Realistically, most people don't have several hours a day to devote to training their dog. If someone spends even a few minutes working with their dog a day, I am extremely impressed. So what is the best way to train your dog and how can you realistically train your dog every day?

One thing I like to remind people is that training doesn't have to be time set aside, but instead, you can incorporate training into things you already do with your dog every day. An easy way to do this is to ask for known behaviors for every day things your dog gets. I do not suggest the "Nothing in Life is Free" mindset or technique, but I certainly recommend utilizing things that your dog already gets from you for training.

Such as, asking your dog to look and sit before throwing a toy or having them touch your hand with their nose before sending them to go play off leash. These are skills that need to be practiced regularly to become consistent, but you don't necessarily need to set aside time to practice it once your dog already knows this.

One technique I'm a super fan of is called "SMART x50" by Kathy Sdao

This stands for "See Mark and Reward Training"

Using this type of technique made a world of a difference when first learning to live with my dogs.

You can easily implement this training technique by setting aside "50" pieces of kibble or treats (or a cup full etc.)

Have a goal of using all of the pieces you set aside every day to reward behaviors that you like. This can be even easier for you if you set a goal in mind of what behavior you're looking for.

For me, I was looking for calm and settle behaviors. Any time I saw Tucker relaxed and calm, I would tell him "good" in a calm way and reward him with a cookie. Over time, this was a game changer. He began to offer more calm behaviors like going to his bed, lying down, and settling rather than jumping, barking, or getting into trouble.

I love this technique of training because it lets you see all the amazing choices your dog makes throughout the day. I hope that you have some fun implementing this easy training technique into your daily routine. If you have any questions about this please let me know in the comments below!