Training it’s all about the journey!

To My Puppy Parents 🤍

One of the biggest misconceptions I see with young puppies is the belief that one or two training sessions a week will create a well trained dog.

It will not.

At 12 weeks old, the real work does not happen with a trainer once or twice a week. It happens at home. Every single day.

That is not a criticism. It is an empowerment statement. Because the power sits with you.

Formal training sessions are incredibly valuable and I absolutely recommend working with a trainer. Develop a clear plan. Book regular check ins. Refine your timing. Progress your criteria.

You can always check in with me as well. We can develop a plan together. I am more than happy to do check ins, and you are always welcome to ask questions. I will do my best to answer them, and where something sits outside my scope, I am more than happy to direct you to a trusted trainer.

You are not doing this alone.

But understand this, the results do not come from a piece of paper or a text message or the one hour session a week you may do with me or a trainer.

They come from the six days in between.

It takes a minimum of 28 days to develop a behaviour, and that is with consistent repetition. Multiple short sessions per day. Not one long frustrating drill. Not pushing until your puppy checks out. But small, intentional repetitions layered over time. And finishing before your puppy checks out is VITAL!

And here is the part many people misunderstand….

Even after 28 days, you are still rewarding. You are still refining. You are still reinforcing. FOREVER!

The difference is that after that period, the understanding is there. The behaviour has meaning to the dog. You are no longer building from confusion, you are shaping from comprehension.

Your puppy is only 12 weeks old. I do not expect perfection. I want you to have fun together. I want you to building a bond. I want your puppy to look at you like you are the most exciting thing in the environment.

That bond is what carries you through there life and your many chapters.

What I expect is consistency from you. Consistency builds clarity. Clarity builds confidence. Confidence builds stability.

Daily training does not need to be dramatic. Think in micro sessions. Morning after toilet. When you get home from work. After dinner. Before bed. Five to ten minutes maximum per session. One behaviour. Maybe two.

Over the course of a day that might total twenty to thirty minutes, but broken into short, engaging stints that leave your puppy wanting more.

Training at this age should feel like a game. Honestly, training should always feel like a game as payment. You don’t go to work for free, neither should your dog!!!

Big behaviours are built in tiny segments. This is where people rush. We see a finished behaviour on social media, a focused heel, a polished recall, and we try to replicate the finished product immediately. IF YOU TAKE NOTHING ELSE FROM THIS POST PLEASE REMEMBER THAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS A HIGHLIGHT REEL!!!!! You often see the finished product, or the one rep done without reward, or a meticulously edited finished product (as you should because who wants to watch a 10 minute video of me luring a puppy, reward, reset, repeat?)

Dogs do not learn from doing a finished product!!

For example, I do not start by teaching a walking heel.

I teach heel position. And in the beginning, it is not even clean. It is simply teaching the puppy, this is where I want you. If they land roughly in position, I mark. I reward. I reset.

Into heel. Mark. Reward. Reset.

Repeat.

Over and over.

No walking. No duration. No added layers. Just clarity. If they do happen to do a perfect position BONUS REWARDS… YAYYY!

Once they understand position, then we build duration. Once duration is solid, then we add movement. Once movement is consistent, then we refine precision.

Everything is layered. When you skip layers, you create confusion. When you build layers, you create understanding.

Tonight I did ten minutes with each pup. Across the whole day it was probably closer to thirty minutes total, broken into short, fun stints. Nothing dramatic. Nothing flashy.

Just repetition. Just foundation work. Just giving the dogs what they need in this stage of life.

I can already hear it:

• You moved.

• That is not textbook.

• You will create problems later

• The list goes on… and trust me in my biggest critic!!!

So if you have anything negative to provide, or negativity chalked up as friendly advice, I suggest you go elsewhere, there are a few I would accept advice from and they would likely not deliver it the way your planning to!

Here is the truth. Training in real life is not a sterile training hall with perfect execution. It is messy sometimes. It evolves. It grows as you grow.

This is not about perfection. It is about progress. It is about learning and growing alongside your dog. You are shaping them and they are shaping you. We are doing our best in the chapter we are in.

This age is not about titles. It is not about impressing anyone. It is about engagement. Clarity. Consistency. Connection.

It is about the journey.

One day you will look back on this time and you will cherish it. The tiny sits. The messy heels. The food on your fingers. The puppy brain moments.

Bane is one hundred percent my heart dog. We still do foundations all the time. Luring. Resetting. Keeping life fun. Nothing complicated. Nothing rigid.

And then other times we will do several repetitions or positions without immediate reward or luring, followed by a massive play session after the final rep of that set.

Because understanding changes the picture.

Sometimes reinforcement is immediate. Sometimes it is delayed. Sometimes it is food. Sometimes it is the game.

He grounds me and I ground him.

If I have had a bad day, Bane and I go for a walk. We run through long grass. We do small bursts of training here and there. A little heel position. A recall. A moment of eye contact.

Then we move on.

Because training is not separate from life.

It is woven into it.

What good is having an obedient dog if there is no relationship?

If all I wanted was mechanical obedience, I could have bought a three year old, fully trained, out of the box.

But that is not what this is about.

It is about the game.

The fun.

The living.

It is about building a dog who chooses you, not one who simply complies.

We do not rush puppies.

We build them.

And we enjoy them while we do.