Please read Part #1 of Distraction Training before you continue with the below.
Concrete Examples of Distraction Training
Below are some of the most common distractions your dog will face:
Tennis Ball
If your dog enjoys chasing a tennis ball, do the following:
- Play a game of catch with your dog in the Safe Zone using the dog’s favorite ball.
- Wait for your dog to get very excited and energetic; this might take a few minutes depending on the temperament of your pet.
- Once your dog is excited, throw the ball so that it crosses the wireless fence boundary by a few feet.
- Watch your dog’s reaction and act according to the steps outlined in the section above.
Repeat this as few times a day for as long as your dog needs to learn to resist the temptation on its own.
Family members
Almost all dogs love to run after family members, especially if they haven’t seen them for a few hours. Here is how to train your dog to avoid distractions in this area:
- Choose a family membmer with whom your dog particularly enjoys playing
- When that family member returns home after a few hours of absence, have them call the dog out into the Pet Area
- The dog will likely go out running towards the family member, at which point they should play with them for 20 or 30 seconds, just to get the dog excited.
- Once the dog is excited, the family member should start to move away from the dog and without paying attention to it, and cross the wireless fence boundary flags.
- The dog will almost certainly follow the family member.
- Once the dog approaches the boundary flags, observe his behavior and react accordingly by following the Steps outlined above.
You don’t need to follow this precise pattern of course; you of all people know best how your dog reacts to family members, and you should modify the above pattern accordingly. Just remember the important thing: you need to get the dog excited, and then test his reaction when the dog approaches the boundary.
Other Dogs
This one is obvious. Here is how to carry out distraction training to have your dog ignore other doges passing outside the Pet Area:
- Ask a friend to walk his dog (on a leash) right outside the boundary flags of your wireless fence.
- Observe your dog’s behavior and react accordingly by following the Steps presented earlier on this page.
If you’d like to take things further, you can first have both your and your friend’s dogs play together inside your contained Pet Area, and once your dog gets excited, have your friend walk his dog out of the Pet Area and beyond the boundary flags. Your dog will most likely follow your friend’s dog – which is when you should observe its reaction.
Vehicle
Lots of dogs love to run behind the car when it drives out of the garabe. If you’ve read the above, then it’s probably already obvious how to carry out distraction training for this specific purpose:
- Have the driver play with the dog for a few minutes in the wireless fence Play Zone, just to get the dog excited a bit.
- Next, the driver should get into the car and slowly drive out, going beyond the boundary flags.
- The dog will most likely follow the car at least to a certain point; observe its behavior and act accordingly by following the tips outlined above.
There are of course other possible distractions, such as birds, squirrels, cats etc. If any of those are a concern where you live, make sure to incorporate them into your distraction training, following the same patterns described for previous distractions.
Once you are finished with distraction training, you are ready for the next phase of your dog training – unleashed supervision.
