You may have wondered, what should be the most effective training method structure? And how can I best set out my dog training sessions? In this post we will really be diving into the actual topic of training session structure. If you are new to dog training, this could be a great short post for you to check out!
When you are training you want it to be fun and enjoyable for your dog but at the same time, not boring. For those who want to be training more frequently and really advancing in their tricks, you should probably be including these things into a session:
- Commands your dog has mastered. (1)
- Commands your dog has learnt but is still working on mastering. (2)
- New commands you are teaching your dog. (3)
Now when we talk about mastering commands, this does not mean you need to perfect every trick, it merely means you want to be practicing commands to progress and be able to perform them better and better. You will not find yourself practicing every single trick you know repeatedly until it is the best of perfection! That’s not how it works, you just want to improve with your dog over time and making sure your performance of that command stays consistent and frequent.
So, you may have noticed, we categorised the commands into 3 categories:
- Knows really well/ mastered.
- Learnt/ not yet completely frequent/ mastering.
- New commands that have been introduced recently/ not learnt.
The commands your pooch knows well (we’ll say sit, drop, come, stay etc.) might seem like something you shouldn’t need to do again. But even once you have mastered this command, if you don’t perform it again for a while, it can become rusty. This does not mean that you need to address every single trick your dog knows in one lesson, it just implies to touch up and revisit a few old tricks (the reason we will explore later!).
Then the ones you have learnt, you would have recently achieved the standard of these commands. So, let’s say ‘wait’ (as in waiting for a release word to eat a treat that is in front of them). You have lately achieved your original goal of getting your dog to wait a couple of seconds before they can eat the treat in front of them when you say a word like ‘ok’.
So, let’s extend this goal! Take this command even further and try working on getting them to wait even longer or for more treats. Make the trick even better! You also want to keep practicing this to make sure it is consistent, and you are frequently getting it right (mistakes are ok though!).
Finally, the new commands, these are self-explanatory. They are basically the tricks that you have only recently introduced your dog to, and they are still learning.
The Structure
You can really do anything in your training sessions but there is a structure that can really help keep it fun, exciting, and effective. It would simply look like this:
- Commands your dog has mastered.
- Commands your dog has learnt but is still working on AND new commands.
- Commands your dog has mastered.
So basically, this is where we explain. The tricks you know well already (1) you are going to start off with. Why? Well because at the start off your session you want to start slow, get into the rhythm and just start off simple. If you started off with some totally new commands, they could get frustrated, annoyed, and confused which can lead to them getting bored, distracted, or just not wanting to participate.
By starting off with something simple, you are showing them that there are some things that they can do, and they will be confident and happy knowing that they have done the right thing. You are basically getting them in the right mood and mindset to start training.
Next, start working on the commands they are working on mixed with a bit of new commands. This is introducing some familiar but more challenging commands (making it exciting) and some totally new ones (making sure they are listening). This is where you really spend the most time of your session and where you really improve your dog’s tricks.
Then, you end the same way you started: with the simple and well-known tricks (1). Essentially, you want to be ending on a good note. Making sure they are happy and are thinking ‘yeh, I made my trainer proud and was good!’. This is a great way to finish off your session and you don’t need to do many of these conclude with too many of these, just 2 or 3 would do just fine.
The Numbers
Now we are talking. So, you now know the structure of the training session, but that guideline doesn’t inform you what areas are most important to focus on!
So, if you’re training for about 5 – 20 minutes (that’s what we recommend) then how do you squeeze in all the commands your dog knows? Easy answer: you don’t. Each training session you want to have a focus. Do you:
- Want to work on some well-known commands to get better?
Or
- Teach a totally new command.
Yes, you can mix them together and do both, but it is great to have a focus that can help you know what to do. Generally, unless you are focusing on them, you never really need to do too many of your mastered commands. Just 3 or 4 repeated a couple of times to start and 2 or 3 to end would be perfectly fine.
The commands they have learnt (but still working on) and new commands should be the focus of your session. This is the part where you and your dog really improve and get better or learn something new. This section will take the majority time of your training session.
Going back to a question we asked earlier: ‘how do you squeeze in all the commands your dog knows?’. We then answered simply: you don’t! But what are we really meaning here?
Well in training you don’t want to be doing like 20 different commands in a session. This can become way to confusing and frustrating for your dog (and even you). You also don’t want to be doing 4, this is just too boring for them. You need to start off in a good way (like we discussed) and then when you get to the ‘working on’ and ‘new’ commands this is what you should do:
You should only do 4 or 5 commands that you are working on and then focus on that 1 new command you want your dog to learn. Mix up the 4 or 5 commands in random orders and places and then also focus on your new one at some points.
This will bring you to roughly 10 commands. If you want then it is ok to stretch this every now and again and focus on 2 new commands, but we just recommend doing 1. Make sure you are also keeping the session exciting and switching it up. Your new and working command’s structure shouldn’t look like:
- Stay
- Stay
- Stay
- Stay
- Weave
- Weave
- Spin
- Spin
- Spin
- Over
- Over
- Over
Etc
That is just way too boring and repetitive. You should really mix this up and keep your dog on their toes (or paws) and excited! Make it fun and new!
What else?
As briefly mentioned earlier, we highly recommend keeping your sessions to between 5 – 20 minutes. Want to know why? Check out ‘How to Get the Most Out of Your Training Sessions’.
When you decide the new command, you want to focus on, stick with it! You won’t be able to fully learn this trick in one training session, it will take a few so just remember to be patient. Alongside this, we always encourage that you keep practicing regularly. This can help you improve and get better at tricks to the best of your ability!
The Practice Paws Training Session Tracker
We have created a simple training session tracker for you to use! It is free to download, and no email required!
What does it include? Well, in the first column you write down the name (or verbal cue) of the commands you have focused on. There are 5 rows to do this so that you can really keep a record of the most important 5 commands from that training session. These will probably be your 1 focus command and 4 of your ‘working on’ commands.
Then in the next column, there is space to write some small notes specific to the command. You can write a one worded answer – something like: mastered, learning, great good, working on, not well. Or you can write a short one or two sentences explaining how that trick went.
The final column (furthest to the right) is a big space for notes. These notes regard the whole training session you can write stuff like how your dog behaved, where they distracted? Or even what you want to work on next time etc.
To use this, you can print it out. It has two training tracker tables on one page, you can also cut them out and stick them in your own dog training logbook.
Notes
- This is a basic overview of what we recommend, of course there is also other ways to do your training sessions
- This is mainly a training session for dog owners who want to teach their dogs a bit more advanced commands frequently. However, it can also be used for the ‘just training the basic obedience’ owners
- The training tracker is created and provided by Practice Paws, a full post about this will be out soon
- Our title to this post says ‘The Best way…’. There is basically no ‘best way’ to structure your training sessions, this is just what we view as the best way.