Make sure you have read Part #1 of Distraction Training before you do the following.
Examples of Distraction Training
Listed below are some of the most common distractions faced by dogs:
Tennis Ball
Many dogs enjoy chasing a tennis ball. If this describes your dog, do the following:
- Begin by playing a game of catch with your dog in the safety zone.
- Let your dog get very excited and energetic, which might take a few minutes, depending on the dog.
- After your dog has become excited, throw the ball, letting it cross the wireless fence boundary by a few feet.
- Look for your dog’s reaction and act accordingly, from the steps outlined in the previous section.
Repeat this procedure a few times a day for as long as it takes for your dog to learn to resist the temptation on his own.
Family Members
Dogs commonly enjoy running after family members, especially if it has been a few hours since they have seen them. Here is what you need to do to get your dog to avoid trying to break the boundary when they see people.
- Select a family member that your dog enjoys playing with.
- When that family member comes back home after a few hours of being away, ask them to call the dog out into the safety zone.
- The dog will most likely run towards the person. At this point, they should play with them for about 30 seconds, in order to get the dog excited.
- After the dog is excited, the family member should begin to move away from the dog, pay the dog no attention and cross the area where the boundary flags have been posted.
- Most likely, the dog will follow them out.
- Once the dog walks up to the boundary flags, observe his behavior and act according to what was outlined in the previous session.
It is not necessary to follow this exact formula. You know best how your dog reacts to family members, so do what you feel is best. The most important thing is that you need to make sure the dog becomes excited, and then test how he reacts when he gets close to the flags.
Other Dogs
This is how you can carry out distraction training to make sure your dog will ignore other dogs who are on the other side of the border.
- Have a friend walk his dog on a leash, just outside of the boundary flags
- Check your dog’s behavior and follow the steps presented earlier
If you would like to try something else, begin by having both you and your friend’s dogs play together inside of the safety zone. Once your dog becomes excited, ask your friend to walk his dog out of the safety zone and beyond the boundary flags. Most likely, your dog will follow your friend’s dog. Observe his reaction and act accordingly.
Cars
Many dogs love running behind the car when it pulls out of the garage. At this point, you probably understand how to carry out distraction training.
- The driver should play with the dog for a few minutes in the safety zone, to get the dog excited.
- Now, the driver should get into the car and slowly pull out, going beyond the boundary flags.
- The dog will probably follow the car to a certain point. Check his behavior and act accordingly.
Logically, there will be other possible distractions, like birds, squirrels and cats. If you are concerned about any of those where you live, try to include them somehow into your distraction training, following the same instructions used in previous distractions.
Now that you are finished with distraction training, you are ready for the next stage of training, Unleashed Supervision.