Pet training takes many forms, from a short daily session at home to a formal class, agility competition, or help from a professional. Available surveys show that training participation is common but uneven: many owners handle behavior themselves, while structured classes and reward-based approaches also have a substantial place in dog care.
Contents
- How common is dog training?
- How much time does training take?
- Where owners seek behavior help
- Training methods and problem behaviors
- Classes, agility, and competition
- Training costs and the wider dog-care budget
How common is dog training?
The clearest participation figures in the available data come from Dogs Trust’s 2025 research on dog owners in the UK. Thirty-six percent of UK dog owners had attended a training class at some point. That lifetime measure is notably broader than recent participation: 11% had attended a training class in the previous year. The figures describe different time windows, so they should not be read as a direct year-to-year trend.
Dogs Trust also measured training away from home, including classes and organised activities such as agility. On the previous day, 11% of owners reported training away from home. When that kind of session happened, it usually lasted between 15 and 50 minutes. This suggests that formal or organised training is often a bounded activity rather than an all-day commitment, even though owners may train in other ways at home.
The U.S. evidence points to a large potential audience for training support. The MDPI Animals study reported that 65 million U.S. households owned a dog in 2023. It also reported that U.S. dog owners spent more than $136 billion on their pets in 2023. Those totals cover pet ownership broadly, not training alone, but they place training within a very large national dog-care market.
Owner participation is not the same as formal instruction. In the same MDPI study, 70% of respondents reported either training their dog themselves or not implementing any formal training. Only 5% said they used a trainer when they had concerns about behavior. These findings describe the survey respondents and should not be generalized to every dog owner without qualification.
How much time does training take?
Dogs Trust recorded an average of 12 minutes per day spent on training and classes. That average is small compared with the total time owners spent caring for their dogs: 2 hours and 12 minutes per day across all activities.
The surrounding time-use figures help put training into context. Average daily walking time was 67 minutes, while feeding and play took 41 minutes. Grooming at home accounted for 9 minutes per day, and appointments accounted for 6 minutes. Training therefore represented one part of a broader routine that also included exercise, interaction, basic care, and professional or veterinary visits.
| Dog-care activity | Average time per day | Source and period |
|---|---|---|
| Walking | 67 minutes | Dogs Trust, 2025 |
| Feeding and play | 41 minutes | Dogs Trust, 2025 |
| Training and classes | 12 minutes | Dogs Trust, 2025 |
| Grooming at home | 9 minutes | Dogs Trust, 2025 |
| Appointments | 6 minutes | Dogs Trust, 2025 |
| All dog-care activities | 2 hours 12 minutes | Dogs Trust, 2025 |
The 12-minute average should not be confused with the length of a class or organised session. Dogs Trust found that training away from home usually lasted 15 to 50 minutes when it took place, while the daily average spreads training time across all owners and all days measured. A short daily practice at home and an occasional longer class can therefore both fit the reported pattern.
Where owners seek behavior help
The MDPI Animals study found that owners often turn to informal or self-directed sources when they have a behavior concern. Sixty percent said they would ask a friend or family member or seek advice online instead of a trainer. This result sits alongside the 5% who said they used a trainer for behavior concerns, showing how much behavior guidance may be sought outside professional training services.
Choosing a professional can involve its own screening process. Dogs Trust reported that 66% of owners said they check the qualifications of dog professionals before working with them. Trust in veterinary advice was also high in that research: 85% trusted their own vet, 75% trusted veterinary professionals more broadly, and 69% trusted nutrition advice from their vet.
These figures are about trust and selection, not proof that every source gives equally appropriate behavior advice. They do show that the route to training support can include a veterinarian, a qualified dog professional, personal contacts, online information, or the owner’s own efforts.
Professional services connected with care were used by a sizable minority of owners in the Dogs Trust results. Fifty-five percent had ever used professional grooming services, including nail-trimming, and 49% had used those services in the previous 12 months. Seventeen percent had ever used a dog walker, 9% had ever used daycare, and 9% had ever used a dog sitter who visits the home. These services are not training measures, but they describe the wider support network around a dog and may affect how owners organize daily routines.
Training methods and problem behaviors
The MDPI study found that 60.20% of formal-training attenders sought a trainer who only used rewards-based methods. At the same time, 37.17% of formal-training attenders used a trainer using mixed aversive methods. These categories describe reported trainer use among people who attended formal training; they are not percentages of all dog owners and should not be combined as if they were mutually exhaustive results from the entire population.
