The Art of a Great Training Session

Ever feel like your training sessions aren’t getting results? The problem might not be your dog—it might be how you’re structuring the session. Today, we’re breaking down the art of a great training session so you can get faster, more reliable results.

TLDR:

Perfect training session often is just a few minutes working on a single task for as long as our dog is willing work focus or as long as we have time for (even if its just minutes). Don’t go for the perfect session, go for good enough & end on a good note.

What if I told you the perfect training session isn’t the most organized, well-balanced, or focused-driven session, but instead just 5 to 10 minutes devoted to a single task or behavior?

As a young trainer (and even now with more experience), I often fell into the “perfect training session” trap. I would create detailed lesson plans outlining every goal I wanted to work on, how much time I planned to spend, and the ideal location for training.And of course, as you might expect, Murphy’s Law came into effect. No matter how well I planned, something always went wrong — the event at the location I wanted to train at got canceled, unexpected weather hit, or sometimes my dog just wasn’t as focused as I hoped.

So what is the perfect training session?

If my time in school has taught me anything, it’s that “perfect” is the killer of progress; aim for good enough. While we can spend a ton of time planning and setting up, in the grand scheme of things, that's time we could have spent training.Often, our dogs only have so much they can mentally (and physically) handle before they get tired and lose interest. What I’ve discovered is that some of the best training sessions don’t try to cover everything we've ever taught in class or practiced. Instead, they focus on just one behavior.  even if it's only for a few minutes.

A good enough training session

The best times to train are when our dogs are the most focused and excited. Uncoincidentally, feeding time is one of the best opportunities — especially when our dogs are extra hungry! Training around meals does a few important things: it strengthens the bond between us and our dogs, reinforces that we are their leaders (food comes from us, not a magically appearing bowl), and gets them excited and eager to work. Finding moments like this throughout the day is perfect — it's natural, unintrusive, and blends training seamlessly into daily life.

Side note: When rewarding desired behavior, it doesn’t have to be done kibble by kibble. You can reward with a small handfuls, or if time is limited, do just 2–3 reps and then give them the rest of their meal as usual.Remember, the goal isn’t long duration — the goal is quality engagement throughout the day.

Next, pick one or two skills to focus on. I like to follow the mantra: "Learn it, Sharpen it, Own it."

• Learn it: We’re just getting started! The behavior is fresh, a little messy, and needs some hands-on guidance.

• Sharpen it: It’s looking good! Now we fine-tune the details and polish it until it really shines.

• Own it: Nailed it! The behavior is solid, fun, and ready to show off to the world.

  
  

Pick one skill that falls into the Learn it or Sharpen it zone — this will be your main focus.Then, if possible, choose an Own it skill — something your dog already loves and does confidently. Always end your training sessions on one of these high-note skills. We want our dogs to finish happy, successful, and craving more. This helps keep training sessions fun, rewarding, and something your dog will look forward to every time.

That’s it! Simple and easy! Once again, these sessions don’t need to be long, drawn-out affairs. Several short training sessions are better than one long one. Stay positive, and always end on a good note.

If your dog is really struggling, that’s okay! I've had plenty of sessions with my own dogs where they just aren’t "in it" or aren’t understanding what I’m asking. If that happens, no worries! Do something they know well, reward them a few times, and end on a positive note. We can always try again later.

The biggest hurdle in dog training is patience. They will get it — we just need to communicate clearly and be patient. If we can do that, our dogs will come to love training.

Personal Example

When I first went through dog training with my own dog, my instructor introduced me to the concept of blending small training sessions into my everyday routine, rather than carving out a large chunk of time each day to work on everything.

An example of this was teaching my dog not to run up and down the stairs using the "wait" command. At the time, I lived on the 4th floor of an apartment complex — that’s 8 sets of stairs going up and down! Every time I took her outside, that was 16 opportunities to practice the "wait" command. This was perfect: those stairs were already part of my daily routine, and adding the "wait" command only added a few seconds to each set of stairs — maybe a minute or two to our trip.

I didn’t always do it at every step, and when I was really running late, I’d sometimes only do it on one step — if any at all. And that was okay! The key is simply getting some training in. Without surprise, in just 3 days, my dog was owning it! I was no longer getting drug up and down the stairs. She knew the command and the expectation, and I didn’t have to tell her. She just knew. This made everything so much easier, and I was able to use the “wait” command everywhere, not just on the stairs.

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Now, think about how you can incorporate training into aspects of your own life, just like I did with my example. We’d love to hear what works for you and what you come up with! If you ever need help, feel free to reach out to us. Let’s see what we can come up with together!

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