Puppy Training Tip: Keep Your Sessions Short And Sweet

I'm a fan of short, but quality training sets. Especially for puppy training.

This is especially true when I'm trying to teach a brand new skill. In today's session, I'm teaching Rumour to fade off of my hand lure. She's learning to look up at my face rather than the food in my hand.

This is the second skill I teach my puppies after they learn to find the loose leash, walking starting position on their own.

I'm not a fan of staying on the lure for training for very long because it tends to make the dog too dependent on the food to perform.

Because of my approach in teaching, the onus is on the dog to do the majority of the problem-solving. Just like with us when we learn something new, it takes a lot more energy than it does to practice an already well learned skill.

This is why I stress to my students to keep training sessions short. And to focus on mastering only one criteria at a time.

I will stay on this criteria with Rumour until she is offering it more consistently. I want this behavior so well learned in her mind that it is automatic. Only went then will I escalate the lesson to help her achieve the next steps.