Did you know that 1% of your day is 14 minutes? 14 minutes may not seem like a long time but it can be life changing for your dog. Every day people tell me they don’t have time to train their dog. I realize our lives are extremely busy and we are making decisions on how to use our time throughout the day. I also realize humans can find ways to waste time without even knowing it, especially with our easy access to video games and social media. As a new year’s resolution, I challenge you to try to give your dog 1% of your day, just 14 minutes and I promise you will see changes in your dog’s behavior and in your relationship with them.
Because dog’s learn best with short training sessions, 14 minutes a day is perfect. If your dog struggles to stay focused for the whole 14 minutes in a row, then you can do two 7 minutes sessions. Whether you are training basic skills like sit or down, or you are teaching your dogs tricks, you will not only see their behavior change, you will also improve your bond with them.
To encourage you to take the challenge and spend 14 minutes training your dog I have a few tips!
- Set a time that you will train your dog, like you would for an appointment. Put it on your calendar and make sure you do it- just like you would for any other appointment.
- Keep the training sessions fun- that way it will be reinforcing for both you and your dog.
- Set small training goals that can be achieved. When we start out with unrealistic expectations, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment.
- Be careful that you don’t over train your dog. Sometimes when we start having fun with training we forget to stop and then we have burnt our dogs (and ourselves) out.
- Take pictures or video of you training your dog and send it to us! We would love to see your progress! (Or share it on one of our social media pages!)
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