Fit Dog Training into Your Busy Life: A Practical Guide

Key Topics

• Effective Training Starts on Sunday…
• Make a plan (Keep reading.  The planning won’t take more than 5 minutes!)
• Worried about weight gain (the dogs not yours!)?  Ditch the Bowl!
• Spread Training Throughout your Day
  • Five Minutes Max!
  • Take Your Training Outdoors
  • Reward good behaviour
• Don’t Forget Management

Life is busy but you managed to find time to take that dog training class.  You’ve enrolled, attended each class, practiced the skills during class time, went home and despite your best intentions, didn’t spend any time practicing with your dog.  Your dog’s behaviour doesn’t change, you feel frustrated and discouraged, and you let go of your dog owning dream.

It doesn’t have to be that way.  With a few simple changes, you can fit training time into your schedule, start to see results, and gradually notice glimpses of the dog you’ve always wanted to own.

Effective Training Starts on Sunday…

Or a day of your choosing!  Pick one day during the week when you will sit in your most comfy chair, grab a relaxing drink, and make a training plan for the upcoming week.

Make a Plan

Don’t quit reading!!

I’m not taking about some epic undertaking.  With pen and paper in hand, identify one to three games, skills, or tricks you want to work on.  Write them down. That’s it.  Just five minutes of thinking (maybe a bit longer) will set you up for a week of training success. 

Having trouble deciding which options to pick? Take a piece of paper and cut it into multiple strips.  Write one skill, trick, or game on each piece of paper.  Put all those strips of paper into a jar.  Pick three slips of paper from the jar and voila you have your training plan for the week! 

For my students, you could print out the homework sheets, cut them up, and put them in a jar.

This method will add variety into your training which will keep it interesting for you and your dog.

Sunday is my day for planning.  I print out my template and fill it in.  It’s a bit more involved because I have a lot of different activities on the go with Piper.  Here is what it looks like for my upcoming week:

Now that you’re organized, let’s talk about having food ready, and finding those elusive moments when you can fit training time into your schedule.

Worried about weight gain (the dogs not yours!)?  Ditch the Bowl!

Especially for indoor training, ditching the food bowl and using your dog’s daily food allowance will give you lots of reinforcement opportunities without worrying that your dog will gain weight.  Even if you feed raw or canned food, you can reinforce your dog with a small spoonful.

Split your dog’s daily food allowance into food stuffed puzzle toys like Kongs or Topls and put them in the fridge.  Take the remainder and put it in a container.  Reach for these whenever you have a moment for training.

When you are ready to take your training outdoors you may need something your dog really likes (at least initially) because you are up against tough competition from the environment!  So, for outdoors, ditch the kibble and bring out some cooked chicken, liver, beef, cheese…whatever food lights your dog when they smell it.

Spread Training Throughout your Day

Now that you have identified what you are going to train this week and the food you will use for reinforcement, here are some ideas for fitting training time into your schedule along with games that would work well in those time slots.

• Before you put down their food dish, play the Orientation Game
• While you wait for the kettle to boil or your coffee to perk, practice Two Paws on
• Sitting in front of the TV after a long day, reward calmness
• During commercials, practice your boundary games

Five Minutes Max!

The most important thing to know is that you don’t need to make time for a 30 to 60-minute epic training session.  Five minutes max will do.

If you and your dog are just starting out on your training journey.  It’s okay to keep those training sessions short.

Marley was an amazing teacher.  Unlike Piper, he became easily frustrated during our early training sessions.  Part way through a training session, he would sit down and scratch or simply get up and walk away. 

I gradually understood that he learned best with one or two repetitions followed by a break.  As the years passed, Marley learned to love our training time together and I could do longer sessions with him. 

Just weeks before we said our last goodbye (he was almost 16 ½), I was setting up some nosework boxes for Piper and Marley wanted to search as well.  It warmed my heart!

Short sessions will keep things fun and allow you to foster interest and enthusiasm for your training time together.

Take Your Training Outdoors

After practicing indoors in different rooms in the house, it’s time to take what you are working on into the outdoors.  Incorporate the games outside but on your property (think low distraction environment).

• Play them in your backyard and then go for a walk
• In your front yard and then start your walk 
• Do a few repetitions in your driveway

When your dog can readily engage with you in these environments, incorporate the training off-property on your walks. 

• In low distraction environments (sidewalk in front of your house when traffic is quiet and there are no dogs or people around)
• Build up to busy, high distraction environments (how about playing the games outside of your local dog park, or at a trail head with people coming and going).

Reward good behaviour

Throughout the day when you catch your dog doing something you like, reinforce that behaviour with a treat:

• Resting calmly on the couch
• Offering a sit
• Making eye contact
• Approaching you with four feet on the floor.
• Taking a few steps with the leash loose
• Orienting to you when you say their name

These short sessions will start to add up and along with growing your dog’s skills, these hits of positive reinforcement are actively topping up yourRelationship Bank Accountand building your dogs optimism.

Credit:  The Relationship Bank Account

Don't Forget Management

If you don’t like a behaviour your dog is doing, you don’t necessarily need an involved training plan.  Instead, think about how you can keep them from practicing the behaviour you don’t like.

• Do they bark all day out the window, how can you prevent access to the window? 
• Do they jump on your guests, how can you keep them away from the door when guest arrive?
• Are they begging underfoot when you are in the kitchen, where would you like them to be instead?

If you can prevent rehearsal of behaviours you don’t want, you will be able to reward them for behaviours you do want.  A win for everyone! 

The best news for you is that once the management strategy is in place, the environmental setup will facilitate learning with minimal effort on your part.  All you need to do is watch for the behaviour you like and start reinforcing it with yummy pieces of food.

Conclusion

Without taking time to train your dog, you are not going to see improvements in their behaviour. 

Finding time to train can seem daunting but with a few changes to your approach you can set yourself up for success and accelerate your dog’s learning by:

• Taking a few minutes to create a plan
• Fitting training into your daily life
• Keeping those training sessions short
• Reinforcing behaviour you like
• Preventing rehearsal of behaviour you don’t like

More training means more results which in turn provides positive reinforcement for you and who doesn’t want that!

Additional Resources:

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