Dear Miss Behavin,
We’ve taught our dog, Sandy, all of her basic commands ourselves. We practice at home nearly every day, and she always impresses. When we take her downtown, though, it’s like she decides to ignore us. How do we turn her selective listening into full-time listening?
First of all, good for you for training and practicing regularly! Training at home is a great way to give your dog a mental workout and strengthen the bond you have together. Though it may seem like Sandy turns off her listening switch when you’re out and about, it may just be that she has not yet generalized the commands or cues that you’ve taught her.
Dogs typically are not good at generalizing on their own. This means that Sandy may understand in the context of your living room that when you say “sit” it means to put her rump on the ground. However, in a busy downtown setting with interesting people and dogs walking by and smells from nearby restaurants in air, if you give the “sit” cue, she may not make the same connection.
A good way to help her realize that sit means sit no matter where you are, is to frequently change up the location of your training sessions. If she is a superstar in the living room, take her out to the back yard. Once she’s mastered the backyard, move to the front yard and eventually down the street. By gradually increasing the level of distraction around her during practice, you are helping her generalize the meaning of the word “sit.” Keep in mind that as the distraction levels go up, she may need more motivation to focus. While you may be able to teach her new tricks with kibble in the living room, you may need hot dogs to compete for her attention at the park.
Taking a basic obedience class is a also great way to help generalize her training. Even if you and Sandy already have the basics down at home, a class setting is a great and safe opportunity to practice exposing her to distractions. It’s never to early or to late to fine tune your training, or to cure her “selective listening.”