Old Trainer: Is it OK to relax certain rules as dogs age?

Dear Old Trainer: Bitsie, our whippet/cocker spaniel mix, has been a wonderful dog. She’s 11 now and is really slowing down. She doesn’t run anymore at all, and is really careful when she climbs stairs. She wants to get up on the couch every night with me or my husband and we both let her although it used to be against the rules. We love her so much we think she deserves it. Is it wrong to relax discipline like that?

Dianne, Manhattan Kansas

Old Trainer: No, not at all. My rule is, when an old dog has devoted her entire life to making you happy you relax as many rules as you can. I’m doing it right now for Rocky, a German shepherd mix, leader and protector of my pack for more than a decade.

A few weeks ago he informed me he no longer wishes to eat standing at his bowl, he now prefers to dine while relaxing on his bed. I interpret it as an old timer who knows he’s lost a step and wants proof he’s still important. Fine with me because I like to make my old dogs feel special.

I use the same reasoning Pope Pius IV used in Italy in 1563 when dealing with Bologna, known as a city of free thinkers and libertines for a thousand years before there was a pope.

The Fontana del Nettuno was commissioned in Bologna by a local Bishop as part of an urban beautification program to curry favor with the pope. As it neared completion the Bishop became concerned about rampant nudity of the figures in the fountain and sent a drawing to the Vatican to see if it might cause a problem. The pope wrote back, “for Bologna, it’s okay.”

When a dog gives you unconditional love and devotion for more than a decade she deserves special treatment.

For Bitsie, it’s okay.

Dear Old Trainer: In a recent column you said you and your dogs “practice every day.” Do you hold training sessions every day for every dog? Do you mean you teach your dogs something new every day? Could you explain what you meant?

Dane, Modesto, California

A: To me a training session means time set aside to teach a dog one or more commands. Practice is when I give commands they know as part of our daily routine to keep their minds sharp and focused. I only hold training sessions if I see laziness developing or when teaching a new command.

Tennis star Roger Federer says if he misses one day of practice he loses two days of skill. Same thing with a dog.

I make practice a part of every activity I do with my pack, including the daily walk. I snap off commands throughout the walk, but I make it fun and love on the dogs when they do it right. Dogs learn faster when they are relaxed and happy.

All my dogs know different tricks and I work those into the daily routine so each one gets a chance to show off.

If I see a lapse of attention I make that dog — or maybe all the dogs — sit while I bore them with a lecture.

The point of practice is to increase their skills and decrease their reaction times. It may be only five minutes, but we practice every day.

The Old Trainer has been a trainer for three decades and has rescued, trained, loved, and placed more than 4,000 dogs. Send questions to: theoldtrainer@gmail.com