Teaching Old Dogs New Tricks

At least once a week someone asks me if it’s “too late” to change their dog’s behavior. Most recently, that included a year-old Poodle with house training issues, and a 3 year-old Lab who pulled relentlessly on-leash. Neither dog had ever been taught what their humans actually WANTED them to do, yet these people assumed their canine companions were “too old” to change.

I suspect this the result of a literal interpretation of the old adage “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Some people seem to believe it means once a dog’s more than a few months old, it’s incapable of learning. In my professional experience, there’s simply no limit to a healthy dog’s ability to embrace new behaviors. An 8 year-old bulldog mix named Gizmo proved this to me once-and-for-all.

Gizmo came into my life after she was found tied to an electrical meter with a 20 pound boat chain, behind a former crack house in Venice. Within minutes of being discovered she made it abundantly clear that she wanted nothing to do with anyone who might consider trying to remove her. Even before the property officially changed hands, the new owners asked me to come by and assess the situation. They wanted to do all they could to keep the frightened dog from becoming an Animal Control euthanasia statistic.

The first time I met her, she charged to the end of her 6 foot tether, hurling herself off the ground, snarling and snapping, mere inches from my leg. A few minutes later I watched a well-meaning realtor push a bowl of food into her reach with a garden rake. Rather than dig into her breakfast, Gizmo attacked the tool, swinging the metal tines wildly from side-to-side, while blood poured from her injured mouth. Even in the presence of a free meal, this obviously starving dog showed no signs of having any positive association with the presence of people. She did everything she could to keep us as far away as possible.

Despite her lack of social graces, Gizmo’s situation couldn’t help but touch the hearts of every dog person who met her. I knew I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t try my best to help her, so I immediately set about bonding with her through the universal language of French fries. Twice a day I sat just outside the reach of her chain with my back to her, and tossed potato wedges near where she was laying. Initially, she watched me from the safety of her “den” under an abandoned VW, but wouldn’t come out until I left. By day 3 she retrieved her reward while I sat there, but ran for cover before consuming them, one-by-one. Around day 5 she began inhaling them as fell on the ground, so I tossed them closer and closer to me, and she followed. On day 8 a miracle occurred - Gizmo gingerly took the first fry from my fingers.

Within days she would lay on the ground near me a few minutes at a time, so I could rub her spotted belly. Shortly after that I was able to remove the painfully heavy chain and relocate Gizmo to a dog run in my backyard, where the work began to teach her what life is like for a cherished pet.

By the end of our first month together, Gizmo trusted me enough to follow me into the great indoors. Initially, she adamantly refused to place more than her front paws on the other side of the threshold, retreating to the safety of the yard as soon as possible. Regardless, we kept at it. A trail of fries eventually persuaded her to risk a tour of my bungalow.

It wasn’t long before one of these indoor explorations ended with Gizmo relieving herself on the kitchen floor, so we devoted a week to understanding where it was and wasn’t appropriate to “make.” Within days this, too, started to sink in. I continued to keep her on-leash indoors for a couple of weeks, but never again had to remind Gizmo not to soil the house. Like everything else, once she got it, she GOT it, and was only too happy to oblige.

Many firsts soon followed for Gizmo, including her first vet visit, first bath, and first swim in the ocean. Along the way we mastered leash walking and basic commands, and the old gal became a permanent member of my pack. Watching her embrace each new milestone was a life changing experience for me, and convinced me that old dogs actually enjoy learning, they just do it at their own pace. They might be a little slower than a young puppy to embrace new behaviors, but keep in mind that on top of metabolizing new information, they have to overcome previous life experiences that quite possibly carry negative associations. Most importantly, older dogs have to learn to trust you, and communicate with you, something they may have never done with previous guardians.

Bonding with Gizmo was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. Over the course of a few months she went from the lonely, fearful existence of a crack house “guard dog,” to a loving, happy, obedient companion. When she smiled her mile-wide bulldog smile, or curled up for a nap under my desk while I worked, I could see and feel how much she appreciated her new life. It regularly brought tears to my eyes.

The vast majority of dogs awaiting adoption in shelters and rescues have never experienced the trauma and neglect that Gizmo did. Transitioning them into your home will be far less dramatic or complex, but no less rewarding. No matter how old your new canine companion is, there are a few simple steps that will help them to better understand the house rules, and help you to bond with them in a healthy, balanced way.