[the mama]

Holly, my Golden mix, at 5 months, is like a sponge! She's in obedience, and doing very well. I also am teaching her some tricks, which I never did with Lucy (now almost 8 years).

Holly picked-up "Speak!" in about five minutes.

I'm curious, though... how many new commands is too many for any given sesion? I run her thru the stuff she knows (sit, lay, stay, speak), and stuff she's getting (come, down), and then I wonder if it's too much to stick another new command in?

I don't want to freak her out, but she just seems to absorb it all.

[LMH]

I think your dog let's you know when it's too much. There were times when we'd be practicing and he would just start running through the whole routine no matter what I asked-haha. If I said paw he would sit, lay down, back up, then I knew his head must be spinning and I was overloading him.

[Dogstar]

In general, I only introduce one NEW command in any given session- but as soon as I get it on cue, I begin mixing it up with commands she already knows. (A session is generally 5 minutes or less, and we'll end it by playing tug or with the flirtpole). After a playbreak, I may or may not come back and teach another new command. andhave another session- depends on the dog's energy and my time.

[rvamutt]

I also find introducing one new command per session works best. When I'm introducing a new command I only spend one to two minutes at a time training it.

[Dobermaniac]

I will also have to echo what Dogstar and rvamutt said, one command per session is the best way to go. Its what I do and works very well for me.