
When you learn online, you can bring your dogs to school.
I’ve shared many posts where I cover setting our dogs up for success, but it is super important that we set ourselves up for success too. We are always looking to do our best for our dogs and to do that we need to take care of ourselves. I love continuing education and online learning, so as you are reading my dog training blog online, I thought I’d share tips about online learning for you and your dog … but this can apply to anything at all you want to learn.
The convenience of online learning is having a classroom available any time of day or night allowing you to fit in learning with work and family life. You can learn at any time that suits you, no matter where you are.
There is no need to commute to an online classroom, and no need to juggle your schedule to arrive at class at certain times on certain days. This flexibility gives you more time to enjoy learning. Online learning opens up a world of possibilities to immerse yourself in anything you ever wanted to learn about with educators who are the best in their fields.
If you can turn a computer, mobile or tablet on and off, comfortably use a mouse and / or tap a screen, save a file, navigate around the internet, send and receive an email … then you can enjoy a virtual classroom by creating your very own physical classroom using your computer, mobile or tablet.
You will have your own private classroom that suits you, can try out things in the comfort of your home, and practice when YOU want to, HOW you want to.
Tips to Creating an AWESOME Learning Experience for You, and Your Dog
Set yourself up with your very own classroom of success.
Create a space for you and your course materials. Have a special low distraction area where you can play with your dog. This is your very own private training facility where you can take the learning from the computer to the real work by playing with your dog in an environment that sets you both up for success. You can check out my blog post “6 Keys to Shaping Behaviour” to see how a quiet area benefits our dogs.
Your new area can be as simple as a corner in a room or as elaborate as a cleaned out storage area with a table, chair, notebook, treat area and your own little work area. You can go so far as modifying a room or just designating a “training corner” in a larger room.

Playing with Tater in a quiet training area at home, with Swagger supervising.
Set an INTENTION to train (which is really play!).
Create your own schedule. Committing to spending a certain amount of time in the online classroom to learn, and a certain amount of time to put into practice what you are learning will help you stay on track. The great thing about online learning is that if things happen to interrupt your planned schedule, you can readjust as there are no deadlines to meet. Set an intention AND a time in your daily check list or calendar!
Organise your course materials in folders, or take notes … or both.
Create a special library or notebook just for your course material and set it up in a way that suits you. Keep notes of your progress in a journal that is only for this purpose (and not for your to-do lists, or shopping lists, or anything else). Your journal can be as elaborate or as plain as you would like. Remember, it’s all about you creating what you want.
Put the learning into action.
Take the learning from the keyboard to your training area and play with your dog!
Make your time learning special for you.
Keep distractions low, learn at a time that suits you best when you know you can concentrate. You might have to turn off all devices that are likely to beep, knock or ping you, especially if it’s social media. Set your learning area up in a way that inspires and motivates you.
Think about everything you love about learning, and the joy it gives you, and put ‘prompts’ for this where you spend the most time learning. Even if you do all your learning via your phone, you could create an album of images that mean something to you, and look at that to ground yourself as the first thing you do when it is your private learning time.
Decide what makes sense to you.
There’s one thing we need to be careful of in this day and age with information from anywhere and everywhere filling our screens, and that is sampling everything. Sampling everything can stop our learning in its tracks and can be detrimental or even harmful when it relates to our dogs. Although you may be struggling with a challenge, it’s best to avoid jumping around. Decide what makes sense to you. For me that means two things:
- Does this resonate with my core values and the kind of person that I want to be not just with my dog but to others in my life?
- Is this scientifically sound, has it worked not just for one or two dogs, or highly skilled dog trainers, but rather does this just work for all people and all animals?
I am no different than anyone who has found themselves “sampling everything”, so I’ll share some great advice I was given by a great life coach more than a few years ago. He told me “Susan there are tons of opportunities for you to learn that will come across your computer screen. The key to your progress, happiness and sanity is to be able to discriminate between those which will be a contribution to you on your journey and those which will end up being little more than a distraction or worst yet a diversion to you on that journey.”
Celebrate your learning.
There’s a bonus tip that I’ve shared on my blog before, and that is to aim for “progress, not perfection” (and I know that anyone in one of our online classrooms will be nodding their heads at this). Remember to celebrate all your learning, every day there will be something! Allow yourself to be a learner, and let yourself be a beginner if you are learning something new. Enthusiasm will get you started but good daily habits are going to make sure you stay on the path to success.
Do you have a special learning area for yourself and an area that is low in distractions to play with your dog? Let us know in the comments. Your set up could help many people with ideas.
Today I’m grateful to the wonders of modern technology that allow us all to learn from anyone in the world, in the comfort of our own home.
And I am also deeply grateful to everyone who has learned online with me. When I first started dog training online as a way I could meet the demand for teaching and seminars around the world without all the travel and time away that it necessitated, I was told it was not possible and that it would fail. That was over a decade ago. Each of you has helped make online dog training something that can be amazingly special.
