Training Your Dog: Avoiding Common Mistakes for a Happy Home

Last summer, I was in the backyard with my dog, Whimsy, working on some agility drills. Agility is a lot of fun, but it can be a challenging sport for both the dog and the handler. We were struggling with one particular exercise, and I wanted to keep going until we “got it right.” Suddenly, Whimsy sat down and refused to move when I tried to direct her over a jump. Whimsy was officially on strike. My attempts at a “fun” training session with toys, treats, and praise were stressing her out, causing her to shut down.

Wanting my dog to learn something quickly often backfires. Long and frequent training sessions can lead to slower progress. This may seem counterintuitive, but let me explain.

In my eagerness to move things along, I’ve made mistakes that put pressure on my dog and caused her to shut down. There are three typical errors I’ve made—sometimes all at once. I didn’t learn this lesson just once; I’ve made these mistakes too many times. (What can I say? I’m not always the fastest learner!) Thankfully, I’ve finally learned my lesson, which has benefited both my dogs and my clients.

How Many Training Sessions a Day for a Dog?

One of the errors is conducting too many training sessions. In my zeal to make progress, I’ve sometimes trained 2, 3, or even 4 short sessions a day. While my dogs love training, earning yummy treats, and hearing my enthusiastic praise, they don’t appreciate multiple sessions per day. They tire of being drilled. It’s like a kid who enjoys school but wouldn’t want to attend 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. Learning requires a lot of brain power and can be exhausting. When fatigue sets in, it’s no longer fun.

The number of training sessions per day depends on the dog. I recommend no more than two or three short sessions a day, focusing on different skills for each session. Variety in training helps keep your dog engaged and motivated, rather than working on the same skill repeatedly.

While many dogs enjoy training sessions—especially those involving treats, toys, and play—they also need breaks. Sometimes, a dog just wants to be a dog and enjoy doing doggy things.

How Long Should Dog Training Sessions Be?

Running a training session for too long is another error I’ve made. Watching your dog catch on and figure out what you want them to do is exciting. It’s tempting to keep going to see how much more progress you and your dog can make. However, learning is tiring, and continuing when your dog’s energy is flagging does you no favors.

When I work with clients on manners training, many think they need to set aside a 30 to 45-minute block of time to train their dogs. However, professional trainers know that it’s more beneficial to work in 2- or 3-minute training sessions rather than longer ones. That sounds like such a short amount of time, but I’ve found that keeping my training sessions under 5 minutes keeps my dog’s energy, enthusiasm, and motivation high. We tend to get more done when I resist the temptation to go on.

In fact, trainers often groan about how “just one more” session can haunt them. Your dog is doing great, so you want to try it again. But then the dog is mentally “over it” and shuts down. “Just one more” often leads to your dog not learning anything more and may even set them back. If training becomes a stressful chore, your dog won’t learn as efficiently.

I’ve learned the hard way to get a fantastic repetition, exert some self-control, and then end the session. This approach is beneficial. The next time we work on that behavior, the dog has a great memory of success and fun, leading to even more progress.

If you’re the kind of trainer who loses track of time or struggles to resist the temptation for “just a little longer,” you may need to implement management strategies. Trainers often set a timer for 2 minutes or count out 10 treats for their sessions. When the timer goes off or when you run out of treats, the session is over.

Training Something New in a Distracting Environment

I recently spoke with someone who was taking their adolescent dog to a beginning manners class. The class was held in a public park, right next to baseball games, golf carts driving by, and even a dog park within view. The owner felt discouraged because her dog couldn’t settle enough to focus, let alone learn anything new.

That reaction makes complete sense! That’s about the worst kind of environment to try to teach new skills. Think of it this way: would you take a five-year-old to Chuck E. Cheese and try to teach them how to read? Of course not! The noise, lights, and activity would be overwhelming. They wouldn’t be able to focus, and it’s no different for dogs.

When teaching something new, the best approach is to set your dog up for success. Start in a quiet, low-distraction space where they have the best chance of learning. Once the behavior is reliable, you can gradually add in distractions and build up to more challenging places—like the park—where your dog can respond to you, even with everything going on around them.

Skipping Steps in the Training Plan

The last error I’ve made in my efforts to speed up training is trying to skip steps in the training process long before my dog is ready. An analogy with a human child would be to plunk a chapter book down in front of a first grader after they’ve mastered reading just a couple of dozen words.

An example in dog training might be when first working on “stay.” If you turn your back on your dog and walk 5 steps away without having introduced movement or even turning your back, your dog will likely get up from the stay before being released. Most people will put the dog back in a stay and try again (and again…). What happens is that instead of building a solid training foundation, you introduce repeated failure and confusion about what you want.

The problem with trying to teach a child to read something too advanced for their readiness level, or working with a dog on a stay too advanced for their skill level, is that you’re setting the learner up for failure. Anyone—whether human or canine—who feels pressured to do something they’re not capable of doing is likely to get frustrated, shut down, and resist learning in the future.

Conclusion

Remember that dogs are individuals, and you need to tailor your expectations to your dog. Don’t compare their capabilities to those of other dogs. There are dogs at my training club that have no problem repeatedly running the same agility course and seem to enjoy every run. In contrast, I’ve learned that Whimsy is good for two or three repetitions, and then we’re done. Any more than that is likely to stress her out, and she will quit on me.

All of this applies to training specific skills, but it also applies to training with the goal of changing emotions, such as working on dog separation training. My clients often want to make progress with their dog’s ability to be left alone. It’s tempting to train 2 or 3 times a day, 7 days a week, to reach their goal faster. However, this can backfire, cause additional stress, and slow progress—or even lead to setbacks.

So, know your dog and train in a way that keeps them happy. If you see signs your dog is anxious, you know you’re putting too much pressure on them during training sessions. Going slower will lead to faster training success!

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Do you need help training your dog? I offer virtual consultations for *separation anxiety resolution, as well as for other behavioral issues or training needs.

I also offer *in-person training within a 30-minute drive of Ixonia, WI.

I would love to work with you and your dog!