# Typical Training Schedule



## Nicole Keith (Jul 1, 2012)

What does a typical week of training look like for some of you? I am trying to balance training/conditioning and rest properly. I know all dogs are different and I'm finding thresholds but just wondering what the more experienced find to be benefiting when preparing a dog for an intense summer.


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

I was going to start a thread like this because I am the most unorganised trainer ever.
Also I have noticed it is better to train some stuff before others otherwise it makes the job harder. 
Like I have always trained OB before bitework, yet recently I have read on here that doing it that way is arse backwards if you want your dog to excel in the bitework. Some info from really experienced people would be very cool indeed.


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## Brian Anderson (Dec 2, 2010)

Matt Vandart said:


> I was going to start a thread like this because I am the most unorganised trainer ever.
> Also I have noticed it is better to train some stuff before others otherwise it makes the job harder.
> Like I have always trained OB before bitework, yet recently I have read on here that doing it that way is arse backwards if you want your dog to excel in the bitework. Some info from really experienced people would be very cool indeed.


Matt all that stuff depends on the dog .. I know that sounds like a cop out answer but its true. There are no hard fast rules pretty much ...because they are all different. Also depends on what the ultimate goals with the dog are.


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

Cool, I'll stick with my disorganisation then, lolz


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## Christopher Smith (Jun 20, 2008)

A lot depends on what you are doing with the dog. For instance, a tracking dog should be conditioned differently than frisbee dog.


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## Jane Jean (Sep 18, 2009)

I agree, and if you are extremely competitive or not plays into it. Or if the dog is being trained for a career not sport.

For me, my dog is my companion first and we train to keep us both balanced. I do short obedience or scent discrimination, core condition round daily, try to track often(but live in MI so tracking season is limited). I've also taken a four or 5 day break from it all and my dog is just fine with being a companion.
I train with someone locally once or twice weekly for some ob, agility, retrieves, directionals, enthusiasm building~ whatever and then once a week with my IPO club(2 hour drive). Try to do many workshops if possible as well, whether auditing or working spot.
If I had my way, I wouldn't work a day job and just play/train/work with my dogs as if it was my career. Sadly reality bites.


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## Nicole Keith (Jul 1, 2012)

thanks for the thoughts. :0 

It's hard not to be random with it


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## lannie dulin (Sep 4, 2012)

So...is anyone going to answer the post? She didn't ask for advice on her training. She asked you about yours. If you are S/R Dog trainer share on that, if you do IPO, share on that. So many post and not one answer.

I'll respond, now, because if I don't I'll get flamed by the trolls. However, I'm just a rookie, and don't have a program mapped out yet either.

1) I train with a helper doing bite work once a week. 
2) I do OB 3 to 4 times a week. Once or twice on the weekend and at least twice during the week.
3) I have pups so not much conditioning. I have a spring pole for my 1 y/o we just started using once or twice a week. 
4) Once a week during the week I work with the 5 m/o on a plush tug. Very little resistance, mainly just chase, bite, and hold it wait for him to counter with a deeper bite and let him win.

My goals are to compete in IPO


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

That's a good point Lannie. I usually steer clear of these discussions because while I belong to a club and train my dog for sport more goes into environmental/physical conditioning then I put into sport work. From discussions with other club members this is somewhat unorthodox.

Regarding to sport exclusively, starting next week I will meet with the club once a week until we move outdoors. At home I do about 1-3 very short sessions (on any given day) usually 2-4 days per week.

I once asked a similar question and got what I thought was a good answer. It's not the quantity of time that matters as much as the quality of the time spent.


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

I read an article somewhere that basically said less is more with dog training, in terms of number of times a week and duration. If I can find it I will post it.

It may help.


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

I'm actually exploring what to do with a high drive yet noise/environment sensitivity dog. I don't see the dogs I work with as having thresholds issues for training at home. I'm a firm believer that dogs are den animals. I also separate in drive and instinctual work from others as well as competition vs. training. These are things you have to sort out for the individual dog. I can train my competition dog daily and probably all day. She lives for the work. I should add that my off stock work invovles ZERO corrections. My on stock work can but mostly, doesn't. Stock training away from home--no issues. Agility training away from home--some signs of stress but performs. Obedience away from home indoors--tons of stress. What I didn't know about the dog is that she was sound/environment conditioned instead of genetically obliviious. Ultmately, the more I've competed with her and worked her in what is for heri is heavy noise conditions, the worse she has gotten and now associates it with the activity itself which she was nutso over previously. Just learned that life before me involved competition outdoors and 1/2 hour private lessons indoors so I've been wayyyyy beyond her previous situation. 

I think what's advisable for any dog depends on several factors and you have to look to the dog to figure it out. As my puppies are growing up for stock training, its instinct in terms of how much they are up too. Right now I have an 18-month old bitch that I would say is better with every other day in terms of stock training. My male pup probably daily. The bitch like her mom before has a more reactive wound up drve. My male has a calm drive. I think its definitely an issue of the dog's individual nervous system and other temperament traits. I have a book somewhere that says dogs require up to 17 hours of sleep/rest following a stress to the nerve/adrenal system. I do think that if it is an "in drive" activity, that's stress minimizing. 

