Now that we’ve got all our PDQs and we’ve managed to lock the door without much ado, we can add some durations. 

Of course, as we add duration, the Missions have to get shorter … otherwise you’ll be here for 3 hours! 

Remember the recipe: 

Warm-ups & easy stepsWe must start with a few steps that are well below our dog’s threshold – these, we call “warm-ups”. They are meant to be boring. We will also sprinkle these throughout each mission so that there is some relief and we can make it easy enough for the dog.Moderate stepsThese steps will also be sprinkled into each mission so that we are approaching the threshold, working that muscle at a comfortable level.Challenging stepsWe will throw in anywhere from 1-3 of these more challenging steps throughout the plan, just to push that muscle a little more without snapping it. We will end on the hardest. Each mission should be a max of 30min start to finish, including the breaks in between each step. If your dog is a young puppy, 15-20min should be sufficient. Anything more than this is going to be frustrating for both you and the dog.