How long does it take to train a dog?
All of us dog owners who have multiple dog households and work with our dogs spend time each day to work each of the dogs individually. Our eldest is now 7 years old and a working Lab I exercised for his owner last night is 9 and both get a little training as top up reminders every day. Remember that doing our will is not a dog’s natural choice so we need to set up reminders of what we see as good behaviour.
How long does it take to train a dog? In short, training is for life so a lifetime of training and reminders is needed but its really not difficult.
How often?
Every day, but let’s not make this sound like killer hard work! I will seize a quick minute or so training a good ‘sit’ or ‘leave it’ with one of my dogs in the kitchen when letting them out. Just a minute here and there, once a dog knows the command, works wonders. Make it fun and make it fast is the answer.
Does it matter if different people train my dog?
In a word yes, when you are initially training your dog it’s best if one person is responsible, this avoids confusion with the dog hearing the same words and seeing the same gestures but with different intonation and timing. However, it’s not always going to be this way. Once the dog knows the command and is reliably doing as they are told the first time the command is given then others can give the command in your place.
Avoid Confusion
Care needs to be taken that the same tone, word and general instruction is given each time. A dog with its regular trainer present, but being given instructions by someone else, will get confused so again one on one is the key and keep it simple. It’s all about practice. I have one little Lab bitch who will only respond to me and wants to check back in with me to see if its OK, if I’m around, for someone else to give her a command. She’s fine if she is one to one with someone else. They are loyal to their owners and want to please so bear this in mind and set up your dog to make it clear for them.
