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Life can
get pretty busy at times,
career, children, relationships,
housework, it sometimes feels
like adding one more “duty”
could be the straw that breaks
the camel’s back. At times like
this, it is important to realize
that training is just not that
demanding. Ten minutes, twice a
day does not make a great impact
on your schedule. So, let’s look
at a few good ways to find a few
minutes to train with your dog.
1) Make training your dog a
priority. Put it on your
daily “to do” list and enjoy
the satisfaction of crossing
training off your list of
things to do. In order to
achieve your goal of having
a well-behaved dog, you must
make time for training.
2) Train as you go. Work on
a command or two as you go
about your everyday
activities. Save a tasty
tidbit as you are cooking
dinner and have your dog
come, sit and down. Give
your dog a commanding “come”
as you are putting the kids
to bed. By integrating
training into your routine,
you are accomplishing your
daily goal of training and
letting your dog know that
commands are expected to be
obeyed under a wide range of
circumstances.
3) Train during commercial
breaks as you watch TV in
the evening. Just think of
the tremendous amount of
time the average person
spends in front of the TV
watching commercials and bad
shows. What an opportunity!
4) Keep dog treats in your
pockets so that you can take
advantage of a few minutes
each day to practice a
command or two as you put
the dog in the car or take
the garbage out. Practicing
outdoors is very valuable.
5) Place a jar of training
treats by the sofa. Just
seeing the jar of treats
will remind you to practice
the tricks and commands that
you are working on. It will
also insure that treats are
easily available for
rewarding random good
behavior while you are
relaxing on the sofa.
6) Get up ten minutes early
to take advantage of the
quiet time. Ten minutes is
not that much earlier, and
you may come to value this
“alone time” with your
buddy.
7) If you work close to
home, stop in to have your
lunch and then throw in a
few minutes of training
time. The break from work
will be relaxing for you,
and your dog will be
thrilled with the unexpected
attention.
8) Get your children
involved. Teach them what
you have learned about
training and supervise them
at first. Kids are usually
naturals at dog training;
after all, kids and dogs
have a lot in common.
9) Take your dog with you to
social events when possible.
The interaction with other
people and dogs is good for
her socialization. This is
also a great time to “show
off” a few of her newest
tricks and commands. Don’t
let those “soccer moms”
showing off their newest
kids pictures be the only
ones with bragging rights.
I’ll bet those kids can’t
come, sit, down and stay to
silent commands!
10) Realize that ten minutes
is just not that long. Get
up, get going and it will be
over before you know it. Be
careful, when you train with
a good attitude, as you
should, it will be so much
like fun that you might end
up going fifteen minutes.
I hope these ten tips will
be helpful. Personally, I
could add at least a
half-hour of training to
each day if I turned off the
TV more often. Good luck and
good training!
Julie Winkelman
© Alpha Canine Academy LLC
ALPHA CANINE ACADEMY LLC
(970) 382-5937
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER
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