Basket of Tricks
To keep training sessions simple and random, I write all the tricks I teach my dogs on 1/2 of a recipe card, fold it up and put it in a basket.
Each training session I pull out 3 tricks to work on. This allows us to work on tricks that are not as fluent as some. I am guilty of it, and I have seen it done numerous times, that handlers tend to train over and over the tricks, or behaviors, that are fluent with the dog – thus being nearly 100% successful. It’s great and necessary to maintain those fluent behaviors but it’s also equally important to work on those behaviors that aren’t as fluent to get them to be just as fluent.
I train my dogs 4-5 times a day. Each training session is no more than 5 minutes long – and we incorporate training into our daily walks. But to make it easy, I like to pull out 3 tricks for the morning session, 3 more tricks for the noon training, 3 more tricks for afternoon and 3 more for evening. I keep each set of 3 out of the basket until we have worked on each trick in the basket.
Try it. Keeps training fun and interesting. Let me know if you have any questions.