09/23/2025
'Best possible training scenario' is an important principle to understand. When working with reactive dogs, we make every effort to keep the evocative stimulus (trigger) at a level where the dog notices, but doesn't melt down for a number of reasons - brain chemistry in a reactive moment actually inhibits learning; the undesirable behaviour is being practiced, resulting in faster, more robust connections in those neural pathways (myelination); frustration for the handler. By keeping our dog below that threshold, we're working with better chemistry; we have the opportunity to reinforce more desirable behaviour (myelinate *those* connections instead); we have a more pleasant training experience for everyone involved.
Same goes for obedience. If our dog doesn't know 'Come' in the relatively boring indoor environment, they sure as heck won't respond in the exciting, distraction, competing reinforcer-rich outdoor environment.
So no matter what you're working with, start easy. Set your dog up to succeed so you can reinforce, which leads to more success, which leads to more reinforcement, which leads to...you get the picture. Gradually increase the challenge - living room to back yard, back yard to out on a walk, out on a walk to a long line in a field, long line to large fenced area, ... Building a very deep reinforcement history (lots of successful repetitions) leads to a wide history (lots of different situations), and deep+wide leads to long term reliability.
They're absolutely worth the effort.
