Ideas for Planning a Training Session
- Coralyn "Cori" Pedota
- Apr 3
- 2 min read
Table of Contents
What is your goal for the individual session?
What are the long-term goals, and how important are those goals?
What techniques will I use?
What will the markers of success be?
What will I do to set myself up for success?
What will I do if things go wrong?
Tracking progress
This post is a teaser excerpt from my Patreon.
Introduction
Planning is going to look and feel different for every individual. Sometimes planning too meticulously takes the wind out of one’s sail before you even start. Sometimes approaching sessions with only loose ideas of what you want to happen is equally disastrous. Everyone has to figure out how to strike the balance of planning versus feeling things out, or getting adventurous.
What is your goal for the individual session?
You may say “yes please” to each thing on this list, but it’s worth reflecting on what feels most important on that particular day, in that particular session.
Enrichment: I want to work my dog’s brain for the sake of working it.
In other words, I want to tire my dog out and leave them feeling satisfied post-session.
Bonding & relationship: I want the training session to feel like teamwork that brings my dog and I closer together.
This could mean increasing our ability to communicate, or it could just mean a feeling of closeness between dog and handler.
Skill-building (life/obedience): I want to build skills that help my dog and I navigate the world together.
Examples: Stays, heel, go to place, staying still for nail trims, etc.
Skill-building (fun/sport): I want to build skills like cute tricks or training for sports such as nosework or Rally.
These skills could be useful sometimes on a day-to-day basis, too!
Emotional response to xyz: I want to change how my dog feels about certain environments, triggers, or other stimuli.
Example: I want my dog to change from over-excited to calm when I put his leash on.
Example: I want my dog to change from nervous to neutral or happy when I take him to a new indoor location.
Example: I want my dog to change from agitated to calm when we see another dog.
Read the rest of this article on Patreon.