How much time/day to spend with pup.

[CherylHampton]

Hi, of course I have another question, this one a bit  different.  Apart from the short training session throughout the day, is there a recommended amount of time that should be spent interacting with our pups/dogs? Shiloh likes to sit in the sun on the front porch and just kind of chills out. I bring him in and sometimes he will hang with me for a few hours sometimes he prefers to be out. He always lets me know when he wants in or out, so Ive just been following his lead. I don't want him to feel neglected but of course there are household things that take up my attention as well. He has a  couple of acres that I keep mowed so he has room to run, and play fetch as well as practice with the leash, and other games. He just turned 4 months old, and already quite large. Anyway I just want to make sure we are spending enough time together apart from his training sessions. His attention span is pretty good but 10 or 15 min is his limit. As always thanks in advance for your input😊

[Adrienne]

Hi Cheryl, 

Every dog is different, so there are no set rules written on stone. I feel puppies are learning with every interaction with us so they are perpetually in "training." Play is training. Resting is training (when pups sleep they are consolidating the things they have learned). Walking is training and even learning to be away from you is training.

Embracing all these life events as training opportunities is incredibly beneficial in helping a puppy develop behaviors we want. Because let's face it: by encouraging  good behaviors from the get-go, we can avoid the hassle of fixing bad habits that over time become more and more challenging to overcome.

Consider that most dog behaviors stem from instinct and learned behaviors that have a history of reinforcement. Anything that the puppy finds rewarding will strengthen and repeat. So if your puppy finds chewing on the drywall rewarding, you can bet he will be drawn to chewing on it more and more. However, what happens if you offer an interactive toy that is fun to chew on and hides some goodies inside? Your puppy will likely find that far more rewarding and will forget about the drywall-at least for a while. So yes, help your puppy make good choices and you'll be rewarded too with desirable behaviors.

So training happens more often than we think, it's just on a more passive level, but it's training nevertheless. 

I think with the surge of separation anxiety happening with this whole pandemic ordeal, it's important to foster in dogs the notion that good things happen when they are away from us too. So it's good that Shiloh enjoys sitting in the sun chilling out every now and then. We all need to do chores sometimes (and have a break from our dogs) and it's good if we can provide our dogs with safe independent activities when the need arises. 

Several types of brain games are good activities to offer dogs when we need to step away for some time. They foster independence and engagement that doesn't involve us directly. As with many things in life, the golden way in between is the way to go. We don't wants dogs who are overly clingy and we don't want dogs who are overly independent.