How Much Training Does Your Dog Get And Why?

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Ok, so I'm just wondering about this. How much training does your dog get and why?

I'd love to do a bit more training with my dogs, especially as I want to trial them, but with the constraints of available time I just do what I can.

Kenzie has had quite a bit of formal training and also a lot of incidental training. I view formal training as training sessions where you have a set goal and a bit of a plan. I view incidental training as what you do when you're out and about and as the environment/situation presents itself.

Hamish has had very little formal training and lots of incidental training.

If I had more time available I would plan out more formal training sessions and I guess I might see a bit more progress in my dogs. Mind you I love them as who they are and the progress bit is more about me wanting to get them in to trials!!!

But I'm also wondering your thoughts one the pros and cons of formal training. I have to say Hamish is actually doing pretty well given that he only gets formal training maybe 3-4 times per week and for a total of around 30 minutes (split in to 5 or 6 seesions). I do wonder if you can overtrain (obviously causing boredom for the dog and I'm wondering if maybe you can creat a work-a-holic).

Anyway it's more just out of interest, and yes I know the poll answers aren't all inclusive. The time one though, that is per session not per day.

[Weasels]

I only do planned formal training when I want to teach something new really. The rest of the training at home is either when we have some food scraps to get rid of/dinner time or just when they are being too annoying and need something to do!

Since our jogging spot has all the maintenance trucks out at the same time as we go, they get a good work-out with their directional cues (left/right/go), recalls and heeling to keep them safe and out of the way. And when I get the ball out they do some work for most throws.

During herding season we spend 3 hours a week at training, doing 10-minutes at a time on stock then obedience/play in between to keep them occupied (although they are slowly learning to chill out when it's not their turn). We're planning to start Rally-O and have our own sheep to train on next year so will probably increase the planned training sessions then :)

Re. the pros and cons - for us I think formal training is great for really getting and polishing a behaviour, and incidental training helps to generalise and increase reliability :)

Edited December 16, 2012 by TheLBD

[huski]

I do structured training in some form every day (I don't attend classes) but it could be as short as 2 minutes or over the course of an hour or a half. I am training a young dog though so we have lots to work on all the time. My older two I don't do much work with but we do short bits and pieces for fun. The older dogs enjoy training but don't need it like my young dog does.

In terms of 'incidental training' it's corny but I think every interaction we have with our dogs is in some way training them, especially when you are working with a pup or young dog.

Edited December 16, 2012 by huski

[Kavik]

I do a couple of short structured training sessions with Kaos and Zoe throughout the day and one on their evening walk. Diesel only gets a training session on his walk, he is not very interested in training. Kaos also attends agility classes once a week.

[Podengo]

I train a few times a day, might do weaves in the morning and again at lunch for 2-3 minutes, and some obedience or trick training in the evening for up to 15 minutes. Oh and go out and track some days too, that's an hour of walking but only like 4 minutes of tracking all up!

Edited December 16, 2012 by DiscoDobe

[corvus]

Why does there have to be a line between 'formal' and 'incidental'?

[Guest Panzer Attack!]

I've got Scooter the Pap who I've had since 9 weeks (he's 2 next month OMG) and Rudy the Cav who I've had for a month (who is a little over 1). I do equal amounts of informal training with both of them. I've been a huge slacker for months cos I'm sick a fair bit, but recently have made it a goal to do a decent amount of training with them or 5 mins of training and a walk every day.

Ru needs more training cos he's new and doesn't know many rules, but Scooter is the speshul child so I like to do training with him, otherwise he'll get into mischief as he's highly intelligent and gets bored quickly.

When Scooter was younger I used to take him to classes twice a week but it was bad news all over. He was attacked at obedience twice and had a couple of incidents at agility, so I'm not particularly willing to risk my 3kg dog around high drive medium-large breeds again. If I could find small SAFE classes we would definitely go back now he's 90% rehabilitated. When Luke gets his Brittany we will definitely go to classes, and I'm considering it with Ru as he's so submissive he never gets into trouble with other dogs (and he's not as small and prey-looking as Scooter).

