Proofing

Practising a behaviour across enough places, distractions and people that it stops being a kitchen trick.

Also called: generalisation · he only does it at home · distraction training

Dogs generalise badly. A dog with a perfect sit in your living room genuinely may not have a sit on a wet pavement with a bike going past, and that is not stubbornness — as far as it is concerned, this is a new problem in a new place.

So a behaviour gets rebuilt deliberately in the hard places: at the lift, in the corridor, at the gate at 7pm with the neighbour's dog barking. Change one thing at a time — distance, or duration, or distraction — never all three at once.

This stage is where most home training quietly stops, which is why so many dogs are described as knowing the command and ignoring it.

If this is your dog

Related words

Not sure whether this is what you are dealing with?

Fifteen minutes on the phone, free, and we will tell you honestly what it would take.