When Does The Training Stop?

The long and the short of it is the training NEVER ends. It’s sort of a “you don’t use it you lose it” situation.

While it is true the training never ends, it does start to look different over time. Eventually with practice, patience, time, dedication and consistency, the training becomes less management and more maintenance.

There should always be rules, structure and boundaries set in place for you dog forever. However, as you start to see the problem behaviors subside and your dog is much more mindful and respectful, you can begin to add privileges and freedom back little by little. If problem behaviors creep back in, you've likely moved too quickly and should take a couple steps back.

Do I need to hand feed my dog forever? No, once you have worked thoroughly and diligently on your relationship, impulse control, recall, threshold manners, problem behaviors, reactivity, resource guarding, etc. your dog can start to eat their meals in other ways other than directly from your hand. Feed their meals in their crate or use a puzzle feeder. You should continue to hand feed from time to time though.

Do I need to use the prong collar forever? Technically, once your dog understands the concept of leash pressure and how to turn it off, no, you won’t have to use it forever. But why wouldn’t you want to use the safest collar that provides the most clarity to your dog?

Do I need to use the e-collar forever? Well, think of it this way, would you say, “I haven’t gotten in a car accident in a while so I don’t need to wear my seatbelt!”…no, you wouldn’t. Think of the e-collar as a seatbelt, it’s there just in case you need it so why would you take the risk of not having it when you might need it?

The training never ends but it does get easier.