# Puppy Training Schedule??



## Biosphere (Jul 14, 2013)

After nine months of owning our house, my husband and I decided to get our first puppy together. Our shep/lab mix Apollo we picked up from a shelter had been with us just over a month, he turned 18wks last Friday. We do have another dog, an 8 yr old husky we have inherited from my in-laws, a wonderful dog who’s already trained. So we’re still figuring out the training
We decided on something called Progressive Reinforcement Training, which seems like clicker training without the punishment. We’re not looking for anything too advanced or any sort of sports just around the house fun and basic obedience.
So my question is how often to train? I’ve heard sometime 5 minutes and other say until they get bored. Most people we know personally tell just to just wait until the puppy does something and punish them for it. Not what we want to do at all! 
Do I train for 5 minutes every hour or until he gets bored and just do it every three or four hours? Can I set a schedule up for 1-1:10 we work on this, 2-2:30 we work on that? And what should I do if my puppy decides the days been so busy at 1 he wants to sleep? I assume I let him sleep but once he wakes up do we jump right into training? Can I work on take it / drop it cues and leave it at the same time or should everything be a separate session? How long should a cue stay in the training rotation, ie if in two weeks I drop a burger ask him to leave it and he does, can the proofing be taking out of the training rotation or should I still work with him on a leash and walking around a something I want him to leave alone?
How does someone go ahead and set up a training schedule?


----------



## kay88 (May 27, 2013)

Perhaps pros on here will have a different answer, but we don't have a rigid training schedule (other than a few times a day). Once a command is learnt (eg. sit) then we try to incorporate it throughout daily life (eg. sit before you get your food etc). Our formal training sessions are often done when our puppy starts looking bored or if she hasn't shown the "signs" then we do them when she's been awake for a bit. I know that some trainers feel a command should be proofed before moving on to the next one but our puppy would be so bored if we did that. Another thing we found helpful was to use games to make our puppy think...there are actual puzzle toys you can buy (we have two) but you can also just make games out of whatever you have around the house we've used durable tupperware with treat inside and the lid lightly on or a treat in a bag (of course these are supervised activities). 

As far as the drop it/leave it I would say it depends how well your dog knows the command...we might do a "bed" and "down" but she knows those ones well but leave it for some stuff is hard for her to do so we have to do that one on its own.


----------



## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Puppies are like children in their attention spans. There are days when a 2 year old is ok with having dinner at 5 PM and there are days they would prefer to nap or play at 5 PM instead of sitting quietly and eating.

Personally, I never had a strict training schedule in terms of set time limits. I trained off and on throughout the day and kept it fun, if the dog's attention started to waver or we were having issues then I would end it on a good note and take a break for a bit.


----------



## VTGirlT (May 23, 2013)

Hey! Welcome to the forums!

And congratulations on your new addition to your family!

5-10 minute sessions sounds about right for his age. Make sure to rotate where you do training sessions, keep them fun, watch for signs when he is getting bored, end on a good note and play with a game with him after!
I am doing a 15 minute session outside and a few 5-10 minute sessions in the house. When learning new things, train in a place where there are no distractions. Make sure when you do add distractions you also up the value of your treats. I give my pup chicken now and she loves it for when we are out on walks or in a store. But when we are in the house even her own kibble will work as a treat.

If you are into progressive reinforcement training, boy are you in for a treat! I just recently found this dog trainer on Youtube. She is amazing because she is explains well, has results, and has over 200 videos on many different things. 

Kikopup:





 




 




 




 




 




 




 


Have fun training!


----------



## Biosphere (Jul 14, 2013)

kay88 said:


> Our formal training sessions are often done when our puppy starts looking bored or if she hasn't shown the "signs" then we do them when she's been awake for a bit.


Thanks for the advice i'll start looking for these signs and we'll see how many we get in a day. Guess the schedule part we'll just kinda wing it.

Shade: Thanks for the reminder, we'll make sure to end the training session on a possitive note and not just when the puppy's bored

VTGirlT: Thanks for the video links, it was actually watching a few of kikopups videos that we decided it to go with that training style.


----------

