Someone asked me today how many times a day they should be training their dog and after answering it made me really think about how I live with my pair and where training fits it.
Unless we are training for something specific any training we do tends to just fit in with what we are doing and is mostly aimed at us all just getting on with our lives. We are all very different with our needs and agendas. This afternoon was one of those lovely warm autumn days so I decided to try and clear some of the garden. Chance lives to play so whilst I was cutting things back, pulling weeds out and generally clearing, she was following me every step of the way with her trusty tennis ball being dropped repeatedly in front of me. She is a happy girl and attempts to ignore her just result in the ball being placed in different places, different ways, or at one stage being replaced by a large soft toy cat.
 |
| Would you throw this then? |
It is hard to resist such persistence and optimism so every now and then I give in and throw her toy, but usually ask her to do something first, so a sit, a down, a wait or even a bit of heelwork as I walk to the bin to drop in some weeds. Her needs are being met - she wants to play and every so often gets her way, mine are too as an occasional play keeps her attention on her toys and off stealing my gardening tools.
Molly as ever is more complex and her agenda changes. Sometimes she gets stressy and guardy but these times are less and less as we learn to live peacefully together. Today she was happy mooching around quite content to just have a word and fuss every now and then. Once I had finished with a bit of garden clearing it was time to have a quick tidy up of Molly after her last haircut. We tend to do it in stages these days and work on the garden table outside. We did a bit of tidying up of her face, legs and feet all with a wonderfully co-operative dog - who is rewarded frequently for her co-operation with treats. Again we are both getting our needs met, she jumps onto the table when I ask her to, allows me to handle her and trim her as I need to and she understands she is free to get down if she wants to but will be rewarded for staying and accepting the handling.
 |
| Yep - I am in charge! |
The majority of our training works like that - just lately Chance has decided to get really silly when she sees cats, so if we have time whenever we see one we have a short session of behaving and settling for some nice calm sits and giving me attention rather than the cat. If we are learning something new we will have some quick training sessions for that mixed in with some of the things they know and like doing mixed in with the new stuff. If either of us are struggling or get frustrated we go back to the stuff we are good at and enjoy before ending the session.
If teaching something new and you are trying to progress you should be able to see the progress you are making even if it is only tiny steps. If after a few sessions you are going nowhere or backward it is time to review what you are doing and if the dog truly understands what you are aiming for. You may need to change approach or change tack entirely.
So - how often - to be honest it depends, I probably do some training most days, but the vast majority of the time it is just fitting in with our lives so practising recalls when on walks, nipping into the pet shop to stock up with the dogs being sociable and not stealing anything etc. Formal sessions get fitted in when I have time and the inclination! It was inevitable someone was going to have to endure some training after all this thought - poor Chance drew the short straw - but at least she was able to eat the word after the photo!!
