderly dogs as they are soft on their muzzle. The idea is you hide lots of tasty treats inside the folds for the dog to snuffle out. Snuffle balls will encourage a little movement, and the matts are good if the dog is less mobile.

*If you are worried about weight gain which is all too common in older dogs just use some of their dinner allowance to play the find games with.

Interactive soft toys

(My dog loves the wiggly lobster interactive dog toy).

This is available in store and online including Amazon, pet-dreams.uk, and Happier Doggo.

Hydrotherapy

Swimming is an excellent way to give elderly or rehabilitating dogs a chance to get some exercise and get those joints moving. There are many excellent hydrotherapy pools available across the country but make sure they are qualified or ask your vets for recommendations.

Fetch games in the water can be introduced once the dog has got used to the pool for an extra rewarding fun time!

What books are available for dog entertainment ideas?

There are lots of books available to give ideas what to do to entertain your dog and teach a few new nifty tricks. These aren’t specifically aimed at elderly dogs but contain many ideas to suit less physically active dogs.