Why training starts at home 🏡
This can be hard one to wrap your head around. Why would I start my dog training at home when I need him to do the training when we’re out on a walk?
How does recall training start in the house or how can my loose lead walking training be done off the lead in the living room?
When it comes to our dog training we want to set them up for success and to do that we need to make training as easy as possible in the beginning. It works exactly the same way in us humans, at school we start with the basics and work our way up the levels. We wouldn’t ask kids to do their maths homework in Disneyland!
What does setting them up for success mean?
The better we are at something the more fun it is, the more motivation we have to do it and the more likely we will repeat it in the future.
If we were to ask too much of our dogs too soon and make the training difficult, the more likely they will get frustrated confused and avoid doing it again at all costs.
But if we make it easy to start with, the more chance they will have fun, succeed and want to do it again. Don’t worry, it doesn’t mean we won’t ever conquer the hard stuff it just means we will work our way up the levels step by step.
…So in order for our dogs to succeed. We start at home.
The outside world can be like Disneyland for our dogs. We have access to the outside/walks whenever we want. But for our dogs, the outdoor time is restricted to when we take them out.
And when they do get outside, it’s full of amazing things to explore and investigate. Remember our dogs have amazing senses, much better than our own.
Distractions are high outside, when first learning something we need quiet and focus to take it all in. That’s why starting our training at home will mean we are all more likely to succeed!
I don’t know about you but when I’m doing a course or listening to a webinar I like a quiet peaceful location so I can concentrate. I am much more likely to take in and process the information in an environment set up for learning.
Of course, we want to get to the stage where our dogs can implement all this training we are doing while they are out in the big wide world.
We do this by taking it step by step.
First we start out training at home, there’s little to no distractions and it’s fairly “boring”.
Then we take it to the garden, it’s not Disneyland but there’s slightly more distractions than the house. We are slowly building them up.
Then we practice in empty car parks, quiet open spaces, maybe on the street where there’s not much going on.
Then we add in doing it around other people and dogs, at first at a distance and overtime getting closer and closer. Until we have built a solid skill that can be utilised around all types of distractions and in all environments.
It may sound like a long hefty process but you’d be surprised how fast our dogs can learn when we do it in a successful and effective manner.
So if you’re ever out and about and suddenly your dog starts to struggle with their training. Take a look at the environment and make it easier for them. We all need a little helping hand sometimes. Taking a step back isn’t a loss but a more effective way to build solid learning that you and your dog will be able to use for years to come.
Casey- Weird & Wonderful, Dog Training and Behaviour đź’š