With training I've completely changed my tune and am constantly trying to think outside the box. They both have basic obedience work under their belts (Ru's green but Scooter could pass CCD and I've put the tiniest amount of effort into him), know how to act in public and are well behaved around the house and at work, so now it's mostly for enrichment. Scootie switches off if he's uncomfortable, so the important thing is to have fun or stop immediately.

[BC Crazy]

I have often wondered the very same thing regarding training. I tend to do structured training when my puppies are young but as they mature I usually keep things pretty informal & train when I am out & about with them.

So probably 3 x 5 to 10 min per day to start them off. Then I just randomly go over things. I do make both of mine 'work' for pretty much everything I give them though. Even if it is just to do a trick or something like that.

If I want to teach them something new I'll go back to the structured times until they grasp what ever the new thing may be. I always keep sessions short as mine get bored & switch off quickly, so I always finish before that

occurs :)

[luvsdogs]

It is said that dogs learn better if you train in short sessions of a minuter or 2 & then have a break of 30-60 minutes before doing another minute or 2. This would only be done a few times a week.

[Tassie]

:laugh: I like that luvsdogs - pretty much reflects what I do. I'm a bit of a believer in "less is more" - a lot depends on what I'm training, and how much time I actually have.

[Pretty Miss Emma]

Why does there have to be a line between 'formal' and 'incidental'?

Only because I'm interested in what people plan versus what they take advantage of!! I think both are of equal value. But I look at what I did with Kenz and what I have been doing with Hamish and I'm interested in the difference. As a youngster Kenzie had many formal training session, and she was so advanced at so many things at a young age. Hamish has had much less formal training and I can see the difference between them. The big difference I see is that Kenzie was taught early to "learn", which is something I haven't done enough of with Hamish and that is actually my focus now. So Hamish is now getting some more "formal training" sessions compared to what he used to get. And I think that people tend to teach different things in formal vs incidental, which seems to have been a bit reflected here (in that many have mentioned new things get taught formally whereas practice and proofing tends to happen more incidentally).

[Weasels]

I do formal training like I do housework: sporadically, quickly, and sometimes not for a week at a time

Edited December 16, 2012 by TheLBD

[corvus]

Why does there have to be a line between 'formal' and 'incidental'?

Only because I'm interested in what people plan versus what they take advantage of!! I think both are of equal value. But I look at what I did with Kenz and what I have been doing with Hamish and I'm interested in the difference. As a youngster Kenzie had many formal training session, and she was so advanced at so many things at a young age. Hamish has had much less formal training and I can see the difference between them. The big difference I see is that Kenzie was taught early to "learn", which is something I haven't done enough of with Hamish and that is actually my focus now. So Hamish is now getting some more "formal training" sessions compared to what he used to get. And I think that people tend to teach different things in formal vs incidental, which seems to have been a bit reflected here (in that many have mentioned new things get taught formally whereas practice and proofing tends to happen more incidentally).

I don't really differentiate. It's just a big mashup for me. I know what I'm working towards, where I'm up to, and what needs work. A lot of the tricks we have fun with serve multiple purposes and contribute to more formal skills and behaviours. I train what I feel like training at the time because I'm in it for fun, but I'm flexible and take advantage of what the environment throws at me. I have plans in that I know what I'm working on, but they are adaptable plans. My main focus is to have fun with my dogs. If they aren't having fun or I'm not having fun, the plan is not a good one and should be ditched or put on hold for now.

[The Spotted Devil]

But corvus some of us train for things we have to plan for. Unfortunately I can't do water training or retrieving drills or agility training in my back yard, as much as I dream about The Perfect Acreage :laugh: Sometimes I have to plan to spend half to a whole day out training for retrieving if I want access to other people's training advice and grounds.

[huski]

But corvus some of us train for things we have to plan for. Unfortunately I can't do water training or retrieving drills or agility training in my back yard, as much as I dream about The Perfect Acreage :laugh: Sometimes I have to plan to spend half to a whole day out training for retrieving if I want access to other people's training advice and grounds.

