Distractions, Distance and Generalization Are Common Training Techniques
There are two primary stages of dog training:
- First Stage - train at home in an easy environment.
- Second Stage - train in real world environments that feature distractions for your dog.
Training Terminology
Distractions
A distraction is anything that will take his attention away from you. Noises, other dogs, small children, toys, treats, food, and more distract your dog's focus away from you. Whatever motivates your dog and grabs his attention is a distraction for him and, if it can be used safely, should be introduced into training. Doing so increases focus and strengthens his grasp on the training cues.
Uses: Add distractions one at a time when practicing obedience cues. Adding in a treat and another dog (a possible pair) makes it harder for your dog to follow the cue, but also makes sure that he learns to follow it when it's needed most.
Distance
Adding distance means moving objects that interest your dog closer to him and moving the trainer farther from him. Both changes increase the challenge for your dog to continue to perform correctly, but also strengthen his ability to deal with real world scenarios. Distance also helps prepare your dog for real world execution of the game plan created during training.
Uses: Increase the distance between you and your dog and decrease the distance between your dog and the object that is grabbing his attention. Do this in baby steps to help ensure success.
Proofing
Proofing is checking or testing the behavior to make sure he can follow the command with or without distractions and with or without distance challenges.
Generalization
Generalization means that he knows to follow the command in all environments and when coming from different people.
Dog Training Stage One
Stage One of training is the Teaching Stage. You introduce the new command to your dog, show him how to do it and reward him for doing it successfully. First you show him without distractions aiming to teach in the blandest environment possible.
Once he has success without distractions, begin to introduce them. If he has trouble focusing when the treat is on the floor within reach, guess what? Put a treat on the floor within reach and go over the same command he learned in the boring environment. He will either succeed or struggle. If he succeeds, add in another distraction and adjust the distance. Build on the successes. If he struggles, try the troubleshooting tips below.
Troubleshooting Tips
- Increase the reward he gets. If he was getting the basic treat and it is not enough to keep him motivated, introduce a better reward, like cheese or liver treats. This challenges the distraction directly and helps him re-focus by increasing his motivation to follow your command.
- Guide him through the moves the same way you did when first teaching the command.
- If 1 and 2 don't yield success, go back to the basics, teaching him the command in a bland environment without distractions.
Dog Training Stage Two
The second stage of training occurs in the real world environment. After working with your dog in a worry free environment and having consistent success and after adding in distractions and distance challenges while continuing to have success then you are ready to train your dog in real world environments. This is referred to as "proofing" or "generalization."
In addition to distractions and distance challenges, you can also introduce different time requirements, surfaces (e.g., grass, pavement, sand), trainers, body language, tone, and more.
Changing the elements produces a more difficult task. Conquering a more difficult task leads to the owner feeling great, the dog feeling proud, and both being prepared for whatever comes next!
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