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I think dog training is a blast – and that means I’m often bad about doing it systematically. Since my goal for 2019 is to be more deliberate about everything I do, I also decided that I’ll create an online dog training journal for my work with Barley.
This journal is really made to work for my thought process, so let me explain:
The first page is a status tracker for all of your dog’s cues. It’s meant to be an at-a-glance overview of where your dog is at. Track:
- Duration: how long your dog can hold a sit.
- Distance: how far away you can be when you give the cue.
- Distractions: can he sit at the dog park? how about the
vet’s ? - Cue discrimination: does he sit when you say pit or down
- Whether you need prompts/lures/hand signals or not
- Your body position: does your dog listen if you’re sitting, looking away, or lying down?
Speed of response: is their a lag?
I’m considering color-coding mine so that I can see red areas (weak areas) from a very quick glance.
This should help you focus on the weakest areas of your training, rather than just the most fun parts! I learned a lot by just filling this in.
The next 11 pages are a monthly calendar. Keep notes on specific training sessions here. I also try to track exercise and any weird things noted – such as odd behavior or symptoms of a cold.
I like using an online dog training journal because:
- I don’t need to carry around ANOTHER planner.
- I am never far from my laptop.
- It’s easy to erase, change, and move things if I realize I hate my current system.
- I can share it with you!
Kayla founded Journey Dog Training in 2013 to provide high-quality and affordable dog behavior advice. She is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant who’s worked with hundreds of private clients, thousands of shelter dogs, and dozens of working detection dogs. Kayla’s dog and cat behavior advice has been featured in NPR, the Chicago Tribune, and Pet MD. She’s an avid adventurer who is currently doing #vanlife on the Pan-American Highway with her two border collies and a cat. Aside from running Journey Dog Training, Kayla also runs the nonprofit K9 Conservationists, where she and the dogs work as conservation detection dog teams. You can get 1:1 advice with a Journey Dog Training team member here.
