05/16/2026
Replacing Old Habits
Your dog has had a lot of practice doing the things you don't want them to do; those habits are pretty well ingrained. So, how does training fix this?
Training works well when we put in the time to practice new habits every day, to get the dog living their life in a different way. This means practicing new habits much more frequently than old habits, and using management techniques to reduce your dog's ability to keep rehearsing old, unwanted behaviours.
If we only show up to training sessions once a week and don't put in any work in between, guess what happens? Not much! Your dog gets an hour of practice in a whole week, and for the remainder of those days, they're doing the same thing they've always done. We can't get meaningful change that way - the same way you wouldn't get any meaningful change on an exercise program that had you work hard for an hour once a week, while you sat on the couch for the rest of the week! What we do on a regular basis becomes who we are, so make sure you're not leaving your dog to their own devices in between working with the trainer.
Practice sessions don't have to be long and drawn out - in fact, it's much better to keep it short and sweet so you and your dog don't get bored, frustrated, or burnt out. Don't make it feel like a chore; keep it to a fun little increment of time spent bonding with your dog a few times a day. If any part of the training feels too hard, take a break, reflect on it, and come back to it later with an idea of how to do things differently.
Practice, practice, practice!
Practice is an essential piece of the dog training puzzle, so don't miss out!
