My Bestfriend

Yes dog lovers, you read it right! Contrary to that old adage “old dogs can’t learn new tricks,” a matured pooch can still learn tricks if the trick isn’t too complicated, says my friend and dog lover Shaun Olmstead. Based on Shaun’s very own experience, he adopted a 10-year-old English pointer who had never set foot in a house and therefore had no concept of house training. But six weeks later, he was totally housebroken and completely well behaved.

But if you’re expecting an old dog (or human) to pick up a complicated skill that requires quick reflexes or mental agility, you might face some frustration. That’s because as a brain ages, it loses cells, which, in turn, lose some of their “branches” that reach out and connect with other cells. These physical changes slow reaction time and the speed of message transmission. Learning a new skill, like playing the piano or speaking a foreign language, would be harder at age 80 than age eight, since all bodily processes decline as we age. But it’s certainly not impossible.

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