A common question I get asked by my students is how to structure daily training sessions, from the homework I have given in our recent lesson. I like to follow a simple principle which both addresses the way dogs learn, and also one that fits nicely into our busy schedules.
Think 3 to 5, 3 to 5.
What Is the 3 to 5 Rule in Dog Training?
In essence, you want to carve out three to five short training sessions a day, and each of those sessions should run a brief three to five minutes in length. These micro dog training sessions do a number of things that benefit your dog’s learning. They are achievable and give instant feedback into the dog’s understanding of the exercise you are training.
Why Short Dog Training Sessions Work
Quick sessions allow for latent learning—something that I experience frequently in my own dog’s training, making my job easier! Think: less training, more learning. Latent learning occurs without immediate reinforcement or feedback from me well after a session is completed. I will be working on a task with my dog, leave it for a few hours, come back, and my dog can now perform that task to a level he couldn’t before, in the last session. I love it when that happens!
Keeping Motivation High in Short Sessions
Short sessions keep my dog’s motivation and arousal up; for reinforcement-based training, this is a good thing. We don’t want to drill our dog into the doldrums with excessive repetitions. I can get caught in this spiral if I let myself, and so setting a timer for three to five minutes forces me to stop when we are both at a win… not after my dog has lost motivation and is no longer enjoying the training at his peak.
Get Quick Feedback and Stay Flexible
Keeping sessions short gives me quick feedback so I can pivot if I need to, should my learner not progress the way I had intended. Within a few minutes I can assess if we are on the right track, and ending things quickly allows me to reflect if I need to make changes or increase the challenge of the exercise in the next set. Effective dog training is always about doing — and then reflecting. And then doing again!
Stay Focused With Intentional Training
By following my 3 to 5 rule, I am forced to keep my training session very specific, avoiding the tendency to work on too many things at one go. I can just focus on, say, my puppy’s down exercise, rather than doing sits and then downs and then go-to-your-bed and then anything else that comes up due to a lack of focus, muddling things. Setting up a short session really requires being thoughtful and intentional. Because three minutes goes quickly!
Fit Dog Training Into Your Daily Life
We all can find a few minutes a few times a day to put the world aside and give our dog 100% of our attention to his learning. Trying to carve out a big chunk of time in our day is less achievable than grabbing those five minutes you have before you have to take a phone call, or pick the kids up from school. You can use your dog’s meals for some of those short training sessions. Think about one thing you really want to improve this week — maybe it’s teaching your dog to run to his mat on a cue. Give that behaviour your attention for three minutes, three times over the day. That’s 9 minutes total. By the end of the week, you will be surprised at the improvement you see. And your dog will love the attention, the reinforcement and the learning!
