Ok so I have both you and the clients to understand what a "Living Room Dog" is... ( See part 1 of this series 7/19/12) Now the next step in fixing the issues with our little girl is to learn about distraction and how it is going to impact our training and help explain why this and other dogs act the way they do! Like I said yesterday there are going to be about 8 different articles and ideas on this journey so strap in and enjoy...
The Three D’s – The “Big” One
Now for the third “D”, the
one that is typically the root of all evil when it comes to problem behaviors…DISTRACTION! As you can probably guess on your own, Distraction
is the hardest issue for people who own dogs. Ironically, it is also the
biggest challenge for parents, spouses, students, and the list goes on. So, why
do we get so frustrated when dealing with our dogs? Typically it’s because we don’t properly know
how to deal with the intense distractions our dogs encounter outside the home,
which triggers frustration and lack of patience on our part. I try to get across to my students that most
dogs I teach will be with their owner for at least the next 8-12 years, so you
can hardly expect them to be trained in 8 weeks! It takes our kids 12 years
just to “be ready” for college, let alone to be grown up enough to make all the
right decisions. Do not fall into the mindset that any dog problem can be
solved in only an hour (and that includes commercials!) I am here to tell you
that training a dog does not take an hour, a week, or can it be accomplished
through a beginner obedience class; it takes a lifetime! This relationship is
why we adopt, rescue and save dogs (I hope!), so relax and enjoy it.
With distraction we can also
use the “Rule of 2” (see post on “The 3 D’s The first 2”), but we will have to change
the idea of using numeric intervals, because at its heart, Distraction is
measured by the intensity of the Distraction, not the number of distractions.
This alone should explain why a dog that is great at recall in the living room,
runs for the hills right outside the front door. In this case, under a low
level of Distraction (living room,) Fido does fine, but when we up the strength
of Distraction (front yard) he fails miserably. Once again, teaching
Distraction, like Duration and Distance, requires not only patience but the
elimination of our frustration as well.
When I begin to teach Distraction
control in my classes, one of my primary goals is to emphasize that dogs do not
generalize when they are being trained. A dog who is a champ at fetch inside,
might be totally clueless when we try the same behavior in the back yard. It is
very important to understand that as we move through each level of Distraction we
must do some re-teaching! Don’t worry though, each time you teach the same
behavior, even in a new environment, it will come easier and faster with
repetition; but we cannot expect a dog to carry his past lessons to the next
level we are teaching without more opportunities for experience.
For example, if I am teaching
recall, I start inside the house - the area they are most familiar with. Once
the dog is reliable there, I move to the backyard - the next most known area. The next step is the front yard - this one
will take longer and I use a long line to help ensure safety and success. To reinforce this behavior, I begin to work in
city parks and then finally in off-leash dog parks (using a long-line at both
locations for safety and ultimately success.) At the end of this process (and trust me…it won’t
be mastered consistently for many months!) you will have a dog that has a
reliable recall in most situations. This process of starting with less Distraction
and moving to more Distraction should be an aha
moment for most. If I had a dollar for every time I got the question “Why does
Fido do this perfectly at home, but when he gets to class he forgets
everything?” I’d be very wealthy! The simple answer to the question is that
Fido has not forgotten anything! He just doesn’t know how to react with this
new level of Distraction. Be patient and allow him to learn at a normal pace
or, if possible, move to a less distracting environment (sometimes success
requires taking a step backwards!)
I hope this last piece of
information to finish the discussion on the “Three D’s” makes the path you are following
as you train your dog more understandable. In the end, you should have more
information, a lot more patience and be less frustrated with Fido the next time
he does not “get it!”
