Training Tuesday: The Dog Training You Do When You’re Not Dog Training

A typical day in the life of one of Susan Garrett's dogs

This podcast and video are shared with permission from Susan Garrett's Shaped by Dog podcast series.

"How many hours a day do you spend training your puppy or dog?" is one of the most common questions I get. So, we’ll look at a typical day in the life of my dogs. What happens might surprise you as I don’t spend as much time training as many would think. What is important is the training between the training.

In the episode you'll hear:

• Why the interactions with your dog are the relationship.
• About a typical day in my life with my dogs.
• How I get the training done before I do the training.
• Why I keep dog treats in small bowls around my home.
• About being ready to reward your dog for doing something well.
• How I capture behaviors that I want my dogs to do.
• The opportunities for my dogs to earn reinforcement at mealtimes.
• Why I am intentional about catching my dogs doing something well.
• About being aware of the thing before the thing.
• Why to decide what your rules are for your dog.
• About using walks for training opportunities.
• Why to be present to what your dog is rehearsing.
• How 75% of my puppy training happens when I’m not training.
• Why 95% of my adult dog training happens when I’m not training.

Visit the website for the complete transcript of this podcast.

About Susan Garrett

Susan Garrett’s interest in animal behavior started at the University of Guelph where she earned a Bachelor of Science majoring in animal science. Since then she has developed into a pre-eminent canine sports instructor and competitor. Susan is one of the most successful agility competitors of the last two decades. She has won multiple Gold Medals at National or World Championship events with every dog she has ever owned over the past 30 years.

A natural teacher and an entertaining speaker, Susan is a leading educator of dog trainers. Her understanding of how to apply learning principles to practical and competitive dog training has made her a much sought-after speaker throughout North America and as far away as Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. The Dog Writers Association of America named Susan’s book “Shaping Success” the 2005 "Dog Training and Behaviour Book of the Year." 

Read more about Susan and her training philosophy.