This! Or sometimes you need a helper to participate in the training session for you and that can require a bit of planning! There are many reasons I'd plan a training session in advance (i.e. 'formal' training). There are many other times I find training just happens as the right opportunity presents itself.

[corvus]

Yeah, I know. I had agility classes I had driven an hour to get to that I walked away from 10 minutes in because my dog wasn't in a good working state. It's a pain when it's the only time in the week I had access to most of the equipment and the instructors, but... bigger picture. It's not a waste of time to sit down on the outskirts of class for an hour and work on getting the right emotional state, even if you quit agility the next week. :p It's money in the bank to see past your plans to underlying problems and work on them then and there, plans be damned. Our agility problems were symptoms of a bigger problem I needed to quit agility to resolve. Ken Ramirez says you should walk into every training session with a plan and then throw it out the window the moment you lay eyes on the animal in front of you. I have always liked this advice. I think it captures what makes good training. Always have solid plans for where you're going and how you'll get there and what you're up to and always be prepared to change them to suit the other half of the training equation. I flirted with being the one to dictate what we were doing when and it was a stupendous failure. Now I just condition. Slow and steady and at times frustrating, but solid foundation work is priceless.

[The Spotted Devil]

Back to the question at hand...it depends on the dog..,

Ziggy (Dal) - formal training (agility/obedience) about every 2nd day is a good pattern for him if he's trialling on the weekends. Sometimes it's just the 2 food game with drops and a few finishes. Other days he has long walks or swimming and/or shaping or rear end awareness or a few sets of weaves. A bit dependent on how busy I am and the weather. Training sessions tend to be 2-3 x 5-15 min as he gets rotated with Em. He's always "on" and ready to train but short snappy highly rewarding sessions are best. Not all that much incidental training - I like him to be fully ON or fully OFF.

Em (ESS) - formal training about 5-6 days a week (retrieving/agility) and the sessions are 3 x 5-15 min, swapping with Zig or pup or a rest when moving the throwers. Em lives to train and is happiest when she's running so walks are a PITA and I have to be careful that she doesn't go a-hunting when having an off leash run. Thus training makes us both happy and keeps her safe. She can train for longer so I have to be careful not to overdo it. At home we do shaping, bits of obedience, rear end awareness and lots of DWD-like tricks.

Barkley (going back to his home on Tuesday ) - pup gets 90% incidental training....his self control was lacking so lots of work on moving through doorways, getting in and out of his crate, recalls etc. Formal retrieving training, recalls and loose leash walking at the oval about 3 times a week. Retrieving sessions are VERY short (2 retrieves).

[chuckandsteve]

One of mine is reactive so lots. I have come to the realisation we can't just go for a walk he has to be in "work mode" so training all the time

[Vickie]

Depends on the dog for me too.

Formal training for us requires agility equipment set up or access to sheep. Neither of these things can be trained for incidentally.

I always have a plan for both agility & sheep, but am always prepared to break that plan if I see a hole in what is considered foundation for my plan.

When we are working on something specific, i like to train it intensively for a few days at a time and then give it a break for a few days before coming back to it. Intensively may be 10 x 5 min sessions in a day or a 30 min block...depends on the exercise.

All of our agility training is play based, so 1 min training may result in 2-3 mins play.

There are days that I don't train at all, and days where we train all day. Depends what's happening in our lives.I never set deadlines for things, they are trained when they are trained...no rush...

[Chezy]

depends om the dog

Chopper is older now and requires less training than he did , he now only gets 1 class agility a week , if there was a tricky bit at a comp that we fluffed I will set it up and work on it with him, but otherwise he has it easy .

Ricki requires more training, she gets a small session at home every day , plus her class , while we are doing walkies or other chores she will get a few foundation things like left/rights chucked at her .

atm we are on a agility break, no agility for 2 months , all equip packed away , don't know if I will regret this with Ricki, but chopper and i need it :laugh: I still chuck in some foundation stuff for her though

they get all the incidental stuff all the time, like sit stays and recalls , that is all done when out and about