FAQ: “How long will training take?”

many factors go into how long training will take.

The short and accurate answer is: It Depends. Read on to find out why!

“How long will this take” is a question I very often get asked when meeting with clients for the first time and I can relate to wanting to know “how long!” My husband Rob and I were once the training clients wondering when our dog Petey’s separation anxiety would resolve, so I truly understand their eagerness to know when their dog’s manners will improve, when their fear of strangers will get better, or when the dog finally can be left home alone.

At its core, dog training is about change: changing the behavior of a living organism or changing how they feel about a certain situation, and that takes time. That’s why the most accurate answer I can give a client is: It depends. Here are some of the factors that can impact how long training might take.

How long your dog has been “practicing” the behavior

I’m currently working with several clients whose dogs get very upset when their people approach precious (precious to the dog, that is) objects such as their toys, food bowls, stolen socks, or even crumpled plastic bags and tissues. Dogs can also guard preferred resting spots or even people. 

Guarding typically shows up as a dog picking up and moving away with an item, or staying put and freezing over it, snarling, growling, snapping or even biting when someone approaches.

When working with a puppy who has only recently started to guard, we can often teach the pup to enjoy having items taken away within a few sessions.

But our dogs are no fools and they do what works. If a dog has been growling for years when people approach his stuff and they back off, it’s working for him, and he’ll keep engaging in the behavior.  

Behavior problems such as guarding or leash aggression don’t resolve on their own. This is why I urge clients to get started with a credentialed, rewards-based trainer as soon as they see the first signs of reactivity, fearful, or aggressive behaviors.

What about everyday manners?

When we work on everyday manners with our dogs, as opposed to working on fear-based behaviors, we’re trying to teach our dogs new behaviors that help them fit better into our world. Those are usually behaviors that are 180° from what they’d do if left to their own devices, such as sniffing, pulling to explore, digging, chewing, eliminating when and where they wish, and eating everything in sight. 

Dogs can also have different hardwired and preferred behaviors, which add a level of complexity to manners training. Sometimes this is due to selective breeding for certain behavior traits. Dogs who have been bred for centuries to watchdog bark or dig for critters can have a very difficult time learning to reduce their barking to an acceptable level or to never dig. (PS: It’s not reasonable to expect such dogs to never engage in these behaviors.)

While all dogs are smart, they have (like people) different learning abilities, which may make progress go faster or, more typically, much slower than initially anticipated.

And though we all knew someone in school who aced exams seemingly without studying, that doesn’t work for our dogs. Folks do need to do a few minutes of homework several times a week to see training progress.

Below, we’re working with sweet puppy Kahlo (yes, this big girl is a puppy) on polite leash walking outside, among distractions. We started off inside, in a low-distraction environment, and her people are following Kahlo’s training plan to a T.

So again, everyday manners depends on a potpourri of factors that come together to enable your dog’s learning.

As for recovering from separation anxiety — it really can depend

Separation anxiety in dogs is a panic disorder. It involves a different type of training than teaching your dog that sitting, coming when called, or greeting people politely rather than jumping up is the thing well-mannered pups do.

It’s also different from teaching a dog who is frightened to enjoy the company of children, strangers, or to be OK with having his toys taken away from him.

The separation anxiety training process is called systematic desensitization and is similar to treating a phobia in a human. The dog is exposed to what makes him panic (being alone) in tiny increments that he can handle, and the process takes time. In fact, my colleagues and I are upfront that separation anxiety work can take several months as opposed to several weeks. It’s a training time investment in helping your dog feel safe when home alone so you can get your life back.

So the short answer is …

Getting started with a credentialed, rewards-based trainer or credentialed separation anxiety trainer as soon as you start to observe behavior problems, or as soon as your new puppy or dog comes home, will generally lead to a speedier resolution. But … it depends!