I bet you’d like to know what it is, eh? I’ll give you a hint: Famous physicist Albert Einstein knew it… although he may not have realized he was talking about dog training at the time.
Omaha Investment legend Warren Buffett (the second richest man in America, behind Bill Gates) knows it, too. Even though Buffett doesn’t even own a dog.
What am I talking about?
I’m talking about the POWER OF COMPOUNDING!!! “But what the heck does ‘compounding’ have to do with dog training???” you ask.
The answer can be obtained by taking a look at what COMPOUNDING is: Compounding is the practice of investing a small amount of something (time, energy, money, effort) into something on a regular basis. And over time, this investment grows, and multiplies! In investment circles, it’s called the “Magic of Compounding!”
How to unleash the Magic of Compounding When Training Your Dog!
If you were investing in a retirement fund, you’d put a little bit of money aside, every two weeks (or every month)… and over a period of years, that investment would grow, right? And not only would it grow by the amount you’re continually adding every two weeks, but it’ll grow because of the interest the investment accrues, too! Dog training is the same way.
What you’ll notice if you set up a consistent dog training regimen is that the more you train, the greater your efforts will affect your dog’s behavior! The only difference is that, ideally, you’ll want to train with your dog more than once every two weeks.
See, by training with your dog on a regular basis, your efforts BUILD upon what you’ve worked on during your prior training session. But if you only train with your dog occasionally, you’ll never be able to reap the benefits of compounding.
Here’s what I mean: Let’s say that on Monday, I take my Pit Bull-mix Forbes, out for training. Our goal for the day will be to make him drop into the “down” position MUCH FASTER than he’s currently doing. By the end of our training session, I will evaluate my dog and probably come to the conclusion that he’s doing MUCH BETTER. When I bring him out for training on Wednesday, a funny thing happens. As I begin to review Monday’s exercises… guess what? It looks as if my dog (having had some time to get away from the exercise and think about it) is now working EVEN FASTER, AND WITH A MUCH BETTER ATTITUDE than he was on Monday! Plus, I now have the benefit of being able to add to what we’ve done, and combine (compound) this exercise by teaching him to go into a “down-stay” when he’s at a distance of 50 feet. (This exercise is called the ‘Drop on Recall’ by the way.)
However, if I’d only practiced with my dog once every TWO WEEKS… or irregularly… I’d end up repeating the same lesson with my dog, and ultimately never make any real progress! The Minimum Amount Of Repetition You Must Do, In Order To Reap The Benefits Of Compounding Is To Train With Your Dog At Least Once A Week! Once a week is the minimum. Once a day is even better. And if you can do one 15 to 20 minute session every hour, you’ll be on your way to winning the Gaines (the Superbowl of Dog Training Competition) in no time at all!!!
-Adam