Management

Changing the environment so the behaviour cannot happen while you are still training the behaviour you want instead.

Also called: prevention · baby gates · avoiding the trigger

Management is a baby gate, a different walking route, a window film, a lead kept on indoors when guests arrive. It is not training and it does not pretend to be, and it is doing something training cannot: stopping the dog rehearsing the problem tonight.

Every rehearsal makes a behaviour stronger, so a plan without management is a plan that is being undone between sessions. This is usually the fastest relief an owner gets, and it is available on day one.

It does have a failure mode — management used forever, with no training underneath, is a household organised around a dog's problem rather than a solved problem.

If this is your dog

Related words

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