Owners’ reported responses to problem behaviors were also mixed. Fifty-seven percent said they would use auditory or physical corrections for specific problem behaviors. Among respondents using rewards-based training, 11.3% used neither physical nor auditory corrections for any of the eight problems asked about. The same study reported that 21.7% used a physical or auditory correction for at least one problem behavior, and 6.1% used such corrections for all of the problem behaviors asked about among rewards-based trainers.
The wording and population matter here. “Rewards-based” describes the training approach identified in the study, while the correction figures describe reported responses across the problem behaviors included in its questionnaire. The numbers are useful for showing that labels and actual reported practices do not always map onto one simple behavior pattern.
The study also reported relatively low use of specific anti-barking devices in the measured responses. One and a half percent said their dog wore a bark collar in the home. When respondents were asked specifically about problem barking, 3% reported using e-collars to mitigate barking. These are separate reported measures and should not be treated as a single combined estimate.
Only 2.8% reported no problem behaviors at all in the eight classes asked about. That result indicates how broadly behavior questions can apply in everyday dog ownership, although it does not establish that every dog has a clinically significant behavior problem. It also reinforces why the source, question wording, and scope of a survey matter when interpreting pet training statistics.
Classes, agility, and competition
Training classes can be an entry point to organized dog activities. In an AKC survey summarized in “AKC Survey Says: 9 Dog Agility Stats” from 2018, 83% of agility exhibitors said they got their start by taking a class. The same source reported that 32% of AKC National Agility Championship exhibitors were competing for the first time.
The experience level of competitors varied. Fifty-eight percent of agility respondents had trained for a year or less before competing. This is a statistic about agility respondents and competition participation, not a recommended training timeline for every dog or handler.
Agility can also involve substantial travel. Seventy-three percent of respondents planned to travel more than 500 miles to attend the championship. That figure describes the event respondents’ plans in the 2018 survey and illustrates the distance some competitors were willing to cover for a major organized competition.
| Agility measure | Reported figure | Source and period |
|---|---|---|
| Exhibitors competing for the first time | 32% | AKC survey, 2018 |
| Exhibitors who started with a class | 83% | AKC survey, 2018 |
| Respondents trained a year or less before competing | 58% | AKC survey, 2018 |
| Planned travel of more than 500 miles | 73% | AKC survey, 2018 |
Together, these figures show two sides of organized training: classes can be an accessible starting route, while championship-level participation may require travel and a willingness to compete in a specialized setting.
Training costs and the wider dog-care budget
The AKC “Cost of Owning a Dog” source reported average dog training fees and supplies of $340 as a one-time cost. Ongoing training averaged $254 annually. These are averages from the cited source, not a universal price list, and the available figures do not specify that the same owners incurred both amounts.
The U.S. dog-training industry had seen an $8 million revenue rise since 2020, according to the MDPI Animals study. That study also reported a projection that the U.S. dog training industry would earn more than $820 million by 2026. The $820 million figure is a forecast, not a measured 2026 result, and the revenue increase is presented as an industry statement rather than a household spending average.
For household planning, the training figures sit alongside other care decisions. Dogs Trust reported that 71% of dogs were spayed or castrated and 64% had been neutered by two years of age. It also found that 72% had pet insurance at some point in life and 66% had pet insurance coverage in the past year. Those measures are not training costs, but they show why a pet-care budget can include medical, insurance, grooming, exercise, and behavior-support categories at the same time.
Training also intersects with owners’ expectations for public life. In Dogs Trust’s 2025 research, 66% said dogs should be kept on lead in all public spaces except designated off-lead areas, and 60% supported separate on-lead and off-lead walking areas. Thirty-one percent said dogs should not be allowed off-lead in public parks at all. These views do not measure training success, but they describe the settings in which recall, lead manners, and calm public behavior may matter to owners.
The same research found that 84% of dog owners agreed dogs should be allowed on public transport, while 59% favored dogs in cafes and restaurants and 24% supported dogs in supermarkets. Public access preferences are not behavior outcomes, yet they help explain why owners may value practical training for travel and shared spaces. They also show that pet training statistics are best read alongside the everyday situations owners want their dogs to handle.