When we are training new behaviours, whether it be loose lead walking or general obedience, it is common practice to start off in a low distraction environment.
Quite simply, the less distractions, the more chance that the dog is going to remain engaged with the handler and think clearer on the task.
When I am training my own dogs, we always start off in low distraction areas such as the house, garden or street. What is important though is that you eventually begin to proof the behaviours incorporating the 3 D’s of dog training – distraction, distance and duration.
How often do you hear people say that their dog is a dream in the house, but as soon as they step foot outside, it all goes out the window? As dog trainers, we see this a lot and there can be multiple reasons for this, however a lot of the time it’s because the behaviour has not been replicated and proofed outside the home!
On the flip side, taking loose lead walking as an example. Again, it is not an overly difficult behaviour to teach, but starting off in a busy high street environment would make it much more tricky for the dog… as opposed to a lower distraction area. Think about it – in a high street environment you have distractions such as; people, dogs, cars, weather, noises, smells etc. So in this scenario, it is more effective to start off in a low distraction environment, then proof the behaviour in various locations where you can slowly introduce the 3 D’s!
In particular, we find that many reactive dogs can often be prone to trigger stacking. So again, if we were to train in a hectic environment with lots of stuff going on, the dog is more likely to become trigger stacked… clouding the dogs mind and ability to take on information we are communicating down the lead.
Start small, build on it and be patient!
