This is a dog training website and blog, so if you are reading this, you are probably interested in training dogs. Perhaps you just recently adopted your first puppy, perhaps you have owned dogs for decades. Maybe you are looking for advice on basic training, maybe you are a seasoned competitor.

Wherever in your dog training journey you might be, one thing is probably consistent among all readers: We all like to train. We like progress, we like novelty, we like the satisfaction that comes with our dogs learning something new and awesome.

We might be addicts to some extend: Always looking for the next “hit”: the next trick we successfully teach our dogs or the next Q in a trial.

Balance

As with all areas of life, balance is crucial. And yet, balance can be so much harder to achieve than leaning to one extreme or the other. Extremes can feel safe in that we know where we have to go – simply as far as we can – whereas balance carries uncertainty to some extend.

How much training is too much, how little is too little? How will we know when we have found the perfect balance, the point at which we are training just enough while also enjoying carefree downtime and simply being with our dogs?

The Cycle Of Training More And More

If you have ever owned a working breed, you know how much they like to train and learn. These dogs will go-go-go until they drop from exhaustion, and even then continue after a short nap. One of those dogs is my Border Collie Kix  (whereas Fusion and Party like to take it easy).

I guess that I could – theoretically – only get her out of the house or a crate to work with me, and she would still willingly and happily participate and give it her all. Not so much because this is an ideal scenario, but because this is what working dogs were made for: work under all conditions.

While she might be more willing than other (non-working) dogs to live this kind of lifestyle, I would argue that especially for her it is important to have balance in her life. This balance must be introduced by me: She is not the type of dog who will put herself away for a rest and nap.

Can she work all the time? Sure.

It is healthy for her to work all the time? Definitely not.

I would argue that for working breeds it is just as important as it is for non-working dogs to have prescribed non-training time with their owner. They need to relax their brain as much as human workaholics need to

(Yet Another) Lesson From A Non-Trainer

As I have previously written, I love the wisdom of non-seasoned dog trainers. I have worked extensively with a local rescue by fostering, rehabbing and helping out other foster families. I came across a lady who was going to foster one of our most difficult cases, a dog who had spent the first year of her life in a crate (yes, the entire year. Without any time outside the crate.)

The lady told me that she used to own four big dogs, and every night, she would massage every one of them for half an hour while watching TV. This wouldn’t only be their individual bonding and cuddling times, but also allow her to tune into them and their bodies: Were they sore somewhere? Was there a cactus spike hidden in their fur? Were they in good body condition? Were they tense, perhaps because they had been frightened by something?

I was equally amazed and thrilled at that idea. While I do pet and snuggle my own dogs daily, I had never truly set aside time for massages. I started to incorporate it into our daily schedule. In addition, I now go over the body my day training dogs as well. All of them, mine and my clients’ dogs enjoy it greatly.

Even more though, it gives me a better idea of where the dog is at: physically, mentally, emotionally.

How Much Time Spent Not Training