Hi all , and a very happy 2003 to all.
Question~ how much training of a small pup ( 10 wks ) is too much? how much should i be teaching her right now? at present i do about 5 mins training a day~sit/paw/down at the moment.All day is spent with general house training~toilet and what she can and cannot do.She has started a little lead training,though shes so slow and laid back she dosent pull much and way!
I just wondered id this was too little? if you spent more time on training than this? what other things should i be teaching now?
Any tips?
Zoe x

Hi Zoe,

it depends on how active and curious your dog is. Just trust you common sense. A puppy will show you very fast when it's enough. *yawn* :)

Taylor

I'd say it depends on the dog.
Mine wanted to learn and so I used to do a couple of minutes several times a day (still do!). Sit, stand, down, speak, watch etc, etc, followed by a good play :)
I do obedience training and comp's so I taught from day one but, I did have willing 'pupils' and we always stopped when the going was good ;)

I was training Dill from about 7 weeks onwards, but only when he was in the mood to listen too me. I didnt see the point at that age of making him do stuff if he wasnt in the mood.
I built it up from 2 sessions of a few minutes a day, to three ten minute sessions every day. That said, some of those sessions are just me and him, playing together, grooming etc, as well as clicker training sits, stand, down, paw, wait etc etc.
Just be fun, and stop well before the pup gets bored of stuff.

Emma

Hi Zoe, I train from early on too. I think little sessions once a day, and it doesn't have to be formal sessions either, like getting a sit before feeding, teaching a stand when you are grooming all adds up. Making it fun it the most important thing. I attend obedience classes and agility anyway. but do a bit with each dog daily. The kids like to train as well, Alfie gets Decoy (mainly cos Decoy does whatever anyone tell him anyway and its fun for alfie), Harry- mauser, and me the Monster and we sometimes all have a little training session together in the garden. with pups keep it short or they get bored. Julie:)

It sounds about right to me...main thing is not to bore the pup as she will not learn if you do too much. Little & often is the best way, and I suspect you could give her two or three "5 minute" sessions in a day.