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Hey everyone.
So, it's no secret I love training my dogs (and other people's dogs too!). I find there is always something I could be working on, whether it is obedience, sport-related, or fun tricks. My husband just bought me a new camcorder for recording my training sessions so I can a) watch my mechanics and timing and b)I'll need it when I take the KP Dog Training program since you need to submit footage. With all my excitement, I've been doing quite a bit of training, which got me thinking that maybe I'm over-training.
Some background:
-Two dogs, trained individually (the one who isn't working is either in a crate, or on their mat/down-stay)
-Heidi is 6 months, Levi is a few months over a year old
-Training sessions range from between 5-20 minutes depending on the behavior
-They each go to class once a week for an hour (Levi actually is going to be my demo-dog for teaching, so he'll go a little more often, like 3 times a week, even though he won't be working the whole time)
-Heidi gets mainly just obedience, and a few cute tricks like paw, go around etc.
-Levi is doing jump grids, advanced obedience, lots of tricks, and dog-sport specific behaviors
-The training sessions happen 4 or 5 times a day.
Things I've noticed:
-They're tired a lot! You'd never guess that they are two "crazy" breeds. Which makes me think I'm over-working them.
-They are always wanting more when we are training. Heidi in particular seems to absolutely THRIVE in training.
So I guess my question is, am I over-doing it? Should I be more relaxed, especially with Heidi? Thanks everyone!
So, it's no secret I love training my dogs (and other people's dogs too!). I find there is always something I could be working on, whether it is obedience, sport-related, or fun tricks. My husband just bought me a new camcorder for recording my training sessions so I can a) watch my mechanics and timing and b)I'll need it when I take the KP Dog Training program since you need to submit footage. With all my excitement, I've been doing quite a bit of training, which got me thinking that maybe I'm over-training.
Some background:
-Two dogs, trained individually (the one who isn't working is either in a crate, or on their mat/down-stay)
-Heidi is 6 months, Levi is a few months over a year old
-Training sessions range from between 5-20 minutes depending on the behavior
-They each go to class once a week for an hour (Levi actually is going to be my demo-dog for teaching, so he'll go a little more often, like 3 times a week, even though he won't be working the whole time)
-Heidi gets mainly just obedience, and a few cute tricks like paw, go around etc.
-Levi is doing jump grids, advanced obedience, lots of tricks, and dog-sport specific behaviors
-The training sessions happen 4 or 5 times a day.
Things I've noticed:
-They're tired a lot! You'd never guess that they are two "crazy" breeds. Which makes me think I'm over-working them.
-They are always wanting more when we are training. Heidi in particular seems to absolutely THRIVE in training.
So I guess my question is, am I over-doing it? Should I be more relaxed, especially with Heidi? Thanks everyone!