Thank you!💕
Thanks for his opportunity.
Thank you so much! Looking forward to this as we have a 5 month old puppy who needs training very badly. Can’t wait to see what she can do.
Thank you! We are excited to learn!
Brillant Idea, looking forward so much
Thank you
Thank you Susan. Sully, my 8 month old cockapoo pup, and I are excited to begin. It’s been 18 years since I’ve trained with a little addition to our family and I’m eager to see what’s new! Thank you for this kind gesture during this worrisome time .
Thank you ❤️
Looking forward to this opportunity. Thanks for your generosity!
So looking forward to home schooling our six month old Aussiedoodle with your generous support and expertise, Susan. I know she will love it, and we will too! Can’t wait to get started! Thanks so much!!
Thank you for your generosity, can’t wait to start!
Thanks!!
Excited to get started! Thanks!
Excited to learn new training tricks and discipline for my VERY energetic GSP!
Thank you. I was trying to create a structured training time that I could do in my garden to keep my collies entertained. This will help enormously.
Thank you
Thanks! Just adopted a 1 year old aussie doodle- so cute but scared of strangers and loves to cruise the kitchen counters. Look forward to learning some ways to redirect.
Thank you! Very excited to learn!
Always very Happy to learn from you.
Thank you for helping us all continue our journey during these troubling times
Would like support with recall and not jumping up
Looks a fab site
Cant wait to start
Got it, Thanks!
Thanks Susan! I look forward to seeing you newest games. Let’s go !
Thank you for doing this. I have been following you for a while. I am on disability so cannot afford a lot of the classes.
Shared with friends. Looking forward to working on this with my young rescue.
I’m excited to get started!! Thank you
Excited about this and just shared your video and link with a dear friend that just got a rescue. I was telling her about “touch” and its your choice!
I’m looking forward to the training!
Thank you so much for this. It is these generous acts of kindness that make isolation easier. Cannot wait to start.
Thank you Susan Cant wait to start AGAIN
Looking forward to it:))
Excellent!!! Really looking forward to this.
Looking forward to it!
Thank you so much Susan and team. With everyone home bound this is perfect for not only our dogs but us too. Again thank you so very much.
Thank you. So excited to start.
I’m so grateful that you are making this opportunity available to us. I am looking forward to learning from you! Thank you!
Looking forward to it! Thanks Susan from Sal and Perl
Looking forward to this. I struggle with my dog barking at the front door. I hope this might help.
Thanks Susan. I was sick with the flu all of December and got knocked off course. I love the self pace which has helped having 3 dogs!
Thanks Susan, you, your dogs and your classes are the best. We are doing Recallers and can’t wait for some Homeschooling. Be well, be happy!
Thank you so much!
Looking for some positivity and fun!
Thank you Susan and staff, my 15 week old Brittany and I miss out on puppy class because of this new situation. This will focus me and Flyer will hopefully enjoy the exercises.
Thankyou Susan, we are working through the Recallers module and look forward to some Home Training during our enforced lockdown
Thank you so much Susan! Perfect timing as we all become stuck at home. x
Thank you so much for creating this possibillity!! we are ready to toll here in Bergen, Norway🤗
Thank you so much Susan. I too, am a Recallers Alumni and am looking forward to “Homeschooling”!
Thanks Susan and AN / Handling 360 for sharing this offer. I had to cancel all my privates and group classes, so have suggested that all my clients sign up. We can work from our homes and can all meet up after this is all over and be on the exact same page. It is a wonderful thing to not leave my clients without any gameplan during this difficult time. We all appreciate your generosity and love of dogs! I’m looking forward to following the homeschooling along side my clients and helping them remotely if they need support. This a trying time, but a very important one…especially for my new puppy parents out there!
Cheers!
Shannon
Thank you! Hudson and I are ready. 🙂
Thank you Susan for the opportunity to train under a teacher that is familiar with Border Collies. I adopted a 4 1/2 month old BC from a rescue organization this past April. In the past, I have enjoyed having three BC mixes? purebreds? I fell in love with my new rescue, but discovered that she is much more dog than I am accustomed to. Hopefully through this on-line class I will gain more of an understanding of her behaviors so that we can enjoy each other more fully.
We really need this!
Thank you so much Susan for your wonderful generous offer it will certainly help me get through this very trying time , Helen
Many thanks for this. Until this week I was attending obedience classes with a 14 month old pup and dont want to stop now.
Thank you, Susan, for such a kind and generous gesture. I have followed you for some time and am so excited about this upcoming opportunity. I can’t wait to “homeschool” my dogs! God bless you!
Thank you so much! I am a recallers alumni. Was going to take this time to start again by myself but now I will have you to help! Thanks again!
Thank you for doing this in this time of confinement. Dogs are loving it tho!
Ready to go!
Thank you! Ready to roll!