As cute and as lovable as they are, dogs are innately curious and have a short attention span, making them easily distracted and seemingly stubborn sometimes.
Dog training is an essential aspect of taking care of your pet. Not only is it good for your dog’s mental well-being, but it can also make your life together a more pleasant experience. If you’re new to dog training, you might wonder, “how often should I train my dog?”
In this article, we’ll give you a straightforward answer to this commonly asked question.
Consistency is Key
Teaching your dog to behave properly requires consistent training. Ideally, you should train your dog everyday in two to three short sessions.
At Delaware K9 Academy, we offer 2-week boot camps and private classes, and then of course, you can practice with your dog at home for better retention. Because training sessions are short, you don’t have to worry about having to spend endless hours teaching your dog.
You can just do a short one in the morning, another one in the afternoon, and/or another session in the evening. If your schedule is super hectic, even just a single session each day can produce positive results. The important thing is that the training sessions are consistent and you commit to it.
Make sure that you train your dog at a time when it is well-rested and alert. If it appears that your dog is becoming less motivated, be mindful because you might be overdoing it. When this happens, try to make the sessions less frequent.
How Long Should Training Sessions Last
Dogs, generally, have a short attention span. In fact, your dog might only be able to give you as little as 1 minute of attention.
Unfortunately, there’s no instant way to improve your dog’s attention span– it will increase automatically over time. With this, you should only train your dog for as long as you have its full attention.
Whether it’s 1 minute, 5 minutes, or 10 minutes, you should train your dog for less than its expected attention span. Over time, if your dog becomes engaged and enthusiastic to train with you, sessions may last for 5 to 10 minutes.
Every time you train with your dog, you’re not only teaching it skills and tricks– you are also building its attitude towards working and learning with you. You shouldn’t just worry about how much progress your dog is making, but also how successful you are in instilling a love of training in your pet.
Training Should Be Fun
If you find training your dog to be boring or it feels like a chore, trust us, your dog’s not going to enjoy it either! (And training should be fun!)
So if this is the case, it’s time to stop and reevaluate how you do the dog training. Rethink the approach and the frequency. If it’s easier for you to train your dog for a few minutes once a day, instead of doing it several times a day, then stick to that schedule.
Remember, your training sessions should be the time to strengthen your bond with your dog and create mutual trust. In fact, it could potentially be the most fun part of your dog’s day and it may look forward to it when you conduct training sessions consistently.
However, if you have a bad day or are feeling stressed, and you know you won’t be able to enjoy it– it’s okay to take a break. As long as you train with your dog most days, it will surely make good progress.
Sometimes, dog owners tend to lapse for several days once they take a break, and this doesn’t help your dog learn obedience commands and essential skills fast. So make it a habit to come back to where you left off as soon as you feel better and in the zone to resume your dog training.
By teaching your dog important life skills and cool tricks, you’ll be able to make dog ownership a more rewarding experience!
Final Thoughts
Some dog owners are only motivated to train their dog during the first few weeks, and then would start to lapse for a couple of days, weeks, or even months.
We understand that you also have other important things to attend to, but dogs have to be practiced and trained regularly for it to pick up skills and commands. However, if your schedule is unpredictable or it’s difficult to make it a part of your daily routine, the best approach is to hire expert dog trainers such as Delaware K9 Academy.
They implement humane best practices in dog training, which makes their training highly effective. So if you want to have a well-behaved dog that is pleasant to be with, get in touch with us today and find out more about our services!
