Homework & practice

Last updated September 21, 2026

Training happens in the six days between sessions, not the one hour in them. Every trainer knows this and almost none can prove it — the owner swears they practised, the dog says otherwise, and week four is spent redoing week three.

Set it at the end of the session

An exercise, how many minutes a day, for how many days. There is a library of the usual ones so it is a couple of clicks rather than typing.

The owner ticks it off

From their own portal, day by day. They cannot log the same day twice, so nobody finishes the week on 130 per cent.

You arrive knowing

Green means they did the work and you can move on. Red means the conversation is about why, not about the dog. That is a far more useful hour.

It sells the next block

Practice against progress is a better argument for another six weeks than enthusiasm is.

Open the sessionFill in Homework for this week at the end of it.

Pick from the libraryRecall, loose-lead, settle on a mat — the usual dozen are already there.

Set minutes and daysShort and often beats long and once. Five minutes, six days.

Add a noteEnd on a win. Before dinner, not after.

Check the board before next sessionHomework & practice shows who did the work.

Example

A trainer running a six-week puppy course sees three owners at 90 per cent and one at 10, and spends week three helping that one owner build a habit rather than repeating a lesson for everybody.

FAQ

What if an owner has no portal login?
Then it works as a record for you alone — still useful, just not self-service. The portal link goes out with their booking confirmation.

Can I set homework for a whole class at once?
Set it per session. Courses run session by session, so the homework follows the dog rather than the room.

Is 0 per cent a problem?
Usually it means the homework was too ambitious rather than that the owner is lazy. Try halving it.