08/05/2025
Progress with your dog isn't just about the starting somewhere and the ending somewhere else.
It's a process, and success can be found in all those little wins in between.
FREUQUENCY: This is a super important measure, especially if you're looking to increase or reduce the performance of a behaviour. Your dog won't just magically start or stop doing something in 1 session but you can measure how close your getting to your goal by looking at the frequency they either do or don't perform the behaviour your working on. For example, you're working on your dogs recall. You're in the early stages, so you still have to reinforce with the lead, but you only have to use it 3/10 times now, not 9/10, like when you first started. That's progress
INTENSITY: Let's use the example of reactivity here. You're working on your dogs reactivity to other dogs. Sometimes life throws you an off lead dog. Your dog still reacts, but the reaction is less intense than before. you're able to recover and continue your walk. That's progress.
DISTANCE: A good example to think of here is confidence building. Perhaps your dog is fearful of something, and you're working on building the ability to cope with it. Let's say, for example, that thing is the car. When you started training, your dog would tremble and even throw up after just turning the engine on. Now, they can happily travel a short journey to the park. It's not a road trip to France, but it's the first step, and that's success.
DURATION: I'm going to use the example of barking at guests in the house here. Your dog used to go wild, and before you started training, they would have happily barked their head off for the whole time you had anyone in the house. Now you've put some management in place and taught your dog some coping mechanisms. They might still let out a few barks when someone first enters, but they have a way to switch off, and you can enjoy a coffee with your friends without the heavy metal choir kicking off in the corner. It's not complete, but it's progress.
