If your dog is getting on in years or came to you with a number of bad habits, and you’re worried they’re too ingrained, Dowling insists that the adage “old dogs can’t learn new tricks,” is just that, old and out of date. “It’s really just dependent on you and your dog.” “It starts when you feel the dog trusts you, and you have a good enough rapport and strong enough bond that they will listen to you, and there’s really no timeframe for it,” said Dowling. In a human to dog relationship you're the alpha, and that’s important because they rely on you for protection and guidance.”Īdditionally, Dowling explained that there’s no set timeline for training your dog. “In a human to human relationship they’re equals. “Everything spawns from obedience, because if they won’t sit when you tell them to sit or heel when you to tell them to heel, they won’t do anything else,” said Dowling. “You immediately want to build trust with your dog and be positive with them,” said Dowling, who added that a strong bond between a dog and its owner or handler is an essential pillar in training. Related: 10 photos that prove the military wouldn’t be the same without its working dogs.ĭowling explained that training actually starts the moment you meet your dog. Dowling also does work with Hounds and Heroes, a nonprofit that provides service dogs to military veterans, and is the author of “Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond Between a Marine and His Military Working Dog.” While training your dog can sound daunting, and after trying to convince my own dog that my bed is not in fact, her bed, or that squirrels are not plush chew toys she should eat, I realize that it’s also sometimes frustrating.įor some dog training tips, Task & Purpose reached out to Mike Dowling, a Marine veteran of the Iraq War, and a former military working dog handler.
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