Senior Dogs: Strategies For Effective Weimaraner Training
Due to the well-known adage “you can’t teach old dog new tricks”, it isn’t unusual if you’ll run into some people who believe that with older weimaraners, it’s not possible to attain successful weimaraner training. Indeed, it can be hard and complex sometimes but not impossible. Dogs, no matter what age, are capable of learning so long as training activities are programmed or designed to match their age and condition.
The weimaraner is an extremely athletic and trainable breed valued for their physical endurance and stamina hence the need to train them as soon as possible to prevent problems from occurring. However, if you adopted an old dog from the shelter or inherited one from a friend or relative, there’s no need to worry about this pet’s habits since there are various strategies you might want to consider in order to have a well-behaved adult weimaraner.
Before utilizing any training technique, it is best to find out more about that specific dog’s background first. Is he potty trained? Does he responds well to obedience commands? Is he afraid of a particular thing or showing signs of aggression? What is the reason his previous owner abandoned him? These are examples of the queries you have to ask in order to evaluate your dog’s condition, ability to learn and training strategies that would suit him best.
Understand that training a healthy young dog is different from training an adult dog that is probably affected by health issues attributed to old age. Slowing, motion-triggered pains, cannot climb the stairs and getting exhausted very easily are some of the things you have to take into account before deciding what weimaraner training strategy to utilize.
With an older weimaraner, training which involves hard work and arduous activities should be avoided as much as possible. Running and walking, jumping, retrieving, obstacle course and the likes must be done in short periods of time, if you cannot totally avoid. Rather than 15 to 20-minute session, decrease it to 5 to 10 minutes per session. If you used to throw a ball twenty times to your young dog, lessen it to three or five throws only with your old dog. Restoration period between sessions ought to be longer too.
Just like with young dogs, using treat is also helpful during weimaraner training. However, giving of treat should be regulated in order to prevent being overweight since old dogs with less active lifestyle gain weight easily and shed weight slowly hence increases the risk of obesity. To reward them, lots of praise and time to play should be utilized instead.
Another thing you should consider is your pet’s hearing condition. Sometimes, a dog is not obeying commands simply because he can’t hear, not because he’s being stubborn.
Successful training isn’t impossible to attain and there are people who can attest to that. You just have to understand and consider your pet’s condition to figure out whether or not that particular activity or approach would be useful in helping you raise a well-behaved older dog with wide-set eyes.
