How much training is to much training

[tazzed4906]

When training my dog how much is too much at once? Should I do only a few minutes then let him rest or keep at it for longer periods? It seems like after a few minutes or commands such as sit or lay he gets tired. He will stop responding and just stand there looking around with an occasional look up at me. Does that mean he is done and needs a break?

[BigBrownDog]

How old? Obviously you need to keep it short with a puppy. But - you do need to keep it fun and switch things up. If you do the same routine over and over - I am sure he is not being mentally stimulated and gets quickly disengaged.

[Belles mom]

Yup, depends on the age of the dog to some extent. With young or beginner dogs, I recommend "commercial" training. That is, train during teh commercials while you are watching T.V. That means 3-4 minutes at a time and then take a break until the next set of commercials. Works pretty darned well!

When training outside, do the same kinda thing, but maybe take a short walk, or toss a ball a few times in between training exercises. Always quit while the dog is still fresh and wants to do more. Small frequent training bouts make for a happy dog, especially with the beginner and young dog.

Also, some dogs do not do well with excessive repetition. So, if they get it right, and you keep asking them to do it again, they wonder what the hell was wrong with they were doing it and start offering different behaviors, hoping that this time it will be right. I personally have a rule of three. If the dog does it right three times in a row, I move on to another exercise (praising lavishly when they are right).

[Bob Pr.]

Don't look for a formula.

There are too many differences between Labs.

You need to learn to understand and read your Lab.

All Labs are different.

What works best for a Lab of a particular weight, age, and gender is NOT the best for any other with the same statistics.

Learn to read your Lab.

Go by it's responsiveness.

In training, the most important rule is to ALWAYS Keep it Fun!

If it stops being fun, you've gone too far past the time to quit.

[tazzed4906]

Thank you for the advice. Usually when he starts looking off and not paying attention I quit and take it as a sign that he has had enough for the moment.

[tazzed4906]

Alex is about 16 months old and from my husband and I can figure the couple that had him before us did little as far as training goes so we are starting basically at square one with. He is making good strides most of the time but still has some learning to do. After a few times of doing something such as sit, lay, and shake he loses interest and wont mind. When I try to train him on the leash he does good for awhile then not so good. His big thing sometimes is putting his head on my thigh when we are walking and I am nudging him away from my leg. He does that a few times then stops. He does get distracted easily so I have to usually wait till there is not as much going on to take him on walks. We mostly stay in the yard so that isnt distracted as much by things. Overall I would have to give him 7.5 out of 10 so far on his progression since we have only had him about 7 days which I think is wonderful for the short amount of time we have had him.

[brody]

try to stop just before that point ... I like to leave 'em wanting more ... my dogs generally try to harrass me into training sessions .. which is fabulous .. even a very low drive shi mix I live with gets his grrrr on a couple of times of day asking to do work

for many dogs doing a variety of things is important too ... mix it up and have a blast - play and training are the same thing here

[Tanya]

I was going to say the same as the above - always (or as often as possible) stop BEFORE they give the "bored" cues to leave them wanting more, and so that they do not learn to "give" you teh cue when THEY want (meaning they learn to control you)

[IdahoLabs]

There's a difference between being bored... and trying to be in charge. If he's bored you need to re-evaluate how you're training and what you're training; they need to continually be challenged. Perhaps you're never allowing him to fail - or you're not being insistent enough on absolute obedience. When you leave him on a sit-stay, does he start looking around, sniffing, and get up? If so, part of the problem is that he doesn't understand he's supposed to be working. Also, you need to quit while he's still interested.

On the other hand, if he's trying to call the shots and tell you when he's done - that is not acceptable. Ever.

5-10 minutes of training is adequate under most circumstances. If I have more I want to accomplish, I'll just train multiple times per day.