Control Dog Training Environment

If distractions are too stimulating for your dog to overcome then they become a hindrance to your dog's training. By controlling the variables you are controlling the things that distract the dog. Distractions are a vital part of your dogs training. In the real world there is rarely a time when your dog won't be exposed to some distraction. If at the same moment as you are trying to get him to perform some command he is distracted you can lose the whole process. To succeed at having your dog respond correctly around distractions you must learn how your dog reacts to them and how best to offset his misbehavior. If your dog has a problem with barking at other dogs then what you need to do is find the critical distance at which the stimuli becomes too distracting for your dog to learn. Starting farther away from the distraction and moving closer and closer as your dog reliably completes the command ten out of ten times.

The goal is to eventually be able to have your dog in the midst of distraction and still provide the appropriate response to your commands. As your dog learns to respond regardless of the situation and ignore the distractions you will be able to teach him in any situation.

Breed-specific behavior problems