You have to test your dog to see how he responds. With one of mine, I've made notes on how she is with consecutive days of training and consecutive days of competition. All my dogs can be different so there is no "typical." But that said, my dogs get some aspect of training daily. When I take them out for walks, I work on recalls and call-offs from drive activity. So test your dog to see how he handles different schedules and what he needs for ideal performance and minimal stress.

T


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## Faisal Khan (Apr 16, 2009)

Nicole Keith said:


> What does a typical week of training look like for some of you? I am trying to balance training/conditioning and rest properly. I know all dogs are different and I'm finding thresholds but just wondering what the more experienced find to be benefiting when preparing a dog for an intense summer.


A typical week is club training 2-3 times a week. During this time we work on tracking, OB and bite work. These sessions give us an idea on what to work on in non-club training session where it is just you and the dog. There are typically 2-3 such sessions on non club training days.

So in short 2-3 times a week with club and 2-3 times a week on your own on non club training days. Whether this formula works or not depends on the results you get in a few years following a training routine. If you end up titling and competing then it was successful. If not, then the training program/goals need to re-evaluated.


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

We trained mostly once a week - obedience and protection on one evening.

Tracking was done at the weekend with the club.

Tracking is good if you can do 2-3 times a week.

Obedience I did about 3 x a week. 

A week before a trial, I laid low, i.e. each day a sendaway - no tracks, no protection, just a few fun exercises that had nothing to do with trial work.


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## Elaine Matthys (May 18, 2008)

As my dogs are multi sport dogs, I train as much as possible as often as possible. 

There's IPO club training once a week, agility lesson once a week, obedience and agility practice every day, tracking 3-4 times a week in the summer, agility trials 2-4 weekends a month, and as much exercise as I can possibly give them in between all of the above - biking seems to give the most exercise with limited time.

I'm rather obsessive about training so even taking my dogs out to potty gives me a chance to get in some random downs, sits, and stands at a distance.


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## Nicole Keith (Jul 1, 2012)

Thanks guys, those are a LOT clearer answers. 



I suppose I was asking because I was interested in what people do to avoid burnout and overstressing when balancing ob/tr/bw and conditioning. 

THIS is what I have noticed as a possibility .......as Terrasita says. 
_*"Ultmately, the more I've competed with her and worked her in what is for heri is heavy noise conditions, the worse she has gotten and now associates it with the activity itself which she was nutso over previously. Just learned that life before me involved competition outdoors and 1/2 hour private lessons indoors so I've been wayyyyy beyond her previous situation. *_

I am finding that the more we go and do things, the more bitework there is, the more serious focus and more stimulating exercises, the more it bleeds over into general high drive at which point he gets a bit more stressy/reactive. I am trying to find the balance point. 


He is SUPER high drive and that gets scattered very easily and it appears it turns into stress with him at this age when pressure is added so i'm trying to evaluate the situation. 

Thanks for all the answers. I really appreciate it. Good info here and thanks for taking the initiative to help


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

This is pretty cool Terrasita and Nicole, don't know if you are already aware of it, just thought I would bring it to your attention.

http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/OverallRelaxationProtocol.pdf


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## Elaine Matthys (May 18, 2008)

My youngest is so crazy high drive that he sort of vibrates all the time. There is no limit to the amount of training and exercise he can get and the more the merrier. 

The most important thing with a dog like this is to make training and exercise fair, fun, and clear. Without that all that crazy drive isn't being channeled properly and it just sort of leaks out all over the place where you don't want it, causing all kinds of problems.


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## Nicole Keith (Jul 1, 2012)

Hey Matt, that was cool. I like having the outline :0 I have never jogged in place in front of or next to the dog! AHAHAHHAA. Now I have a whole list of silly things. Maybe I'll go out to the street and do jumping jacks while he sits next to me at a stoplight where all the cars, bikers and dogs and people pass.  Or at a bus stop! AHAHAHAHAAHAHHA Go sing and dance and clap! AHAHAHHAHAH so funny. 

Elaine, agreed. :0 The energy comes in useful when it's being channeled properly. At least training is never boring right? more likely to be aneurysmically exciting... in a heart attack or whiplash kinda way. :0 LOLLLLLL


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Matt Vandart said:


> This is pretty cool Terrasita and Nicole, don't know if you are already aware of it, just thought I would bring it to your attention.
> 
> http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/OverallRelaxationProtocol.pdf


Hi Matt:

Karen Overall has done a lot of work with fears/phobias. The tasks that she outlines, my dog in question is trained wayyyy beyond. Her difference tends to be more of 10 dog/handler teams vs. 100+ in an indoor environment. Also, my dog has five years of work/issues that I don't know anything about so I'm having to watch her to try to figure out how she sees the world. The hard part about her is that she has some baggage and I don't know where it came from. 

