Training time. - Page 1

Trainer's,

I think it would be very educational to know how many (man hour's) you real trainer's invest in a single dog for title's.  Include in the man hour's helper's time's.

I think people would have more respect for the art if they knew how much time you put into your dog's and how much hard work it really is.

I do amature obedience and it take's me an hour a day for two to three week's just to get to the leash.   Then on to the other finer point's, still an hour or so a day for week's.  Then there is refresh and practice.

I have blistered my hand's, twisted my back out and an ankle, and due to my own mistake cracked three rib's with a long line.  

I can't imagine how much work it take's to ready a dog for competition.   But I am curious.

Moon's.

it can be a 24/7 thing depending on how many little things you do throughout the day/wk until you go back to the club for trianing. From building ball/retrieve drive to tracking to improving your dogs bite or doing obd. whenever. As creative as you can get for the training the more fun you and your dog will have and the more situations he will be exposed to which in turn could make proofing a little more easier.

My business partner is an engineer .. For the purposes of explaining to new people and prospective new club members, he has calculated that it takes 2000 hours (minimum) to get a dog to SchH1. This of course does not take into account setbacks like physical injuries which can add serious globs of time into the process.

He is a founding member of the USA helper committee, has been in the sport for many many years and has competed in several National and Regional events thru the years.

This statement usually makes people sit down and think unless of course like so many, they just plain aren't listening and think that that is crazy

I have tried to come up with a figure for how many hours it takes me to title a dog for many years. Still don't have a figure because of all the variables: time driving, cutting bait, waiting around for tracks to age, my turn in line for protection, actual time on fields... All I know is that I spend most of at least 5-6 days a week towards that end in one way or another, but when I add up how many hours I think I spend on each dog every week, I find there aren't that many hours in the week to cover my estimate, LOL.

I did manage to estimate how many hours of tracking ONLY it took me to get a dog from 10 weeks old to 100 pts inSchH  tracking and an attractive FH1 score once. I came up with about 800-1,000 hrs. over a span of about 6 years.

Of course the longer ou are in the sport, and the more dogs you train, the more efficient the process becomes (or that's the way its supposed to work!) But there are always a few dogs that take longer to learn this exercise or that, need time to mature in their minds before going on, etc., throwing your whole plan out the window without a backwards glance. I rarely get a dog titled by/near age 2, usually closer to 2.5 - 3 years old.

Sure, I have titled dogs before age 2, but I wasn't happy with the results having had to "push" the young dog due to pressures from owners, when I really didn't think the dog was emmotionally/psychologially "ready" for the next step. Most dogs I see that have been rushed like that don't ever amount to anything as far as the work is concerned, long-term, which is why once they get the SchH1 (females) or the first SchH3 (males) you never see them in another trial. I am perfectly happy if my own dogs don't see a trial field till they are over 3 years old.

SS

When I was training for regional or national trials I was training 5-6 days a week.

OB every day, Bite work 2-3 times a week

Gard

No tracking?  Oh, that's right.  Three phases are too much for a real dog! 

Your funny Don.

Real dogs have to bite a suit, go over and through things to get the bite and have a call off.

I was curious about the time and trouble one goes thru because it equate's into money.

When I see an add for a ppd at $25,000.00 that sort of thing. 

And I am sure that most do not realize the time and dedication involved in training.   It's not easy is it?

And in today's economy what would you figure a good trainer's time is worth?

Another thing of interest to me was how long can you train a dog in a session before your both worn out and no one's learning anything?

I'm really interested and this is far better than the other topic's I have been involved in, that crap is getting old to say the least.

i dont even count anymore.

number of hours training,, countless

number of time on a helper,,, never enough

money spent on collars, leashes, long lines, tracking food, gas to travel,,,   hurts to think about it,,, after 8 years of this im sure i could have cut out a few years towards retirement if i didnt have this hobby.

getting your first sch 3,,,, worth every penny.

john

I lost count of the hours...  and I decided to go into denial on how much money I've spent on equipment, training, etc.   LOL...  but it's worth every penny and every minute.   A tail wag is priceless.   A successful training session is priceless.  That beautiful face that looks so serious yet is so puppy'ish is beyond priceless.