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The average dog can learn up to 165 words so there is no doubt they’re intelligent. Scientists have found that it’s better to train once or twice a week rather than everyday. Find out how long it takes to train your pup below.

This blog post will cover how many training sessions your dog needs to confidently execute the skill in different environments. 

On average, it will take 6 weeks to teach any dog basics, but training time is heavily dependent on different factors.

How do you squeeze the training your dog needs into your lifestyle? What are the best ways to minimize the time it takes for your dog to learn a skill?

Use the questions below to help you find out the optimal training frequency, session duration, and predicting factors to look out for.

How Many Times a Week Should I Train My Dog?

A reasonable goal for training would be to train for 10 minutes a day 3-4x a week. This approach ensures that you can still go about your day while keeping your dog engaged and interested for training throughout the week.

You just want to avoid overworking your dog as they can become fatigued mentally. Using strategies like rest periods to improve memory retention, avoiding stress, and keeping the sessions dynamic & engaging all speed up the time it takes for your pup to learn a skill.

These breaks also allow your dog the time to process the new skill, and to be able to master it for unpredictable environments.

Sneak Peek Into Optimal Training

According to a study by Demant et al. (2011) where 44 laboratory Beagles, aimed to understand the impact of training frequency and duration on both the acquisition and long-term memory of a traditional obedience task.

The dogs were divided into four groups, varying in training frequency (1–2 times per week vs. daily) and duration (1 training session vs. 3 sessions in a row). Surprisingly, dogs trained 1–2 times per week showed significantly better acquisition than daily trained dogs, and those trained once a day outperformed those with three consecutive sessions

How Long Should Each Dog Training Session Last?

As long as they are interested and show full attention during the session, you should aim to end the training session before your dog loses interest, and increase the duration over time. 

• Start with just 30 seconds to a minute if you’re newly training your pup. Repeating the session several times throughout the day.
• On average, we recommend that your sessions last from 2-5 minutes.
• As your dog becomes accustomed to the training, you can even expand from 5-15 minutes of training time.

This way the dog stays fresh, engaged, and more excited to train when consistently doing sessions.

A great example is my dog, Mabel. When we first started increasing our training time together I was pushing her for too long. She would get to the point that she would simply quit on me and lay down on the floor with her back legs kicked out. 

Of course, that would lead to frustration on my part because this was when I had the time to work with her! I had to realize there are two of us in this relationship and she was very clearly telling me she had too much! 

When I started decreasing the amount of time we trained in each session, she became more engaged and ready to go when I would say, “do you want to do work?”.

What Factors Affect My Dog’s Learning Speed

A dog’s learning speed is variable to many factors which include (but are not limited to): 

You will know your dog has acquired a skill when they show the ability to perform the skill in different situations and different locations, and even with different handlers. 

Wondering how each factor may affect the amount of time it takes to train your dog?

Age

Breed and Temperament

Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Sporting dogs – daring and responsive, with good recall.
•  Hounds – independent and focused on scent, less interested in human interaction.
• Working/herding dogs – serious, quick assessors, and efficient workers.
• Guarding dogs – protective with reinforced instincts.
• Terriers – active and lively, especially in pursuing rodents.

It’s important to note that genes contribute 60-70% to behavioural differences. 

For example, the genetics of Basset Hounds and Beagles make them a little more difficult to train. As a beagle lover myself, I can attest that even as a dog trainer, Mabel has challenged me and made me a more patient dog mom! 

Don’t ever let this stop you from training & taking the time it takes to bond with your dog as you train. As much of a challenge as it has been, Mabel is the dog helping me with all the training required to become a service dog. It’s taken us longer to make our way through the training but we’re successful!

Size

The difference is small but there can be challenges with training various sizes of dogs. For instance, rewarding a small dog for not pulling on walks is harder to do because the human has to bend down.

Training to jump into a car may not be possible for small dogs. While training bigger dogs to do things like fit into small spaces can be challenging!

In small dogs, Papillons are considered well-behaved, and can easily learn new tricks as well. 

Skill Complexity

Basic Cues vs. Advanced Skills

Complex skills can be considered recall (coming when called), potty training, and leash walking. 

You could teach a dog to ‘sit’ within a day, but if you want to teach them to stop pulling on the leash, it takes a longer time. 

As Mabel and I began to train harder skills, giving her a day or so in between sessions allowed her to think about things. Often I would find we’d try a skill she had struggled with but with a break, was able to understand what I was asking and complete the task!

If you’re trying to teach your dog to stop barking, then here’s a great resource for you – How to get my dog to stop barking at everything (full guide).

(Or maybe you want to teach your dog to come to you on your cue – How to get your dog to come when called (Works Every Time)

Training Expertise

Dog trainers with experience find a way to bridge the communication to your dog by building better communication skills with the two of you. 

Rewards based training is commonly regarded among the vet community to be the best training method where the dog is rewarded for their good behaviour, rather than being punished for bad behaviour.

Rather than being punished, when the bad behaviour is performed, the rewards are just taken away. 

Training Environment (Household)

• If you are training in a really distracting environment then your dog is more likely to respond to triggers, and less likely to pay attention to you to get the best possible results
• To begin training a skill, unless required to be outdoors, it is best to train an indoor environment with minimal distractions

Previous Habits

Dogs are creatures of habit so if they’ve learned something one way, then it takes time and patience to unlearn and retrain the new behaviour.

It’s very similiar to how a human would have to unlearn a bad habit, and learn the new one as well.

5 Golden Keys to Dog Training

1. Dogs can only concentrate on training for so long since it’s hard cognitive work for them. Break your training down into short sessions to ensure your dog is engaged, and interested for the entire time.
2. Patience is key when it comes to dog training too. Similar to humans, canines learn at different rates and don’t despair if your pup is taking longer than you thought to learn a new trick.
3. All your training should be reward-based, and the more valuable your reward is, the more likely they are to repeat the behaviour they are trying to learn.

Tip: Valuable rewards don’t mean you have to spend a ton of money for treats online, they can be small pieces of cheese or meat that you already have.

4. Making it as easy as possible for your pup for your dog to learn pays off. Try to minimize distractions. You can do this by finding a quiet room in the house without other animals, people, traffic noises, and interesting smells.

5. Positive reinforcement is the best way to train a dog. Punishing your pup for unwanted behaviour and aversive dog training techniques are stressful for dogs. This can also hurt your training when you don’t even intend it to; avoid unintentionally reinforcing undesirable behaviour. For instance, if your dog excessively barks for attention and you yell at them to stop, you inadvertently reward their behaviour.

Instead, reward them when quiet and ignore the barking.

Tip: A great way to understand dog training is to imagine if you’d like to be treated the way you’re treating your dog.

Takeaway

How many training sessions it takes for your dog to learn a skill is very dependent on factors both in and outside of your control.

It’s important to ensure you don’t overwork your dog, and that training is a fun and engaging experience for your dog.

If you still want to develop a deeper bond with your dog but your busy lifestyle is holding you back from realizing your goal.

Then our Custom 1:1 plan will tailor a program to you and your dog so you can see them perform the skill you have in mind in a fraction of the time.

“Amanda has helped me tremendously with my pup. She’s passionate about dogs and makes training a positive experience for the dog and the owner.” – Ann Marie Fairbairn

Let us know how you plan on maximizing your training time with your pup below 👇