training session frequency

[ips]

I generally do formal training (starting and ending with free play with her beloved ball) twice a day every day. I recently read somewhere that too much can be detrimental and that days off were beneficial.

So what are peoples thoughts on frequency and duration of formal training sessions for lets say a two yr old ???

I shall make my self comfy for the conflicting opinions posted

[Hepe]

IF you are funny and innovative and progress your training properly i think you can train a lot. If you are boring, doing the same tedious stuff over and over again or ask too much of the dog you shouldn't train often. It also depends on the breeding of the dog and what you train. I am a very funny happy trainer ( )so mine want to train all the time, they don't want to run around doing nothing. I can train all day or ten times a day and they are always ready to do so. I'm not so organized though so it might take me hours to reach the same goal as a pro trainer does in 10 minutes. So to reach your goal you don't really have to train a lot, mind you. To add, some days i work very long hours and the dogs have to be in the dog run all day, only out for short romps to pee, no training at all. If those days are good or bad training wise i don't know but that's how it is for us.

Helene

[Hepe]

A side note, i get a bit worried when you say you start and end with her beloved ball, does that mean that your start and end playing with the ball is more fun than your training?

Helene

[newf]

I shall make my self comfy for the conflicting opinions posted

The moderator will have to do something about this deliberate trolling.

Depends on the dog. Some will show signs of boredom after a few retrieves while other dogs could find the attention from heeling a blast. It is good to read your dog and quit while things are going well, both in terms of success and enjoyment. So, I think it is better to have a short session once a day and even skip a day or two occasionally for it won't hinder learning; if anything, it can increase focus and enthusiasm. With that being said, training sessions that routinely contain one or all of training evils like confrontation, repetition, confusion or heavily pedantic (even if short and infrequent) will kill enthusiasm and learning.

I agree with Hepe, about the ball playing. One could end up training the dog that training is not fun at all, especially if there are any corrections within the sessions. Make the sessions fun and rewarding.

[ips]

Hepe
No she enjoys training and I try not to be boring. She performs better if she has five mins to run off steam with ball first. Then ball at end as a reward for being steady she mustn't think I am boring as she wants to be with me al the time plus she looks longingly at the training dummies hung up near the door

[ips]

Newf
So in your opinion would it be better to have one "play" session and one "training only" session per day as in separate the two ?
Having said that I tend to use the ball as a reward for being compliant and assumed this was a good idea !!!

[Rough_mut]

Newf
So in your opinion would it be better to have one "play" session and one "training only" session per day as in separate the two ?
Having said that I tend to use the ball as a reward for being compliant and assumed this was a good idea !!!

With my ball obsessed dog, I find it easier to train new behaviours with the ball as opposed to a dummy, then move the behaviour on to a dummy if that makes sense?

I know he cannot get bored of a tennis ball, he's spent 4 years running after the damn thing up and down every steep hill I have found in the Lake District!

If it help my dog repeatedly misses odd days here an there of any meaningful training sessions, I tend to take him to the only place near me with game and just hunt him in the dark with the odd blind stop thrown in. still training you could argue, however it allows a lot of blowing of steam!

I seem to recall its Keith erlandson advised missing a day but I can't remember if this was miss a day of training, or miss a day of feeding....

I'll double check!

Rm

[Hepe]

I use balls in my training and yes the dogs love them. However, it's a part of the training, not 'if you do this boring task you get the ball as a reward'. Instead i use the ball as a part of the training. So when you say you use it for her to blow steam before training i do the same but include that in the training. Tricky hunting with balls dug down, chuck it with balls thrown in tricky cover etc. I agree with the blow steam thing but i use the steam in my training. Same with reward, long marks with a ball is hugely rewarding but very tricky an teach them to hunt well, not just run, so i am a bit confused as to what you do inbetween the ball rewards because this IS my training?

Helene

[ips]

Hepe
First off I use the ball as a reward for her stopping on the whistle just before my field were there is a gateway to a stable block, I don't want her running over the gateway until I am there to ensure no cars coming out. Then she has a run about with her ball for a bit and generally has a comfort break. Then I throw her ball for five mins and allow run ins, she can do what she wants with ball, run in throw it at me drop it whatever. Then the ball goes in pocket and we do some steady retrieves with dummy for ten mins or so incorporating the odd sit stay. Then I do some quartering with her which gives me the opportunity of placing some dummies as blinds when she isn't watching me. Ball comes out again as a reward for stops to whistle then I do some seek backs (I think that's what they are) to the blinds placed earlier she loves these. Then as a reward for all her hard work I let her play with the ball. She knows the difference between steady with dummy and free play with ball and this is exactly what I intended to train from day one. On the hundred yard walk back home I do some stops with ball as reward.
I think it works out fine and I see no detriment to steadiness. Of course the above could be considered totally wrong I have no idea, I just make a lot of it up as we go along

[Naj]

I'm presuming you'll be referring to what Milner said in his book, Ips, that training once a week is as good or better than training every day?

If that's so, the research actually said, if I remember correctly, that it took the same number of sessions training, whether spread out once a week or every day. Think Milner was trying to say that it was better to train less frequently but I don't think the research supported that, just that you can train less frequently but it would take longer that way, which stands to reason. Fluency in learning comes from repetition.


Naj