Ever wonder why your dog listens well at home but once you go out in public, the training goes out the window? This is actually a very common problem in dog training and is a direct result of not proofing your commands.
What is proofing? Proofing in dog training is the act of practicing a behavior in different environments and situations until your dog can generalize the behavior and can do it anywhere, anytime. Proofing is a vital part of training because dogs are not good at generalizing behaviors on their own, it must be taught.
How to proof a behavior or command
When teaching a new command, it is important to practice in a distraction free area until your dog understands the command. Once he does, it is time to start proofing. Proofing may look something like this:
- Practice in a different area of the house than normal
- Practice outside in your own yard
- Practice inside in the normal training area but have another dog or person in the room
- Practice inside but stand a few feet away from your dog while you give commands
- Practice giving commands while you are sitting on the floor. Then sitting on a chair, etc.
- Practice commands in a public park with no other dogs or people nearby
- Practice commands in a public park with other dogs or people 10-20 feet away
- Practice commands in a public store with people walking by
When proofing any command, remember the 3 D’s.
Distance, Duration, and Distraction.
Distance is how far away you are from your dog when he does a behavior. The farther away you get, the less reliable those commands generally are. When training distance, always start small and build slowly. It is better to make slow progress than to teach your dog that he doesn’t have to listen if you are across the room or have your back turned.
Duration is the length of time that your dog maintains the behavior. Generally people think about duration in commands like stay, but they do not practice it for other commands like sit or down. When you teach any command, in the beginning, you reward immediately for completing the behavior. But as you begin proofing the command, increasingly ask your dog to stay in that position for longer periods of time before he is rewarded so that he learns to hold that command until he is asked to do something else or released.
Distraction refers to whatever else is going on around your dog when he does a behavior. Anything your dog finds exciting or disrupting is a distraction. This can be the doorbell ringing, another person or dog playing nearby, or a favorite toy present. Practicing in new locations brings a new level of distraction, so make sure to switch up the location of your training sessions.
When training your dog, only work on one D at a time and then begin combining them together once your dog has each one mastered individually.
The proofing process takes time, but it is worth the extra effort to gain you that well behaved dog that you can take to more places! Remember, a trained dog is a happy dog!
