Training around distractions is also known as “proofing”. When you are in the proofing stages, you are taking trained behaviors and adding varying distractions. You do this expecting that the dog’s performance will falter. The dog has to learn how to perform the behaviors in the presence of things that will capture their attention.
The most effective proofing happens in small steps. You don’t want to teach a loose leash walk in your driveway, then go to the farmer’s market the next day and try to achieve the same behavior around novel objects, food spilled on the ground, and people cooing at your puppy. Instead, you want to take out some of the puppy’s toys into the driveway and work around those. Or put the treat bag on the ground and teach the puppy how to walk around it. Or have a family member come outside and sit on the ground. (Note: you do not want to introduce all of these at the same time; take it one distraction at a time in the beginning)
Before you ever take the puppy on an outing, it is a good idea to practice obedience around distractions at home. If the puppy can’t behave in his familiar environment with planted distractions, he is not ready for “real world” distractions yet. A new environment and unplanned distractions will only be more stressful and frustrating.
This month, I’m working Idunn around toys and food. She tends to scavenge, and she is also very attuned to movement. So I start with stationary toys, then progress to tossing toys. I later toss food as well (not shown in video). The challenges get harder only as she shows understanding and progress. If she had struggled with the toys on the ground, we would have just started with that, at a distance, and not moved to tossed toys in this session. I also allow her to sniff the toys on the ground, because she is not snatching them, and she also seems a little unsure. As long as she is not getting into trouble, I don’t mind her checking them out.
She is also a great lesson in body language. Idunn absolutely loves to learn, is having fun, and nothing bad happens to her in this session. But learning is stressful! Watch for lip licking in particular. Notice the tension and occasional compression. And she has several big reactions when I go to pet her; she is revved up, and petting is NOT rewarding to her at this time! She is actively avoiding my hand. If I tried to use petting as a reward, she would actually see it as a punishment. Many dogs (including my personal dog) don’t enjoy being touched when they are working. They are already in a state of “drive” and arousal; petting is an overdose of stimuli. Idunn works much better for praise and food. Other dogs may lean in closer to you when you pet them as a reward. They will tell you what they find rewarding! Every dog is different, and Idunn’s body language is (repeatedly) trying to tell me that she is not in the mood (sometimes it takes me some time to get the memo).
This whole set-up is designed to challenge Idunn in a manageable way. Some toys may be more difficult than others; movement certainly adds a level of difficulty. But she remains able to focus on me and work. That is important. That lets me know that the scenario is not too challenging for her. If you try this with your puppy and they are yanking all over the place, then it is too difficult. Be sure that the dog can walk nicely without any distractions first, then add in a single distraction at a distance. Start simple and keep the session brief. Then try it again the next day. The more set-ups and creative distractions you try, the better the puppy will understand how to deal with challenging environments. You will also know what to expect and can be prepared. What is it you would like the puppy to do instead of jumping/lunging? Train the puppy to do that around low level distractions first before you ever take it on the road.
Distraction set-ups/proofing from Southeastern Guide Dogs on Vimeo.
