When your dog is doing well with a behavior at home and it's time to increase the distraction level a bit, start by going into a new location in your home. That's a baby step (and you would be surprised how it changes the context for your dog and can make it harder for him).
When we live in a more urban environment (like I do now) it can be REALLY hard to find places outside the home that would be considered a "baby step up" in distraction. It's like going from a quiet room to a chaotic nightclub with disco lights and crazy costumes and loud music and strong smells! Our poor dogs barely stand a chance. So be on the lookout for good training locations that are quiet, without other dogs present, without any people (or if there are a few people, they are not moving quickly and they're leaving you alone).
It can help a lot to take your dog there a few times without the hope of training just to let him get acclimated to the new environment. Then, when you DO try to train there, have REALLY high value treats with you the first few times, so the dog builds what I like to think of as a "behavior muscle" of being successful in that new environment. Train there repeatedly on different days (with the same level of distraction). Here's a video of a local (to Setubal, Portugal) location that is good for training (when your dog is ready). https://youtu.be/yoaHbrlNFc4?si=-MKofDbDR-hK0bjF
No comments:
Post a Comment