A dog training routine makes dogs happy

It’s time for Vance’s dinner and I was thinking about how important routines are in dog training, but how it’s just as important to keep things from being too predictable. Seemed like a great topic for today’s post!

See, your dog needs a routine–without structure, he may be harder to train, disobedient, or just plain confused and unruly. Just like kids.

But, if you keep to too stringent of a routine, he may have trouble dealing with change, and change is always inevitable in life.

So, where do you find the balance? To a great extent, this depends on your dog’s personality and your lifestyle, so to get individual recommendations, find a good dog trainer.

For now, though, just know that you need to find that balance between structured routine and variety to keep your dog both obedient and relaxed. The variety reminds him that you’re in charge (because you get to come and go as you please) and the routine reminds him that his world is safe (because he never goes without dinner). With Vance, we keep mealtimes very structured when it comes to time, but not as structured when it comes to place (since we like to travel with a dog) and we’ve found that strikes the perfect balance for him.

So, talk to a dog trainer about the right balance of routine and variety for your dog. And, I’m curious–do you think your life currently has too much of one or the other?