If you are like most people, describing your life as active doesn’t really do it justice. Work, household responsibilities and parenting leave little time to train your fuzzy four footed child. The good news is that you don’t have to make extra time. With very little effort, you can find time to train your dog every day.
FOR THE COFFEE OR TEA DRINKERS, TRAIN YOUR DOG WHILE YOUR FAVORITE BEVERAGE IS BREWING.
If you are a morning person, grab 10 treats teach your dog a new trick while you are waiting.
If you need a couple of cups of coffee in the morning to fuel your brain before you can function, work on something simple such as stay.
INTEGRATE TRAINING INTO YOUR DAILY PET CARE ROUTINE.
Morning meal – Practice a behavior that your dog already knows before work on a you put down the food bowl. Mix it up. Each day ask for a different behavior.
Evening meal – Grab 10 pieces of kibble, work on behavior that you are trying to improve before you put the food bowl down.
Time to go outside? At some point during the day almost all of us take our dogs outside. Use this time work on waiting at the door.
Going for a walk? Take a handful of treats with you. Daily walks are a great opportunity to practice sit, down, and coming when called while your dog is mildly distracted.
INTEGRATE TRAINING INTO YOUR FAMILY’S EVENING ROUTINE.
When you watch TV, use the commercial breaks for training. Grab 10 treats at the beginning of each commercial break, train a new behavior while waiting for your favorite TV show to resume.
Practice coming when called with your dog as you call your kids for meals. As soon as your dog gets to you, reward him and allow him to go back to what he was doing.
You can use meal time to teach your dog to stay on a mat. Toss your pup a piece of kibble occasionally as he lies quietly on his mat.
Everyone has homework. When you help the kids with their homework, help your dog learn self control at the same time. Teach him to leave a treat alone until you tell him that he may have it. For kids that need a little motivation to do their homework, allow them to treat the dog after each math problem.
When it’s time for bed, work on sending your dog to his crate or bed. Challenge yourself to train your dog to run to his crate or bed from any room in the house.
By integrating dog training into your daily schedule, you’ll have many opportunities to train during the day. If you miss training during the morning meal, you can always train on your daily walk. Have fun with training. You’ll be happier and so will your pup.
