In my last post, I talk about how often we accidentally teach our dogs behaviors we don’t actually want, or we don’t realize we’ve taught it to them by accident. In this post I’m going to talk about how your dog is not ignoring you, they simply don’t know how to complete the behavior you’re asking for in the context your asking.

Just because a dog can sit, down, stay and roll over in the living room doesn’t mean they’re ready to preform these behaviors in public, in front of distractions.

Distractions and challenges are a BIG part of dog training. If you haven’t taught your dog how to work in distracting and challenging environments then how can you expect them to do it when you need them to?

Dogs don’t generalize well. A great example of this is in training guide dogs. Because guide dogs need to be able to work in very distracting and sometimes very challenging environments and they’re asked to complete complex tasks in this way, then the trainers have to train the dog in each scenario they can think of. For example, when teaching a dog to locate a seat they need to learn that a seat can mean a chair but it also means a bench, a stool, a couch etc. They have to be taught to find the object in all it’s forms. They also have to be taught how to do this when navigating through crowds or in space that it may not be obvious there is a seat nearby.

Likewise, just because your dog comes when called in your fenced back yard, doesn’t mean they understand how to do that when in a crowded park or on a hiking trail when a squirrel runs in front of them, and just because they come when called at the park doesn’t mean they will do it in a busy parking lot.

All training should start small and easy.

Start in an environment that isn’t overly distracting for your dog. A great place would be your living room or similar room in the house that has space to train your dog in and is a common space that they are very used to. Don’t start training something new with a lot of people or other animals around. Start where it is quiet and there are minimal distractions.

You can add your own distractions in many ways, the possibilities are only as endless as your imagination! Some great examples of things you can do while still in the first location (inside your home):

• have someone walk past
• someone blows a whistle or makes a lot of noise (while ignoring the dog)
• work in a more active part of your home
• have the TV or a radio on
• play sounds of crowded spaces, thunder storms or fireworks (especially great if your dog needs help desensitizing to these sounds)

Distractions are often challenges, but not all challenges are distractions. Here are some ways to add another level of challenge (while you’re still training in a quiet place inside your house).

Many of these exercises are great for learning impulse control, which is a great skill for all dogs to have an an important part of using their obedience skills in public places.

• roll a ball past your dog
• throw a treat in the opposite direction
• have a person run or skip past
• have a person approach you and greet you (without acknowledging the dog)
• someone pushes something with wheels past (rolling chair or stool, baby stroller, bike, etc)
• be sporadic in your own movements; do jumping jacks, sit on the floor, anything that might encourage your dog to get playful or distracted
• ignore your dog; sometimes just ignoring the dog can lead them to get bored and wander off, this is a great exercise to work on their impulse control and patience

Once you can comfortably say that your dog is very well trained and responds extremely well in your quiet, indoor environment, you can move locations.

You don’t want to move from your quiet location to a public park right away though. Here is the key to reliable obedience; gradually increase the challenge and spend time in each level until your dog responds as close to 100% as you can get.

When you do change locations, you’re going to want to start back at level 1 and then move through level 2 and 3 when your dog is ready.

The second location should be still within your home but with more challenge. Depending on your house, this might be a more active place in your home or it may be your fenced back yard. If you don’t have a fenced yard then make sure you are using a long line on your dog.

Once your dog is performing well move on to the next location.

The third location should have a lot more challenge and distractions than the 2nd but still within your control. Keep your dog on leash and practice their skills while introducing each level of distractions & challenges.

Once your dog does well you can move on to more public spaces where you have less control over the environment.

The important thing is that every time you change locations you are going back to level 1 challenges and moving through each level in each new location.

When you begin to teach your dog off leash training, you’re going to want to go back to the FIRST location as well as the first level and then proceed to move through each level with each location all over again, but this time you’ll be working on your off leash training with all of the behaviors your dog has already learned and proofed on.

Off leash training isn’t for all dogs, and whether you train your dog off leash or not will need to be at your own discretion.

If you’ve trained with every level in all locations and are still struggling to get your dog to focus on you instead of their surroundings, then it may be something else that is interfering with your training (like your expectations).

“My dog knows this at home but won’t do it outside.”

You’ve probably jumped to the next location or level too quickly, or maybe even skipped a level. Take your time exploring different distractions and challenges until your dog is performing successfully at all levels before moving on to the next location.

“My dog only listens when I have treats.”

This is a separate (albeit, common) problem. Treats need to be removed gradually, while increasing other forms of reward (like physical and verbal praise). After the dog really knows something well in all levels and locations, you should begin rewarding treats very randomly. If your dog doesn’t know WHEN a treat is coming then they’re more likely to listen with the expectation that it could be this time.

“My dog did this perfectly yesterday but not today.”

Dogs are not robots and aren’t going to perform the same every day. Just like people, they can have off days as well. When your dog is having an off day, take a step back in their training. Focus on tasks you know they can complete easily and give lots of rewards for those simple behaviors performed. This will help build your dogs confidence and reinforce the good behavior without punishing the bad (because you know they know this, they’re just having an off day).

“My dog listens well except when…”

Whatever that “except when” thing might be (maybe it’s people approaching, maybe it’s other dogs or maybe it’s wildlife) that is the thing you need to take a step back on and keep practicing at easier levels before trying to move on again.

If your dog isn’t listening when you think they know it, then it means they haven’t learned to apply it to all levels of challenges yet.