Training Time Tables For Basics
The handler should first start with the sit, stay and take-a-break commands. These commands should be worked on for about a week before adding additional commands. The second week I would add the basic come command and increase the stay time with some distractions. The third week add the heel command, increase your distance from the dog on the stay and come command and add more distractions to both the stay and come commands as well. At that point, you should be able to make a fairly active lesson with the “big three,” stay, come and heel. As time goes on, a handler can concentrate more time on troublesome commands. It is important to practice these commands, ten to thirty minutes daily, until the dog is performing up to the handler’s standards. Realistically, two to six months is a normal time frame for a dog and his or her owner to take to accomplish the desired goals with these commands. Each dog, handler, and environment is different; therefore, each will take a different length of time to achieve success. Be patient! Remember: No Deadlines! You and your dog are learning together, and your dog might not want to listen to you before you prove yourself to him or her. I normally like to start teaching my pups no younger than four months of age. I really enjoy teaching in the four to eleven month old age bracket. Handlers have to remember that puppies cannot be pushed as fast as adult dogs. I have taught dogs of all ages, the only one that said that you could not teach an old dog new tricks was the old dog! A dog is never too old to learn, but it certainly does get more difficult, and success occasionally does decrease as the dog ages. The length of a dog’s training program is directly related to the amount of quality time put in by the handler. One can work a dog too much. I would not work a dog for more than an hour per day total time, when it comes to basic obedience. Never practice longer than half hour segments; I would prefer you to work in short but frequent sessions. Dogs progress much faster in three twenty minute sessions per day, rather than one hour-long session per day. The more one does something the better one gets at it! If the dog is doing well and is not that stressed I would say that two fifteen minute lessons a day is adequate and often ideal.
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