How To Save A Bad Training Session

It may surprise you to learn that even those of us like myself, your dog training instructors who you rely on for answers to your burning dog training questions – have bad training sessions too 

What defines a bad training session? Well hopefully it would just be a bad session from your point of view and not your dogs. By which I mean I hope that your dog doesn’t leave the session not wanting to do another one anytime soon 

My hope for you is that training time with your dog is a joy not a chore, and that it makes you feel uplifted and positive when you spend time learning new skills together.

But I do understand, perhaps more than most, that life does have a nasty habit of getting in the way of the things that we enjoy doing. Our lives seem to be getting busier and busier, and sometimes our list of responsibilities can seem endless.

Last night I had booked my girls and I in for an evening of agility course running, an opportunity to stretch our legs and iron out any kinks before Ella and I compete at this weekends UK Agility Grand Finals. I had been looking forward to it since I snuck it in the diary 🙂

Unfortunately that whilst Ella & Jade were extremely eager to play the game, I am suffering from a rather heavy head cold and running around felt like torture rather than something to be savoured  😯

Whilst I’ll admit I was very disappointed not to be able to make the most of the special time with my dogs, it did remind me of some key rules to bear in mind when partaking in training sessions with any dog:

1. They didn’t ask to be there. It is only fair that we make it a positive experience for them 🙂
2. Sometimes our expectations should be dialled down a bit – sometimes it’s better to do something simple and get it right than do something badly and get it wrong
3. Failure is a part of learning – a fact our dogs often find easier to accept than ourselves 
4. Some training sessions aren’t about major improvement, sometimes they’re just small stepping stones on the road to success
5. Our dogs aren’t with us nearly so long as we’d like. Any opportunity to spend time with a precious dog is time well spent 🙂

Do you struggle do enjoy training sessions with your dog because of outside pressures on your time? What would make it easier and more enjoyable? Please comment below with your thoughts and ideas so that together we can create more enjoyable and positive training experiences for you and your dog 🙂