I haven't had a lot of time to visit the forums lately (working 2 jobs, family, etc.)

I have to confess that I am going through a lazy phase in Chumlee's training. Chum is a NM, 6 year old rescue golden that we adopted in August 2011. We are his third (and final) home.

Chum needs work on his leash walking, his recall and his down, and to be honest, a lot more. He's very reactive to other dogs and difficult to control when we meet one, so we are VERY early risers so we can exercise and avoiding meeting other dogs. In his favor, he is smart, adorable and has perfect house manners

I correct any misbehavior, but know I need to get moving forward again with his training. How do you stay motivated in your training regimens?? Do you go to training classes? Do you have a chunk of time scheduled each day to train or do you do multiple short informal sessions? How did you choose the training method for your dog?

I exercise him faithfully each and every morning, regardless of weather, but I just can't get myself to work on his training.

I need some motivation (and probably a kick in the butt )

Brianne,
You are not the only one! Mack is 18 months and just doesn't have the focus of my previous dogs. I was getting frustrated and decided to take a break and slow down. I need to get back in the swing of things with him. We couldn't pass our CGC test because he simply can't greet another person walking a dog without getting deliriously excited and also because he barks when I leave him with a stranger and go out of the room.

So I need to get serious and back to work and soon. I think I need to schedule in a specific time of day that we train every day. Just need to figure out a time. Something to consider too.... Great advice from a trainer on this forum who I have tons of respect for was that you should keep a journal on what you're working on daily, goals etc and track your progress. I have a list of training and behavior books to read that I keep in the notebook I've started, now I just need to start tracking our training.

Thanks for inspiring me to bring it back out. I'll be interested to see the responses here.
Kristy

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Ellie and Mack

What type of exercise are doing with him. If it is walking you can do the obedience training while you take him for a walk. Practice his downs and recalls. It is good for the both of you and it mixes things up and makes the walks less boring.

If the weather is not horrible I walk Jige while I am in Walker on tuesdays and thursdays. Walker is right on a huge lake and so if it is cold and rainy the whole town is cold, but on these walks I practice things for rally.

Everyday I do field work with Jige faithfully even if I dont feel like. I usually work him for 1hr or more every night.

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U-CH, CGC, TDI Top Flights Reap What You Sow " BaWaaJige"

I need "goals" to keep me motivated. And attending classes every week helps, since if you do not train any other day of the week, you will train at class.

So you need to set yourself goals every year and attend classes.

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Always loved, never forgotten, all our previous boys -

I happen to not only enjoy my dogs progress with training I'm also competitive which can be good or bad depending . Seeing my dogs getting more precise and learning new things is quite rewarding to me, but I know everyone isn't in to competitive dog shows but setting a goal to accomplish a certain behavior in your dog and actually getting them to learn it is a big incentive. Try to train your dog with a goal in mind and have the patience to see it thru . Baby steps at first and with each success you will become more motivated and remember Rome wasn't built in a day.


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An hour every day?! Wow! I am truly impressed . I haven't been leash walking Chumlee much lately. I injured my knee and I can't walk really long distances yet. Plus the pulling that he does really hurts my knee. I drive him in the car to our favorite place to exercise. I could practice his recalls there, though.

The other hurdle we face is that he is completely uninterested in treats or toys of any kind when we are outside. Any suggestions for other motivators?

I like the idea of "goals" too. As far as being competitive, many years ago I used to train my "mutt" and earned several obedience titles on him at "fun matches". I always wanted to beat our best score so that kept me motivated and training. As I mentioned in my OP, Chum is very dog-reactive so I don't see any fun matches in our future. A little discouraging.

Does anyone think it helps to keep the dog's mind engaged by teaching tricks? Do you think it helps with focus for obedience exercises?

I wonder if something fun would motivate me...