How long & how often do you train for?
- Thread starter Toaster
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With my dogs, pretty much the only reason they wouldn't be doing the exercise is because they don't understand what I am asking of them.
I almost always have my clicker around my wrist (have even forgotten and worn it to school a few times
) and I'll ask them to random stuff throughout the day (keeps 'em on their toes ). But as far as structured training, I try and work with each dog individualy at least 15 minutes each every night (although I have been spending more time wit Izzy than the others recently ).
I almost always have my clicker around my wrist (have even forgotten and worn it to school a few times
) and I'll ask them to random stuff throughout the day (keeps 'em on their toes ). But as far as structured training, I try and work with each dog individualy at least 15 minutes each every night (although I have been spending more time wit Izzy than the others recently ).Like PWCorgi, I tend to do bits throughout the day. Meg's with me all day, so I just keep a clicker and some treats in my pocket. We practice "choose to heal" on our way back from turning out the horses, emergency downs while I'm going up and down the barn aisle feeding, stays while I'm setting up grain, etc. I'll also do probably 4 or 5 sessions a week where I really work on something for 10 or 15 minutes at a time - working on leash-walking outside, retrieving, agility stuff. And we do one 1-hour agility class a week and a 3-hour agility practice, although obviously she isn't working all the time.
If I don't get the behavior when I first ask, I change something. Decrease the distractions, ask for an easier version of it (a shorter stay, or a down with me closer). Meg has a very low threshold for frustration, and will shut down pretty fast if she doesn't get the "right answer" a vast majority of the time, so I try to set her up to succeed.
If I don't get the behavior when I first ask, I change something. Decrease the distractions, ask for an easier version of it (a shorter stay, or a down with me closer). Meg has a very low threshold for frustration, and will shut down pretty fast if she doesn't get the "right answer" a vast majority of the time, so I try to set her up to succeed.
T
My training sessions are always in short bits, and if I can, multiple times a day.
The only time this doesn't hold true is in the training classes I take. (And I personally feel their classes are tooo long.)
As for the frustration thing, if I ever feel myself getting frustrated, I quit. I give my dogs some treats, I finish with a game of fetch,.. but I don't continue. From then on it would NOT be productive.
The only time this doesn't hold true is in the training classes I take. (And I personally feel their classes are tooo long.)
As for the frustration thing, if I ever feel myself getting frustrated, I quit. I give my dogs some treats, I finish with a game of fetch,.. but I don't continue. From then on it would NOT be productive.
We try to do training classes for an hour each week until they have been through at least three levels. In that hour we never get bored or lose interest and it is a really good bonding time.
Other than that, we train in bits each day, and because I practice NILIF, every treat or reward is preceded by a command or two, including going out into the yard to play.
We also start as soon as a puppy comes home, so they are raised to expect it and tend to pay alot of attention to me, expecting commands at anytime.
As far as frustration, I've only ever NOT been able to teach one command, and both me and the dog got frustrated, but it was an extremely difficult command, so I dropped it. But normally if they don't catch on right away I will either gain help from an expert, or change what I am doing to make it more understandable, and use a food lure whenever possible.
Other than that, we train in bits each day, and because I practice NILIF, every treat or reward is preceded by a command or two, including going out into the yard to play.
We also start as soon as a puppy comes home, so they are raised to expect it and tend to pay alot of attention to me, expecting commands at anytime.
As far as frustration, I've only ever NOT been able to teach one command, and both me and the dog got frustrated, but it was an extremely difficult command, so I dropped it. But normally if they don't catch on right away I will either gain help from an expert, or change what I am doing to make it more understandable, and use a food lure whenever possible.
