How and why we make a weekly dog training checklist

Featuring lots of handwritten journal pages

Shortly after we moved to Florida, I started putting together a written “weekly dog training checklist” to hold myself accountable when working with Scout. It’s been really helpful for our continued growth!

There are so many ways to go about a training checklist — and every dog-owner team does it differently. Here’s our approach.

* Update: In January 2021, I revised our weekly training checklist approach to more flexibly fit our ever-evolving goals and approach to life together. Read all about our new version here!

Why make a dog training checklist?

I’ve hand-fed Scout from the moment I brought her her home, but I had a habit of just working on what I found most “fun” in any given moment.

We did a lot of eye contact and silly stay proofing — but we quickly fizzled out on other behaviors (or only halfheartedly practiced them once in a while). Our training was far better than nothing, but the sessions weren’t always as productive as they could have been for long-term success.

Writing our goal…