T


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Matt Vandart said:


> This is pretty cool Terrasita and Nicole, don't know if you are already aware of it, just thought I would bring it to your attention.
> 
> http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/OverallRelaxationProtocol.pdf


That was a bit of an interesting read.


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

It is indeed, I read all sorts of shit most days, my head is nearly full, I need to be more selective these days, need to focus on tracking information lol

I think the key to this protocol is to make the dog so bored it just gives up on life so never cares about anything again.


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

Matt Vandart said:


> It is indeed, I read all sorts of shit most days, my head is nearly full, I need to be more selective these days, need to focus on tracking information lol
> 
> I think the key to this protocol is to make the dog so bored it just gives up on life so never cares about anything again.


 
Its not boredom but relaxation. The massage stuff works. This protocol probably fits more the pet envrionment that isn't accustomed to training this stuff whereas you could adapt this to a more sophistically trained working/perforance dog. For instance the best day at the trials last weekend with my dog, I was doing 1-minute down stays for rewards and massages. Also, did some retrieves with her dumbell which relaxes her as well. Keeping her busy with marker/reward is the best thing for her. 

T


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

Lol, it was joke.

^^ Wish there was a like button though ^^


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## Nicole Keith (Jul 1, 2012)

Hey Matt, I did the relaxation protocol. I had funny results. 

I don't work, so all day every day is spent with my dog. We are almost always alone and when we are in the house I don't talk so much. When I do talk it is on the phone or it is directly to my dog. 

So, obviously they are VERY simple tasks that most of our dogs do in their sleep however something really funny happened. When I counted out loud, the dog got crazy  He did not know what to do with me counting out loud, he thought it was to him. He started jumping into a fuss position and staring at me, then he starting turning in circles then laying down, standing up, then barking, eventually doing a weak bark and hold at me  LOL, he was totally freaked out I was talking and thought it was to him. AHAHAHAHAHAHHA

so I counted out loud the rest of the day before he got to do something or get something. It only took about 5 minutes and he was cool but it was interesting to see this. I know that my voice is a super stimulant but didn't realize how bad it was  totally interesting. 

Yeah, it may be designed more for pets but I think it's really great for a high drive dog, even for before going to work it will be something I do to bring the focus in a bit and get the mind relaxed and ready. 

Not to mention you can do all of this in sitz, platz, steh, etc. and it gives a full out exercise/drill to take when you go to work distraction. I can trot right up to a dog park and have a full training 'workout' ready to do right outside the fence. Not have to think..."what should I do now" etc. 

sometimes the super 'easy' stuff is way overlooked in competitive training. I have seen this with my old team mates. Dogs could do what they needed on teh field but they were dumbfounded if someone told them to do something away from their normal routine in their normal area. That's not trained to me. That's brainwashed.


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## rick smith (Dec 31, 2010)

interesting about the generalizing concept .... i can relate a similar "generalizing" incident that happened yesterday when some students were over here

- your working dog knows how to refuse hot dogs tossed at them on the training field, without you saying a word.....right ? 
- is it as solid at home too ??

- so my dog is with some kids and i'm tossing the mutt some treats...they think it's way cool because the faster i toss them the better he catches them...so then i tell them he won't catch them in his mouth if i tell him NOT to and immediately they say "NO WAY" .... so i toss some more that he scarfs and without stopping, tell him no, keep tossing, and they bounce off his muzzle and drop to the floor ... then a make a big deal about slowly raising my hand to point like i'm gonna tell him it's ok to get em; but i platz him instead.....more shock and awe for the little kids //lol//

not exactly the same as "field work", but fun stuff that my dog and I like, and good for mental training around "noisy distractions" .... part of my "typical training schedule"


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## Matt Vandart (Nov 28, 2012)

^^^I like this ^^^


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## Karen M Wood (Jun 23, 2012)

As far as training for Payne i work her 3 days a week. Monday night is agility, she is learning to work at novice levels now and hope to start competing soon. (Awaiting some paperwork to come in.)
Wed. is standard obedience. (AKC) type stuff. And she does an Open/Utility class with one instructor and a novice class with another instructor. Once in a while i do a littler conformation on that night, just for something different.
Fridays i go to the IPO class which is mostly obedience and protection.
And if don't have anything on saturday morning i try to get out early for a track or two. The tracking group is a bit informal but i really need the others to goal me because i find tracking a bit boring.
My trainer it claiming that there are not too many high level tracking bulldog. (So i have some modivation to do better) :wink: 
I got this little dog to have something to work and work her i shall.
K


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Elaine Matthys said:


> I'm rather obsessive about training so even taking my dogs out to potty gives me a chance to get in some random downs, sits, and stands at a distance.


I don't even call this obsessive. 

I too do short little sessions throughout the day.


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

Potty "sits" are extremely interesting in my mind


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Gillian Schuler said:


> Potty "sits" are extremely interesting in my mind



:lol: :lol:


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