How My Dog Still Trains Like This at 10 Years Old

Gibbs just turned 10 this year, and he’s still out here moving, thinking, and working like a much younger dog. I filmed this the other day and wanted to share it with you all because it really drives home something I talk about a lot:

Training isn’t a band-aid — it’s a lifestyle.

Most people only train when problems show up. Their dog gets reactive, stops listening, blows off commands… then they try to fix it with a few sessions. And even when the dog improves, they go right back to living the same way they were before, and the same issues come back.

That’s not what actually works long-term.

Gibbs has aged well because obedience, structure, and engagement have been a normal part of his everyday life since he was a puppy. Nothing extreme. Nothing fancy. Just a consistent way of living with him:

clear expectations
daily communication
engagement and play
obedience woven into real life
impulse control reps
structure and routines

When you live this way, your dog doesn’t fall apart when things get difficult. They don’t suddenly become “unmanageable”. They already understand how to handle pressure, excitement, distractions, and boundaries — because it’s been part of their life all along.

Use it or lose it.

This is what long-term training produces.

Watch the video and pay attention to the little things — the focus, the engagement, the impulse control, the relationship. These are the things we’re building in our own dogs every single day.

Drop your takeaways below, and if you want help applying this mindset with your own dog, post your situation and I’ll help you troubleshoot it.

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