THE FOUR D'S OF DOG TRAINING

Every dog training exercise has an easy and an advanced version with a number of steps in between. When owners struggle to achieve reliability or true attainment in an area of their dog's training it is often because they have rushed through the steps too fast.

There are four main parameters that you should consider in terms of teaching your dog a skill and then developing it, these are:

DURATION - This refers to time and could refer to the time that a dog is able to do something such as the length of time a dog can maintain a sit. It is also has bearing on the timing between cues.
DISTANCE - With a novice dog you will find that your circle of influence is very local and that exercises can be progressed in terms of difficulty by adding distance.
DISTRACTION - Distractions, otherwise known as competing motivators are all of the things that your dog can see, hear, smell etc. Distractions might be exciting or scary and if your dog is inclined to be very responsive to sensory stimulus then you may find that this D is a big challenge for you and your dog!
DIVERSITY - Diversity in dog training is all about teaching a dog to perform an exercise in a variety of settings and situations and this might also be referred to as generalizing. Dogs tend not to generalize especially well so once you have a good sit indoors you need to teach the exercise in other places, you would want to do the exercise during the day, also in the evening, when it is raining or when it is windy etc.

Every new skill should be taught according to the easiest version in order to ensure that the dog understands what is being asked, is calm and happy to do what is asked, and builds up the confidence to perform the task.

Skills should be developed by progressing the FOUR D's - ONE AT A TIME and A LITTLE AT A TIME! This approach is relevant to ALL skills and exercises, but I shall use recall as an example.

A lot of dog owners come unstuck with recall because the difficulty has been increased far too soon and in too many areas at once.
Many owners attempt to teach recall on a long line or even off leash and in a public place such as a park. In an attempt to achieve distance the "stay," is also often rushed and the dog is told to sit away from the owner prior to being called back. In so doing the exercise is already complex and involves:

1: Distraction - this might be other people and dogs in the area or even just all the exciting smells in the grass! Before expecting a recall under distraction, ask yourself whether your dog is yet capable of any simple, close-quarter skills under some distraction such as a brief sit or walking peacefully?
2: Duration - the time at which the dog is required to wait prior to being called back - the time-lapse of course making the distractions even more distracting! Ask yourself - can the dog do a sit and stay reliably for 5 seconds when I am close by?
3: Distance - the further your dog is positioned from you the harder you make this exercise and the more confused your dog is likely to become. Ask yourself - does the dog come to being called from a few feet away?
4: The complication of diversity - is your dog used to being asked to focus in the place that you are attempting the training? If the park is a place where your dog typically does exactly his own thing then you would need to improve your interactions with him in this setting prior to expecting much focus or the learning of something new.
5: Two diametrically opposing skills within one exercise - STAY & COME. Start with exercises and games that teach each skill separately and put them together when your dog understands each.

ADDING THE D'S!

Recall at its simplest stage is simply:
Calling a dog to you from a tiny distance
Working in a quiet, distraction-free place
Working in a familiar setting
Rewarding the dog when it comes to you because you called it.
Repeating the exercise a few times before doing something else.
Once you have achieved reliability within the simplest version you can then gradually increase the difficulty by adding or subtracting D's!

Every dog is different but often it is easier for the dog to increase a little distance and duration before adding distraction. Reduce the distraction = easier to increase the distance.

If distraction is a real challenge for your dog then build upon your dog's ability to cope by adding distraction modestly and while doing an activity that your dog is good at before adding it to a more complex exercise.

Awareness of the Four D's of dog training enables you to become more organised in how you approach the introduction of a new exercise. The Four D's provide you with parameters both to develop a skill and to pinpoint any weak areas that need more patience or a different approach.
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If you find that any areas of your dog's training are a bit of a struggle then take the exercise right back to the absolute basics and add the components of Distance, Duration, Distraction and Diversity one step at a time.