- Ready, we need that opening.
Get the two fingers online here, okay.
Hey, guys, it's Ken and Kayla from McCann Professional
Dog Trainers and it's another episode of our dog training
walk and talk.
And, it's a pretty warm summer's day out here.
We've just taken a moment under a tree to let the dogs
catch their breath and cool off a little bit.
You'll see Ratter, our youngest Boarder Collie,
has a GoPro Session camera on.
And, these guys are hot, but I'll put the video
from that in one of the corners of the screen.
If Rat decides to get up it'll be much more interesting.
But, you guys can check that out.
So, today's topic, we want to talk about
increasing the distractions while training your dog at home.
Kayla and I were just discussing this as we
made our way around on our walk.
I'm going to let Kayla open the discussion on that.
- One of the questions that we get asked a lot is
how do I practice my recall?
because my dog often knows the setup
so, if you put your long line training line on
and you set outside,
dogs are pretty smart and they can figure it out.
So, one of the best things to do that we find,
is take, for example, a handful of kibble
and toss it in the grass.
Just allow your dog to snarfle and pick it all up.
Don't necessarily call them every single time.
Let them, search for the food in the grass.
Then, when they sorta disconnect and forget
that there's something going on
you can easily sneak away and practice your recall.
It's a really, really good idea to practice your recall
and make it as realistic as possible.
Having them sit and wait and look at you
and call them at that point, it's great,
but the most common times when we need to call our dogs
in a stressful situation is when
they're running the opposite way
or they can't see us,
or they're really, really distracted.
That's the type of scenario that we'd like
you to replicate with your dog.
- I think the word snarfle is very funny.
- It is.
But, I feel like it's very realistic word.
- I guess, so.
Yeah it's (laughs) definitely what they do.
- Anyway, the second thing you can do
is you can increase natural distractions in your house
by having family members or kids
or other dogs, cats, actually be present in the room
while you're practicing it.
A tactic that we use with our own dogs
when we're training is to actually,
put all of those things away
when we're starting with a puppy.
So, no other dogs in the room.
The cat goes away.
Everything goes away so it's just us and the dog
and really nowhere else to look.
But, then again it's not realistic.
It's just a way to start with success
and then from there we would bring in, maybe
another dog or have some people be doing something
in the background and make sure the dog
can still focus and then
you can keep increasing the excitement
as the dog starts to show you that they're
understanding their job
and that they're being a good listener.
It's all about setting the dog up for success
but, also proofing so that you dog still listens
in a realistic situation.
- Sure.
A third thing you can do to increase distractions
is changing locations.
So, we hear all the time
"my dog does it really well at home"
or "my dog is always great at stays at home."
But, it maybe you haven't challenged your dog enough.
Maybe going from the backyard to the front yard
might be a challenge for your dog.
Maybe going out to the park.
Today, it's a beautiful day in the park
There's lots of quiet areas that we could do some
- Baseball diamonds are great because
they're usually fully fenced as well.
- For sure.
Yeah it's a great safe place
to train your dog with not a lot of distractions.
Or maybe going to your parent's house
or your family's house and training your dog there.
Just remember you need to continuously, sort of,
challenge your dog
and not make it too difficult.
You need to find those levels of distraction
that they can be successful.
But, if you're always doing the same things
in the same places,
then that's the only way your dog will understand
how to do those behaviors.
- Yeah, dogs are extremely situational.
So, they can ace something in one location,
say it's your kitchen or your backyard.
But, if you go to your parent's house
or the cottage on the weekend, you can't expect them
to act like a perfect angel.
You've now put them in a different place.
There's new distractions.
The dog might think there's different rules.
You kind of have to back track your steps
when you go to a new place
and make things a little bit easier
and then you finally, quickly find that
they will sort of, roll into what they're supposed to do
even if it's a new place.
But, you need to be aware of that so you can be
a good dog trainer.
- For sure.
So, those are three simple ways
you can increase the level of distraction
while training your dog.
I'll put a link to our blog post
in the comments.
Funky is just doing her cockroach impression
as she flops around, enjoying the
- Cool grass.
- Yeah, the cool grass.
I'll put a link to our blog in the comment section
where you guys can check it out.
We have all sorts of great ways
tips and tricks for training your dog,
including different ways to use
distractions in your training.
If this is your first time with us,
thanks for watching.
Be sure to subscribe.
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then this channel is definitely for you
'cause it's everything to do with
and for people that love dogs.
From Kayl and myself, and Rad Border Collie,
and Funky Monkey, we want to thank you
guys for watching.
Happy training.
Bye for now.