How long will it take to train my dog?  is a question I’m often asked. My standard answer is , it depends, but in reality it takes a lifetime. Training our dogs is not like getting a tune up for our cars, you can’t just do it once and consider it fixed. The way I see it is that first we must teach the dog (or person or horse or whatever) what we want and how to do it. Then we start training. An analogy that I often use is the one about swimming. Lets say we teach someone to swim, not bad. Now let’s look at those Olympic swimmers. Someone taught them to swim many years ago, but after that they started training to reach that high level of performance. We can teach our dogs the basics, sit, down, relax, stay, come, but after that we must continue to train so that they can be successful at those things in many different places and situations. Training doesn’t have to be a chore, in fact if done right it’s down right fun. Both you and your dog will get better and better at the training game. This helps build a life long relationship between the two of you working as a team, and you’ll both gain confidence out in the real world.  So have fun, teach your dog something new and enjoy the process of training, for a lifetime.  ~ Brad