Written by: Savannah Hamann

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Congratulations! You are taking the first step in one of the most important responsibilities of having a dog. The fact that you are researching when the best time to train your dog is, means you are a responsible dog parent!

During my time as a dog trainer, I have been asked this question a lot. “I just got a new puppy. When should I start training?”, or, “my dog is set in their ways. Is it too late to do any training?”. And my answer pretty much stays the same every time!

Whether you’ve just brought home your brand new puppy or rescue dog who is a bit older, or you’ve had your dog for several years, it is never too early or too late in a dogs life to train. There is so much more to training than teaching the foundational cues of sit, stay, or come, as is often believed to be the case.

When you train with your dog, you’re not just teaching them how you’d like them to behave or what’s appropriate in a certain situation. You’re engaging with them, you’re developing their capacity and deepening the bond between you both. Now, can you potentially avoid certain behaviors if you address training when the dog is younger? yes. Is that a guarantee? No. Dogs are individuals, they have their own mind, their own thoughts, and when left to their own devices sometimes they’ll develop habits that are a bit more challenging. But even if you do train your dog, if you’re not doing it enough or if you’re not engaging all of their needs you can still see certain behaviors develop.

Now, does that mean there’s no point in training? Absolutely not! Like I said above, training is so much more than just teaching a handful of cues.

Sometimes it can feel a bit overwhelming when you look at your dog and you see where they’re at compared to where you’d like them to be. That’s OK! That’s entirely why dog trainers exist to begin with. Whether you need a total overhaul with training or you just want a refresher, getting help from a professional trainer will get you to those goals as long as you remain committed to what you’re taught!

So to finish up, it’s never too early and it’s never too late to train with your dog! The best time to train is NOW. You both will be better off in someway spending that time together. And if you know that you’d like to get help from a trainer, feel free to reach out! I’d be happy to talk more with you about it!