I always say that keeping a dog motivated is the name of the game in dog training. But what about the handler, or the dog owner?
A lot of dog owners set off on a journey to grow together with their dog, intent on training their dogs all by themselves. And while I applaud them for this vigor and dedication, the harsh truth of it all is that we can lose motivation just as quickly as our pets.
There are a lot of mental hurdles to get through in dog training for the human alone. It’s easy to become discouraged because we feel that we don’t have the time, energy, or passion we thought we did. We might not have yet found the training style or methods that speak to us or that work well for our dog. Or we might feel overwhelmed, or that we’re going at it alone while our roommates, family, partners or friends just get in the way of progress.
There’s plenty of perfectly understandable reasons that a dog owner or novice dog trainer might start to lose steam when it comes to training their pet dogs, and we are here to say that’s okay!
There’s many ways to get around this dog trainer burnout before you go and give up on going at it yourself. Consider these tips as you continue on your journey.
Switch it Up / Keep it Fresh
If you get bored with whatever you’re working on in your training programming, let me be the one to tell you that it’s okay to switch things up and work on something else for a little while.
If your dog is in the middle of learning down and you’re just having a rough go of it, it’s really okay to take a break to learn something that eases the frustration of that temporary failure. Go ahead and work on speak, or high five, or some other fun trick training.
At the end of the day, the difference between “obedience” commands and “trick training” is non-existent to our dogs. They’re all actions performed for rewards. This means that, even if you take a break to work on something else for the sake of your sanity, you’re both still at least learning how to learn together.
Learning how to learn is building the basis for communication between the dog and its handler. You will continue to build a skillset whether you are teaching those core obedience commands or focusing on a fun trick for the day.
Of course you will eventually want to go back and make sure you get those core commands, like the ones we teach at Lugaru K9 Training in our obedience training: The Only Commands Your Dog Needs To Know.
But if you find yourself bored, frustrated, or overwhelmed, take some time to pick up something that feels a little more painless to you, because it will still do you good in the end.
Reward Yourself
Dog training is just as much human training as it is for our pets. And just like dog behaviors, human behaviors increase when they’re rewarded.
For some people like myself, dog training is intrinsically rewarding. A sense of pride and satisfaction comes from dog training, and that’s part of why I’ve made a career out of it.
But not all people will get that same sense of satisfaction from dog training; people have different interests, and that’s just the way we are. It’s perfectly valid that some of us train our dogs strictly to achieve a desired result.
If you don’t find training your dog to be a self-rewarding behavior, do what we do with the dogs: give yourself an external reward. Provide a system of reward that motivates you to consistently perform a behavior, just like you would provide rewards for your dog to perform a behavior.
This reward system is going to look different for everyone. It might come in the form of a fun snack, a little money put aside for a fun outing or special purchase, or a little special relaxation time to yourself. Whatever it is, scale it to your resistance to going through with your planned training program, to help entice you to keep up with your dog training habit.
Like all reinforced behaviors, eventually your new behavior (sticking to your dog training plan) will become a practiced habit, and will be easier to do with or without the reward.
Make Your Sessions More Approachable
When you’re new to training, long sessions can feel really overwhelming. Things like deep-cleaning a messy room in your home, finishing a paper or assignment for school, or sitting down to do important paperwork, tasks that seem arduous inevitably attract our procrastination.
My recommendation if you find yourself procrastinating on intimidating training sessions is to break that training up into bouts that feel more manageable to you. Train during TV/video commercial breaks, in-between workout sets, or for the duration of a song while listening to a playlist. If you want to get more formal about it, you can set alarms with five or ten minute timers to go off every couple of hours, and train during those chunks throughout the day.
Another version of this method is to set aside a certain amount of food or treats to use throughout the day, and commit to having your dog work for every bit of it at some point throughout the day. This method lets you off the hook for having designated time set aside for training altogether; just use the food to learn whatever you’re working on, whenever you have the time. If the food isn’t gone by the end of the day, commit to using it up before bedtime.
Especially when training new skills and behaviors, dog training sessions can be short and still get great results. In fact, mixing in training sessions into your “real life” is a great way to keep your dog engaged throughout the day.
Get a Support System or a Dog Training Buddy
Frustrations in dog training are similar to frustrations in many other areas; you really just need to process them, and decide on your next move forward. When you’re dealing with frustrations around your dog, it can really help to have someone to vent to who also understands where you’re coming from
We can forget this when we’re working with our dogs, because a lot of the times we see dog training as a solo activity. And it can be, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t involve other perspectives or allow yourself to discuss your concerns and feelings during the process with a dog-savvy friend (or really, even not-dog-savvy people, if you know they won’t be the type to discourage you further).
What can be even better is having a companion in the process.
I love having dog trainer friends and have been blessed to find a handful of people I admire and respect both within the field as well as some very cool amateur trainers that I really get along with. It’s wonderful to have people who understand the frustrations in the process, and who can provide helpful insight without thinking any less of each other for occasionally being humbled (which, yes, happens to even the best of us from time to time).
For the average dog owner, this might be a dear friend who’s willing to both hear you out when you’re feeling uninspired, disheartened, or overwhelmed. It might be a fellow dog owner who also does their own training, who can give feedback and a little compassion when you’re feeling down. It might even come in the form of an online community or facebook group, where you can get a little sympathy as well as some advice.
