The Three D's: Distraction

Our final topic in the 3Ds series is DISTRACTION. In general, distraction is probably the number one behavioral issue that puppy raisers ask about. Every dog has something that acts as a distraction, although it can be different for each dog. A distraction is something that attracts your puppy’s attention. Some examples of high distractions are small animals like birds or squirrels, other dogs, people, and moving items like trash or leaves blowing.

Why is it important to work on distraction?

Regardless of what is most distracting for your pup, as a guide or service dog, she will encounter those distractions in the “real world.” It’s important that you help your pup learn how to ignore those distractions as a young puppy so she can do the same as a working dog and maintain focus.

How do you work on distraction?

Of course, keep in mind that when focusing on one of the 3Ds (distraction), you will want to adjust the other 3Ds (distance and duration) to help make your pup successful!

1. Begin with low level distractions for your puppy and gradually increase to high level distractions, over time. Because each pup is distracted in varying degrees to each stimulus, know what is “low level” vs. “high level” for your pup. Watch your pup’s body language if you are uncertain.
2. Ask your puppy for skills she knows well while the distraction is present. Don’t forget to cut your duration by half or more for the obedience skills. Being successful is important to help the dog advance her skills, so easy obedience is best first. Make sure to use BOTH hand and verbal skills to add support for your pup and to make it clear for which command you are asking.
3. Reward behavior that you want! If your pup obeys your command, sits on her own without lunging towards the distraction, responds to her name, or even chooses to look at you over the distraction, REWARD with a treat and praise! With a distraction present, its very difficult for your puppy and you want to focus on making it a great thing to work with you.
4. Build on distraction as your pup shows she can stay connected with you. If your pup can do obedience with a low level distraction today, try a mid level distraction tomorrow. Or you can choose to work on another of the 3Ds while keeping the distraction at a low level – such as moving slightly closer and decreasing distance. 

Recently we worked with a raiser and her dog for dog distraction. The raiser reported that she often has a difficult time walking past other dogs, especially in class or public. While at the hardware store with another raiser team, we practiced working on distraction.

In the first clip, you will see what the raiser reports it normally looks like when she and her pup walk by other dogs. However, in the second clip, you will see that we changed several things to help the team be more successful:

• Increased DISTANCE away from the other dog.
• Decreased DURATION for loose leash walking – the raiser only walks several steps before stopping and asking the dog for a ‘sit.’
• The raiser increases the rate of reinforcement – both treat rewards AND praise!
• While not everything looks “perfect” in the second clip, its good to note that the raiser had one demo by Carrie and then did this excellent job on her first try!

Distraction from Southeastern Guide Dogs on Vimeo.

Troubleshooting

•  My dog can do a “sit” at home, but he can’t do it at the new store we just walked into, even though I don’t see any distractions around! Sometimes you have to be creative about what the distraction really is in a situation. For example, if you go to a new place, the new environment, itself, can be the distraction. In this case, make sure you don’t expect too long of duration or distance from your pup with his commands. Not taking the new environment into account as your distraction is usually the explanation!
• My dog is distracted by things that move or animals that run away, so I can never seem to get much practice in! If your dog reacts to leaves that blow in the wind, you can tie some leaves to a spool of thread and have someone move the leaves around. You can also do this same type of set up if your dog reacts to very small creatures like bugs or lizards by tying a fake lizard or bug to thread. If your dog is distracted by small animals, you can practice distraction in a pet store, starting at a far distance and decreasing this length as your pup gets more responsive to you in the presence of the small animals.
• I do set ups, but my dog seems to know when I’m doing them. Doing set ups with what distracts your pup will help both the pup AND you to get the muscle memory about how to react when you see the distraction in real life. The key is that you need a variety of locations where you practice set ups!  You can even have someone walk ahead of you and set something up on one of your daily routes, such as bringing the leaves tied to thread and putting them in the middle of the sidewalk while they stand off to the side.

 Advancing Your Dog’s Skills with the 3Ds

 So, now that you’ve worked on each of the 3Ds, individually, its time to amp it up for your pup! As your pup starts to become more and more responsive to the variations of the 3Ds that you work on, you can begin to combine several of the 3Ds to make it more challenging for your pup. For example, if you had only been working on high level DISTRACTION at a far DISTANCE, start to decrease the distance with the high level distraction. Or if you had been doing a very short DURATION around a high level DISTRACTION, begin to add more duration for behaviors around the high level distractions. The key is to be thoughtful and purposeful while continuing to read your pup’s body language and always asking yourself the important question of, “What do I need to change in this situation to help make my pup successful – distance, distraction, or duration?” By keeping this question always at the forefront of your mind, you will be able to help your pup reach her full potential!