Duke's training sessions are just sort of intergraded into everyday activities like eating, playing and on walks and so on. I do take about 5 mins a day to go over all of the drills in a formal type setting to try and extend our sit-stay and down-stay times however nothing is free in our house so Duke is constantly working
Kayla
Kayla
That's so important to do. I don't have a very regimented way of training...little bits here and there, some days where I make more time and practice things outside for chunks of time, mostly when on our walks/hikes. However, in the winter, I do less because I hate asking my Dobe to sit and stay or down and stay in the snow and ice, his poor little Doberbutt, so those things we do a little bit inside, not so much lately because he is really good at those things. But heeling and positioning etc we have to do on our walks a little bit. I'm really not that disciplined lately. Today it was 16 below zero and it's too cotton pickin cold to go for a walk, I think...not very fun. But maybe. It has warmed up to 0 degrees F. Woo hoo. Maybe later. It is sunny out though. Little tricks and things we can do inside. But mostly we've just been playing and hangin' out watching movies, staying cozy by the fire.
The Chi's play and have fun inside and little quick trips outside. They like to chase hunks of ice and inside, Jose and Toker have taken a liking to playing super rough. Toker is so good about being careful with him and they have a ball....get really noisy and silly. Chuli practices her high five and spin around. Jose practices not jumping on my legs when I get the treats out. LOL. Pretty casual around here.
The Chi's play and have fun inside and little quick trips outside. They like to chase hunks of ice and inside, Jose and Toker have taken a liking to playing super rough. Toker is so good about being careful with him and they have a ball....get really noisy and silly. Chuli practices her high five and spin around. Jose practices not jumping on my legs when I get the treats out. LOL. Pretty casual around here.
I train every day, anywhere from 15 mins to a few hours. I'm pretty much continually at least reinforcing things he already knows. Training doesn't have to be formal set aside time for us, simple things like backing away from the door prior to going out, fetching the newspaper in the morning, collecting all his toys and bringing them to me so we can play are always being done. When we work on new tasks we only spend a few minutes working on those, but may revisit them a few times in a day. For example, the other day I was working on him fetching a ball going over a jump, and returning it to me over the jump. It took him a few tries before he realized what I wanted, and after that it was automatic. Later on we went out and practiced it again.
That's a good point Oriondw. When my dogs are young, I work with them a lot more like you described. But training really never stops because all the time we're interacting with them almost, it seems they are learing something or being re-freshed. Me too....they teach me a lot more than I teach them I think sometimes just by oberving them, their interaction with me and with eachother....so very interesting and enlightening. They never cease to amaze me.
Stogie is about 1.5 yrs now, and we've worked with him some, but not to the extent I would have liked.
We're working on really basic stuff, sit, stand, come, stay, etc... nothing extravagant... except maybe roll-over, which we can't seem to get.
This might need to be asked in a separate thread, but whats the best advice people can give me about training him?
We're working on really basic stuff, sit, stand, come, stay, etc... nothing extravagant... except maybe roll-over, which we can't seem to get.
This might need to be asked in a separate thread, but whats the best advice people can give me about training him?
We work everyday a few times a day for about 5-10 minutes each.
Then once a week they have their hour long obedience class, that has a few breaks in it when we do individual work.
As for getting frusterated, me or the dogs... Sometimes I just quit like Tessa said, because I'm quick to get angry from frusteration, and I've come to realize that most of the time the reason their not getting it, is *MY* fault because I'm so new to all of this. So I stop. Then come here, or talk to my trainer to figure out a new way to teach them the new trick/skill whatever.
Other times, when I know what I'm doing is right, we'll move on to something else for a bit to get their spirits up, then come back to it later.
Then once a week they have their hour long obedience class, that has a few breaks in it when we do individual work.
As for getting frusterated, me or the dogs... Sometimes I just quit like Tessa said, because I'm quick to get angry from frusteration, and I've come to realize that most of the time the reason their not getting it, is *MY* fault because I'm so new to all of this. So I stop. Then come here, or talk to my trainer to figure out a new way to teach them the new trick/skill whatever.
Other times, when I know what I'm doing is right, we'll move on to something else for a bit to get their spirits up, then come back to it later.