How long do you work your dogs?( Serious SCH Competators only please) - Page 1

How often and how long are your training sessions?  We resently had a rather large debate over this but I am wondering what the average is.  This question is only for people who are actually involved in the training and titling of Schutzhund dogs.  Thank you. 

The debate in question went sort of like this:

20 minutes twice daily vs. 3 times weekly for longer.

Personally I can only stay energetic and goofy for 20 minutes at a time and I am dripping wet from being "up".  it is a flipping hard work out !!!  i leave my dogs wanting more fun  (at least that is my theory on why I do what \I do)

But others say a couple times a week for longer gives a better result in the ring.

There is no right or wrong answer here . Would love to here how you get your training goals accomplished.

Im not a "serious SchH competitior"...yet

but isn't it up to the dog and how they are doing that determines how long/hard you go?

I generally do 5-10 minutes for tracking, not as often as I should, 5-10 minutes for obedience wvery other night, protection is done for about 5 minutes 8 times a month. I have young dogs at the moment tho.

Are we talking about home training or club training?

At the club....He is worked for about 20 minutes doing Protection work(combined with OB) then we do tracks that last about 15 minutes once we start them.

At home, I do stuff with him throughout the day when I have a chance. Short time intervals throught the day.

We will be trialing, come hell or high water, this year.

But what must be considered here is first the aptitude and energy of the dog and secondly goes with out saying the same for the handler .................... if your dog leaves the field as mentally alert and energized as he comes in you are doing fine. For the beginner or intermediate I would say less is better and do not repeat if it is done right the first time.   Regards ...................... Greg   www.razervombaphomet.com

multiple short sessions , is always better than one long one , example , train few minutes before every meal you give the dog , you will see better results than going to a club once a week for a whole day , given the fact that  you know what you are doing at home

It depends on the dog, what your working on, the condition of the dog, and temperature. I like to do shorter sessions more often except for the last week or two before a trial then i back off on training

I loved the answer "not as often as i should "  I laughed and laughed.  Looks like gereral rule is short and sweet. :)  Thanks to every one who replied !