What age Should you Start dog training?

As soon as possible. A puppy’s first 6 months are their formative ones and this is the best time to get the training in. We recommend starting formal puppy training from 8 weeks on, of course you have to get all their vaccinations first so sometimes it's closer to the 4 month mark for group classes. Dogs learn through repetition and experience so it is vital that you set the rules for life when they are young and haven’t learnt any unwanted behavior yet. 

That being said we can train at any age, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks is absolutely not true, we just need to work around learned behavior a bit more. The reason we split the group classes into 3 age groups is to make sure that we are all on the same learning curve. 

8 weeks to 6 month olds are a blank canvas and tend to be glued to their owner so are easy to train but also need a distraction free, safe environment to learn. A feisty 6 month old pup or a grumpy old dog is not what we want their first experience of their own kind to be. 

6 month to a year old pups tend to be a little more rambunctious, you’ve probably heard the term teenage years to describe dogs this age. That’s sort of true but what’s actually happening is they are maturing and becoming more confident which tends to make them decide whether or not they are going to listen based on what else is more rewarding. It doesn’t last and it’s pretty easy to work through. Then older dogs, well some of them don’t like puppies being all…..puppy, so best give them their own space to learn. If you have any questions about training, please give us a call (818)-938-4099.