How much is too much?

[Carlasl]

Just curious how often and how long you train your dog, and of course what kind of drive your dog has....

 

Maya is almost 15mo old, and has a very high drive.

 

We usually do some agility training almost every day, usually they are very short sessions (10-15min). She has always seemed okay with everything and I generally try to quit before she is ready (sometimes I miss it and push a little too much but not usually).

 

Just recently she has REALLY started getting the point of all this, we have also recently start doing some very short sequences and she LOVES it, she doesn't seem to get tired of what I am asking and when we go inside to rest she is barking at me to go back out shortly.

 

I do NOT want to burn her out on Agility, if we did a lot of work on something one day, I try to do something totally different another and I really do try have some days where we don't do any agility at all, but that is tough for me because I have so much fun.

 

I am thrilled to have a dog like this especially after trying to train Skye for agility (she was not happy). Maya is high drive, toy AND food motivated, LOVES to learn new things, picks things up easily, doesn't shut down, and generally seems to enjoy doing everything I ask her. I am having a blast!

[gcv-border]

It sounds like you have a great partner. I don't see any wrong with your current pattern. Once she is 18-24 months old, I might even add another 10-15 minute session during the day as long as she is still eager to train.

 

I like the fact that you are adding in other activities. One of Europe's top agility trainers/handlers, Sylvia Trckman, believes that teaching your dog tricks (she says teach them 100 tricks - I can not even THINK of 100 tricks) will transfer to better agility handling and a better bond. Another viewpoint: my rehab vet says that freestyle moves (particularly where they have to know where their hind end is) helps them physically, in addition to mentally. (I just can not get excited about freestyle so I do a few backing exercises with my dog to keep his back and hind end strong and leave it at that. I should probably do more.)

 

I am sure you have read the recent posts on motivation. I really like the ideas about breaking up agility training with fetch, frisbee, etc. At home, I will run a few short sequences, then throw a toy a few times. At class, he can re-do sequences many times without a problem, but class is only once a week (sometimes even less depending on the weather.)

 

Keep up the good work,

Jovi

 

Just curious how often and how long you train your dog, and of course what kind of drive your dog has....

 

Maya is almost 15mo old, and has a very high drive.

 

We usually do some agility training almost every day, usually they are very short sessions (10-15min). She has always seemed okay with everything and I generally try to quit before she is ready (sometimes I miss it and push a little too much but not usually).

 

Just recently she has REALLY started getting the point of all this, we have also recently start doing some very short sequences and she LOVES it, she doesn't seem to get tired of what I am asking and when we go inside to rest she is barking at me to go back out shortly.

 

I do NOT want to burn her out on Agility, if we did a lot of work on something one day, I try to do something totally different another and I really do try have some days where we don't do any agility at all, but that is tough for me because I have so much fun.

 

I am thrilled to have a dog like this especially after trying to train Skye for agility (she was not happy). Maya is high drive, toy AND food motivated, LOVES to learn new things, picks things up easily, doesn't shut down, and generally seems to enjoy doing everything I ask her. I am having a blast!

[Mariji]

Your routine sounds fantastic. As long as you mix it up and keept them short I see nothing wrong with a couple of short sessions a day. I would do a bit of agility with my girls everyday for 5 mins maybe a couple of times a day if we are doing something new. Right now I am doing Weave Poles with Seek so we do it just once or twice a day for about 5 minutes. I am shaping tricks with Myla so we do a 5 minutes session once a day with some frisbee practice and core fitness (she is on rest break from possible injury) and I am teaching tricks with some contact work with my puppy Echo. I train once a day everyday as I said what we are training varies. We play games constantly to keep it fun and switch it up between tricks and agility. As long as it is heaps of fun there is nothing wrong with it. Our training sessions can even be just games of tug or frisbee. Sounds like you have an awesome routine.

[Maralynn]

I think pretty much if you quit before the dog is ready, you're fine. If you work until the dog is slowing down or ready to quit then you've worked too much. For some dogs is 30 seconds, for others it's 20 min all depending on the age, the drive, the eagerness, the maturity of the dog.

[SecretBC]

If you treat agility like a game, there is no reason your dog would not want to do it for short sessions daily. If you hover & drill, however, your dog will likely learn to hate it.

 

Typically, I might do two days of agility work and then do nothing agility-related on the third, then maybe another day of agility, then another day off. It really all depends on my trial schedule. With Secret, I try to incorporate agility obstacles into her play sessions -- So I always have some jumps set up to send her over before I throw her ball for her. Doing this has built up her drive and speed over jumps, something she needed badly.

 

Just watch your dog. You'll be able to tell if they are getting bored and need a change of routine.

[Frogs & Dogs]

Kit will be 2yo tomorrow (!) and is very high drive. Maybe only medium energy, though.

 

Right now we have disc class on Mon nights, agility on Tues nights, then a break on Wed, we play disc on Thurs, break on Fri, and often a disc competition on the weekend. I keep training sessions short (about 10 mins) and give plenty of water/walking breaks. Sometimes I'll throw in a little agility training in the backyard on a day off, but it's short and easy because I don't have a huge area or a ton of equipment. I find that freestyle tricks are an easy way to wear Kit out mentally without having to worry about the stress/strain of too much jumping. We probably do 5mins/day of freestyle tricks, and she probably knows 25 or so. 100 is a great goal, but how do you think up that many tricks? I'm already resorting to arcane tricks like cross-paws (both ways), chorus-line kicks, jumping over my airplane arms (while kneeling), etc.

[Root Beer]

We probably do 5mins/day of freestyle tricks, and she probably knows 25 or so. 100 is a great goal, but how do you think up that many tricks? I'm already resorting to arcane tricks like cross-paws (both ways), chorus-line kicks, jumping over my airplane arms (while kneeling), etc.

 

The Book 101 Dog Tricks is a pretty good source for trick ideas. I wouldn't use some of the methodology outlined in the book, but the tricks themselves are pretty good.

 

Tricks can also be combinations. For instance, you could teach your dog to back away several steps, lie down, and cross paws while still at a distance. Or back away several feet and run up to jump over your arm. Or you could teach something like: go out around a pole, come back and weave through your leg, go out around the pole, come back and weave through your leg. Etc.