In order for your dog to listen all the time (regardless of distractions), you need to train them on The Three D’s of Dog Training– Duration, Distance, and Distractions.
Distance – How far you can walk away from your dog without them breaking the command.
Distractions – The dog’s ability to listen and perform the command when presented with various levels of
distractions.
My criteria in order to feel confident that a dog is fully trained:
– The dog will remain in command for a long period of time
– Dog understands to stay in desired command while I walk faraway and/or leave the room
– The dog will perform the command when there is a high level of distractions present
The key aspect of training the Three D’s (or any other aspect of dog training) is consistency and progressive implementation. The combination of consistency and progressive implementation is essential for success. As you do this, you want to keep the Rule of Three in mind.
You can’t expect your dog to remain in a “Down” while you walk away, with three bikes and two dogs going by after only three days of training. It’s imperative that we set both ourselves and our dog up for success by slowly increasing the duration, distance, and distractions…until we have a highly trained and reliable dog. Teaching your dog to “Stay”, should be a fundamental goal for every owner.
In my opinion, having a fully trained dog should be every owner’s goal. Having a companion that listens well, makes your life easier and ultimately enables your dog to be included in more activities/aspects of your life then he could if they were untrained. You can take a fully trained dog to the beach to run around and come back when called; you can take a fully trained dog to your Aunt’s house for Christmas and have him in a place command; you can have your fully trained dog at your son’s soccer game and relax in a “Down” command. However, you can’t have an untrained dog at these events because it would not only be stressful for you and the dog, but also a possible liability. Begin training your dog on the three D’s of dog training today.
Contact me today in order to schedule your FREE phone consultation:
914-774-7654 or steve@srdogtraining.com
