The Minimum Effective Dose

I started training dogs professionally around the same time I got into endurance races—you know, those fun weekend running events.

Back in 2010, I watched my sister, brother, and sister-in-law complete a half marathon in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. My sister-in-law labored through the final stretch. Watching her grit it out and finish sparked something in me. I decided to give it a try.

I haven’t stopped racing since. I joke with my fiancé that I’m an athlete, and in my own little world, I definitely am.

As I began racing and taking my fitness seriously, I started noticing the striking parallels between fitness and dog training. Personal trainers and professional dog trainers? Practically twins.

We get hired to help people reach a goal. We talk through what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to happen next. We assign homework, help with mechanics, and check in with follow-up sessions. We teach. We coach. We troubleshoot.

Dog Training. Personal Training. Same Energy.

Since moving back from Colorado and shifting my focus from boarding dogs to offering private lessons, that connection between fitness and dog training has come back strong—like an itch I can’t stop scratching.

Enter this blog.

Lately, I’ve been reading Tim Ferriss' The 4-Hour Body (4HB). I loved The 4-Hour Workweek, but never got around to this one until now. As I read, I couldn’t stop thinking about how everything he was saying about fitness applied directly to dog training.

I only made it about 20 pages in before I had to pause and write this.

The book starts with a section called "Start Here," followed by "Fundamentals - First and Foremost." The first major concept in that section is something called The Minimum Effective Dose.

What Is the Minimum Effective Dose?

Tim Ferriss defines the Minimum Effective Dose (MED) as:

"The smallest dose that will produce the desired outcome."

After 15 years of helping people train their dogs, I’ve discovered something:

Most people don’t actually want to train their dogs.

Just like most people don’t really want to work out.

And you know what? I’ve come to love that.

Instead of feeling disheartened that people aren’t excited about one of my favorite things, I take it as a challenge. My job is to make dog training feel easy, doable, and non-intimidating.

That’s where the MED comes in.

"The MED not only delivers the most dramatic results, but it does so in the least time possible." —Tim Ferriss

The Least You Can Do (That Actually Works)

In my private training sessions, my goal is to give people the least amount of training they need to do to still see results. No fluff. No overwhelm. Just what matters.

And it works.

The people I work with stay on track. Their dogs get trained. Results are achieved.

So whether you’re trying to get your dog to stop pulling on the leash, or you’re trying to shave a few seconds off your mile time, keep the Minimum Effective Dose in mind.

You probably don’t need to do nearly as much as you think.

You just need to do the right stuff, the right way, consistently.

That’s it. That’s the dose.