Adding Distraction

Attention in your kitchen is easy. This lesson covers the graded introduction of distraction so focus holds up at a trial.

The distraction ladder

Distraction is not binary. Build a ladder — from a quiet room, to the back yard, to a park at a distance, to the edge of a training field — and only climb a rung when the current one is easy.

Raising criteria safely

If the dog fails twice in a row, you have moved too fast. Drop back a rung, rebuild the win, and climb again. Failure is information, not a setback.