I have a question on what most have found to be the optimal number of training sessions to produce the best results. Now, I'm not talking about the length of each session, but how frequent these sessions are...ie, I have the time to do as many training sessions in a day as I wish (assuming I want to get really obsessive and have no life.. ), but have limited it to two per day, 10-15 minutes each.

However, I have been boning up on some theory on learning behaviors --generalized: not specific to dogs -- and found an interesting piece of info: (Note: info is the parenthesis is mine)

"As has been found in most forms of learning, distributed practice produces the fastest learning. When trials (training sessions) are massed so that they follow each other very quickly, the number of experiences necessary for conditioning (learned behaviors) to reach its upper limit is greater than when the occurrences are distributed more widely over time."

Obviously "massed" and "quickly" are subjective in this statement. Which is why I ask the question.

Gee that quote sounds familiar! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
The very best, quickest, most productive training sessions I've ever had were accomplished this way: I always want to work too long, going beyond the point where the dog is highest in drive and quitting when he is getting tired/flat. So I put the dog in a small fenced area, got all my stuff ready, and I watched TV. On the commercials, I raced outside, trained for 2 1/2 - 3 minutes and was back inside when the commercials were over. Training was very energetic, intense, and focused on only one particular behavior. I did this 5-7 times per nite, so each training session was separated by about 15 minutes. And the dog was left alone, without any toys or ways to amuse himself when I went inside. He learned new behaviors unbelievably quickly AND his enthusiasm for working doubled becuz I was leaving him wanting each time, instead of going too long.

Good post Sch3FH2. I use a similar proceedure by training during breaks as I write my dissertation.

Thanks for the info Sch3FH2.

I must admit that's more frequent and shorter sessions than I would have expected. T'would be an interesting study to see how many repetitions it took for an behavoir to be acceptable (not sloppy) in that program vs another...but that would likely depend a lot on the maturity of the dog, it's concentration ability, and what is being taught.
Your imput has nevertheless been appreciated... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />