There isn't any kind of a limit on how old your pet needs to be when you train it. You may get better results when you're training it from a young age, however. The tips in this guide are able to be used by anyone training a dog at any age, so keep reading to find out more.
Always be consistent when you're teaching your pet something. If you aren't, then the animal will become confused. An example would be that if your pet isn't allowed on the furniture, then don't allow it on the furniture at all when you're around. If you allow the dog to get up on the furniture when you're watching TV or something, but get mad at it when you're not, you're not really going to teach the dog anything. Make sure everyone in your home knows what you are trying to teach the animal so that they can help teach it when you cannot be around to do so.
Always reward a pet that does a good job. Try getting some treats the animal enjoys and give it one whenever it listens. This doesn't mean to just start feeding the dog treats all the time if it's good, but when it listens to you giving it a command or something. You don't want the dog to associate various things with treats every time it's around you, but it should associate good behavior with them, like when you tell the dog no begging while at the dinner table or something and the dog listens.
When your pet does something wrong, make sure to discipline it accordingly. Never, under any circumstance, allow the dog to get away with something you are trying to teach it not to do. You should never hit animals very hard, just lightly spank them. You could also raise your voice and tell them no, but avoid being too rough with an animal. There are things like putting the dog outside when it's acting up inside as well.
Being patient is probably one of the most important things to do when you're taking on any kind of a task. When training a dog, you're going to have to remind yourself that you could be telling the dog something over and over many times. They are smart creatures, but they still need repetition to learn something. Nobody that is human usually learns anything new when they first try, and dogs are a little more tough to teach than a human sometimes. So, it's important that you just keep trying without getting too frustrated.
If you take this article and use the tips that are in it, you'll have no problem teaching your pet how to behave in your home. If you want to get the best results, then the above article should have given you a few things you're able to do to achieve that. The thing to remember is to always be a little more patient with them when they're first learning something new.