13/08/2026
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝟑 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐃’𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐨𝐠 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 😈🐶
✧ If your dog can perform a behaviour perfectly at home… but suddenly “forgets” everything outside…
✧ If they can sit for a second, but not for a minute…
✧ If they recall brilliantly until another dog appears…
You’re probably not dealing with a stubborn dog.
You’re dealing with the 𝟑 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐃’𝐬:
📏 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
⏱️ 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
🌍 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
These three variables determine how difficult any behaviour becomes. Increase them too quickly, and even a well trained dog can struggle.
📏 1. 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
Distance refers to how far away you are from your dog, or how far your dog is expected to work from you.
For example:
Asking for a sit while standing beside your dog is easy.
Asking for the same sit when you’re 10 metres away is much harder.
Recalling from 2 metres is very different from recalling from 50 metres.
🤔Why?
As distance increases:
✬ your influence becomes weaker
✬ environmental reinforcement becomes stronger
✬ communication becomes less clear
✬ your dog has more opportunities to make different choices
✅ Distance should be built one small step at a time, ensuring success at each stage before increasing it again.
⏱️ 2. 𝐃𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Duration is how long your dog is expected to perform a behaviour.
Examples:
✾Sit for 2 seconds.
✾Stay for 30 seconds.
✾Walk politely for 20 metres.
✾Settle calmly while visitors chat.
⚠️ Many owners accidentally increase duration too quickly.
A dog that can hold a stay for 10 seconds hasn’t automatically learned to stay for 2 minutes.
⚠️ Just because your dog succeeded once doesn’t mean the behaviour is fully learned.
Reliable behaviours are built through many successful repetitions, gradually extending the time your dog is expected to perform them.
🌍 3. 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
Distractions are anything competing for your dog’s attention.
This could include:
🐕 other dogs
👦 children
🚗 traffic
🐿️ wildlife
👃 exciting smells
🎾 toys
🍖 food
👥 visitors
➡️ Dogs don’t generalise well.
A cue learned in your quiet living room may feel completely different in a busy park.
⭕️ The more distractions present, the more difficult the behaviour becomes.
Instead of expecting perfection immediately, 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆 your dog to increasingly challenging environments while setting them up for success.
The biggest mistake…
😳Mᴀɴʏ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ɪɴᴄʀᴇᴀsᴇ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜʀᴇᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇ.
For example:
❌ Ask for a 2-minute stay…
❌ From 15 metres away…
❌ In a busy park full of dogs.
That’s like expecting a child who’s just learned basic maths to sit their final exams the next day.
The dog hasn’t failed.
The training plan has simply become too difficult.
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝘃𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 .
If you’re increasing…
📏 Distance…
➡️ Keep duration short and distractions low.
If you’re increasing…
⏱️ Duration…
➡️ Stay close and keep the environment quiet.
If you’re adding…
🌍 Distractions…
➡️ Reduce both distance and duration.
Keeping two variables easy while introducing one new challenge gives your dog the best opportunity to succeed.
👍Build habits before raising the difficulty
Dogs don’t become reliable because they perform a behaviour once.
👌They become reliable because they have practised the same successful behaviour hundreds of times.
😌Only once a behaviour is consistently successful should you slowly increase one of the three D’s.
Small, gradual progress creates strong habits.
Large jumps create mistakes.
And every mistake is another rehearsal of the behaviour you don’t want.
Remember…
Great dog training isn’t about asking for more.
🤩It’s about asking for just enough that your dog can succeed.
Master the 3 Devil D’s and you’ll find training becomes clearer, more consistent, and far more reliable … for both you and your dog. ❤️🐾
