Well Trained Adult Dogs Still Need To Be Stimulated

Your adult dog needs the right amount of balance in its training. This includes regular physical exercise, mental exercise and socialization. Providing your dog with these needs will keep it happy, healthy and may even add extra years to its life.

Mental Needs Of Your Adult Dog

The more you teach your dog, regardless of its age, breed and personality, the better it will become at all levels of its life. Training your dog to perform certain tasks gives it purpose. Once your dog learns certain skills, it is no longer just your pet. It becomes a friend, companion, helper and someone to enjoy wonderful times with.

Providing your dog with knowledge gives it freedom to do more things. Having the skills to listen, to respond properly to your commands, gives it the advantage to explore more and learn more. Instead of staying inside the home all day by itself, you can take your dog to different places and share more activities with you.

Teach your pal something new each week. This will keep it confident and keep its mind stimulated and alert. Being able to think clearly in its adult life will benefit your dog when it reaches old age.

If your dog’s intelligence is above average, or is an energetic working breed, you will have to train it more, even in its adult years. Highly intelligent dogs need to have a job to do to keep them entertained, prevent them from becoming bored and prevent them from developing destructive behaviors.

Extra training and mental activity is required if you have a working breed. Working breeds need to be worked more to keep them busy and problem-free. A few examples of working breeds are Border Collies, Great Danes, Australian Cattle Dogs, German Shepherds, Australian Shepherds, Rottweilers and Old English Sheepdogs. These dogs need to think more and do more to stay happy.

Giving your adult dog its regular mental exercise will keep its mind clear, occupied and prevent boredom. Boredom leads to dissatisfaction, which in turn leads to negative behavior. Regardless of the amount of training and skills your dog acquired during puppy-hood and its adolescent stage, it is likely to develop destructive behaviors again, unless you give it a job to do.

The old adage “use it or lose it” not only applies to humans, but to our canine friends as well. Your dog needs to brush up on its skills and talents on a regular basis, otherwise it will forget them. It is that simple!