Henri

Question
Hello
  We have a golden retriever,we had him as a puppy and took him to training classes,he learnt quickly and has been a very good dog until he hit 3 years,since then for the last few months he has changed,he ignores our commands if he can get away with it,and I am very worried that he will get too much to handle,he is a lovely dog and very sociable ,would having him neutered help or is he too old now? any advice would be gratefully accepted.
                thank you
                    Barbara

Answer
A lot of larger dogs actually reach social maturity around three. So, at that age would become more independent. He may have also been testing for some time to find out if he really needs to pay attention to your requests. If there's no reinforcement for doing so and no consequences when he doesn't, he's probably figured out that they aren't really important (to him). Neutering might take the edge off if his inattentiveness is hormone-driven. But what will really help is getting him back into training and stay with it. I'd look for a class that uses positive reinforcement/clicker training. If you took a foreign language in high school, and then never practiced it, would you still be able to use it 20 years later? However, because you'd learned it once, it would be easier to polish up the skill than if you were learning it for the first time. Like us, dogs don't just "learn" something and keep that skill forever. Those skills need refreshing now and then. Sandy Case BFA MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com