Even just getting things off your chest to a good listener can help a lot to get yourself ready to jump back in.
Cooperate and Collaborate on Training
When I do private lessons, I try to make it as clear as possible that the more the whole household is on board, the better the training results will be.
If Mom is working diligently with the new puppy, but Dad and Auntie are spoiling the dogs with table scraps, allowing unwanted behavior, and not contributing to training sessions, Mom is in for a rough time. It will be like swimming upstream, but the current is the whole rest of the family.
Get on board together, ideally before even bringing puppy home. If you need to have a constructive sit-down with the family to get familiar with the new rules and expectations of everyone involved, so be it! As much as you can, get everyone on board.
If you are a single dog-owner in a household of “roommates,” make sure that even if your housemates are not responsible for your dog’s training, that you at least have solid rules about what they may allow with your dog so as to not be counter-productive to your dog’s progress.
If you’re a member of a family living together, share the responsibility of caring for the dog as much as is appropriate, including training. It’s a good idea for all family members to understand how to handle the dog so that the dog’s experience is always consistent; this helps avoid confusion, and aids in our pets’ overall learning!
It’s true that sometimes, one person is going to have a higher affinity or talent for the actual structured training portion of the dog. If that’s you, see if you can get help from your family/partner/etc. in other areas of the dog’s upkeep, such as grooming, feeding, exercise, or other basic needs. In this way, responsibility is more evenly distributed, and you can focus on training without bearing the entire weight of the responsibility for the dog.
Remember, though, that anyone who handles the dog is a “trainer” in some way, whether or not that training looks formal or not. If you are the primary “trainer” for the dog while your partner takes care of walks, for instance, your partner will also need to commit to understanding the expectations for behavior on a walk, especially as you build your dog’s leash skills and public access training!
At the end of the day, this all comes down to being on the same page, and all people being involved with contributing to the care for their shared pet.
Self-Study Dog Training Material
At Lugaru K9 Training, we have a ton of free material to help dog owners and aspiring trainers learn, grow, and expand their knowledge of all things dog. We continue to add to it constantly in the hopes of preparing every pet dog owner for the best experience they can have with their dogs.
And we’re not the only ones, either! The internet is full of pro dog trainers showing their methods, talking about their philosophies, and giving out tons of free content to help out dog owners. No matter where you’re starting, what kind of dog you’re working with, or what personal dog training philosophy you hold, there is content out there to broaden your understanding and help build your skillset, often entirely for free.
There’s also tons of helpful dog training books, video courses and DVDs, and other paid dog training material from trainers and dog professionals in all walks of life. Whether you like books, videos, email list, or memberships, there are options for you there, as well.
Don’t let these resources go to waste! The more you understand and absorb, the better your will be at training with dogs. If you feel stuck, take some time and watch some videos or read some articles. Get familiar with different methods, techniques, and concepts. See how professional trainers train what you’re trying to do, and incorporate the ones you like into your program.
And if you already have how-to-train content that you like, go back and revisit it to see if you’re missing something important that you can learn and bring with you to your next training session.
We have tons of free resources at Lugaru K9 Training, but that doesn’t mean you have to even listen to us; find some material that speaks to you, and get excited about applying it! Nothing reignites the passion for dog training like the excitement to get to try something new with your dog.
Get a Professional Trainer
While it’s normal to think of hiring a professional as a “defeat,” in your home dog training journey, I strongly disagree. Hiring a professional is hardly a bail-out, and can be a great help to your do-it-yourself dog training journey.
Hiring a professional dog trainer looks very different, and there are a ton of options that can fit different goals and lifestyles.
If you’re totally burnt-out and need a nice long break, a board-and-train might be a great option for you.
If you’re set on continuing to train your dog from home but feel like you could really use some help with the process or for someone with a keen eye to take a look at your technique, then in-home dog training lessons are also an awesome option.
And if you need someone to just talk you through some of your confusion when you’re just not finding the information you need, even something like a virtual lesson could make a world of difference in your journey.
Hiring a professional dog trainer is not the same as saying, “I give up, they’re your problem now!” Hiring a professional is sometimes just getting the help you need, tailored to your situation.
Dog trainers, professional and otherwise, hire each other all the time. I have had fellow dog trainers hire me because I have more experience than them in a given area of training. I also regularly purchase seminars and courses from other dog trainers to regularly expand my knowledge, and am also more than happy to pay a fellow dog trainer, as well, for specialized guidance in a specific sport or other area that I’m not yet practiced in.
If professional dog trainers are happy to hire each other, dog owners should be at ease about getting a little guidance from a pro while continuing to train themselves.
The fact is that professional trainers are going to have years of working with dogs under their belt and know what to look for when it comes to the various struggles you might be having during your at-home dog training endeavors. Having someone help you along can both serve to better your skillset as well as keep you motivated to make progress for your next lesson.
At Lugaru K9 Training, we’re happy to help any dog owner who is struggling to get the results they’re looking for from home, but we also have free resources for dog owners and pet lovers to help you pick a trainer that works for your needs, whether that is us or someone else! You can read all the tips for selecting a dog trainer in my article, Red Flags to Look For When Hiring a Dog Trainer.
I encourage dog owners who aren’t feeling particularly motivated to try our other tips as they consider including a professional in their training program, and don’t go feeling like you’re giving up just because you feel the need to ask for a little pro guidance.
