THOSE DARNED "D'S"

THOSE DARNED “D’S”

Most people who have done even a little dog training have encountered the dreaded 3D’s. DISTRACTIONS, DISTANCE, and DURATION. 

Probably the most common comment heard at any dog class is “My dog does it so well at home but when he comes to class he seems to go deaf and forget everything.” 

Most dogs can get a pretty good handle on the basics in just a few concentrated sessions if we work in a quiet place with no distractions.

Now comes the challenge. 

We venture out into the real world filled with even the simplest of distractions and our student turns deaf and has a complete lapse of memory.

Here’s where we check to see if you’ve remembered the basics of training.

Patience, persistence, consistency, and above all motivation. 

The student must have a reason to perform. This is called motivation and we hope you use positive motivation as opposed to the old “jerk and pull” system.

If you hope to overcome a distraction you must offer an alternative motivation which will exceed whatever interest the student has in the distraction. The big piece of freshly grilled sirloin has to be more appealing than the cute little "poodle chick" who has just happened to wander into your training area. 

The real long term answer to overcoming distractions is to practice small bits many times in lots of different environments with tons of positive motivation for performance until the task becomes thoroughly imprinted and is an automatic reflex action which is not sidetracked by distractions.

In short it requires that we practice simple steps regularly in many different situations and environments and gradually increase the difficulty and distractions. 

Mostly we think of DISTANCE as being a factor in the recall.

People seem to forget about having the dog master the recall in a controlled environment and from a very short distance until they have mastered the basics. 

Instead they start yelling “come” or “here” when the dog has no idea what they mean and is way too distant to respond favorably.  

When the dog ignores them they assume he is deaf and up goes the volume, pitch, and velocity and soon the dog is saying “adios amigo, I'm not going near that person.” 

You teach the recall in small bites and short distances and it always ends with positive, happy, enthusiasm. If all he ever gets is the trainer who simply yells more frequently and progressively louder you can be assured that he won't be anxious to come the next time he's called.

Do yourself a favor. If the dog does not respond to your initial command go toward him until you've cut the distance in half and repeat the command and make yourself into a happy receptive target so the dog has a positive reason to come.

Remember our goal is to have the dog come to us, not listen to us yell and scream at him.

Distance is also a major factor when we practice sit, down, and stay commands from a distance away from the student. Again, the solution is simple but we have to adhere to the basics. Practice small bits until they are mastered in various environments and with varying distraction and only then do we up the distances.

DURATION obviously only applies to those tasks that are time sensitive. Mainly we are dealing with stay in a sit position or the down stay. 

I personally use wait in some applications but it is just what it sounds like. i.e. wait while we look for traffic, go through the door, etc and therefore is really only a brief pause.

 The stay duration starts with ten seconds and increases in ten second increments up to thirty seconds and then you go to a minute, then two minutes and finally three. Once you attain three minutes your dog will usually stay as long as you want and it's not difficult to throw in the occasional five minutes.

It's easier to teach the sit stay first because the dog still has the option to move about. Once we ask for the down stay we have removed the flight option which makes some dogs uneasy until they become comfortable and trusting of the environment. 

Again we start with short durations and work up with longer stays, changing environments and distractions. The constant is the same as with the distractions and distance. We start small and increase gradually as we master each step.

If you jump ahead and try to proceed too quickly you run the risk of your dog breaking, becoming confused, you getting frustrated , and much of your effort to this stage being lost and you wind up back at square one but now your dog is carrying some negative baggage which you may have to address before you can move ahead.

So there you have the 3 D's. If you do much training you're guaranteed to encounter them and hopefully this will help you to recognize your challenges and have a little better idea as to how to deal with them.