How do I teach my dog obedience?
Teach your dog obedience by creating a suitable training environment, developing engagement with the handler, using appropriate motivation and introducing simple exercises that the dog can understand. Start at a manageable level, observe how your dog responds, use suitable control and gradually increase the difficulty as the dog’s responses become more reliable.
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Obedience training should be structured around the individual dog rather than treating every dog in exactly the same way. Consider the dog’s previous experience, behaviour, food drive, environment and ability to respond before deciding what to introduce.
Start obedience training in a suitable environment
Begin in an environment where unnecessary distractions can be controlled.
A calm and familiar area can make it easier for the dog to focus on the handler and understand what is being introduced.
Observe the dog before starting and consider whether it is able to engage appropriately.
If the environment is making it difficult for the dog to respond, reduce unnecessary distractions and reassess before progressing.
The aim is to create a manageable starting point rather than immediately testing the dog in a difficult environment.
Build engagement with your dog
Engagement is an important part of obedience training because the dog needs to be able to respond to the handler.
Food can be used as motivation and positive reinforcement during training.
Individual dogs have different levels of food drive. A dog may have low food drive or high food drive, so the training approach should take the individual response into account.
Use small food rewards where appropriate and give the dog sufficient time to understand what is expected.
Patience helps create a positive learning environment.
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Introduce simple obedience exercises
Begin with simple exercises that the dog can understand and perform successfully.
Do not introduce unnecessary difficulty at the beginning.
The purpose of early obedience training is to develop communication, engagement and appropriate responses between the dog and handler.
Observe the dog’s response throughout the exercise.
If the dog is responding appropriately, the exercise can gradually become more difficult.
If the dog struggles, reduce the difficulty and reassess rather than continuing to increase the demands.
Use suitable control and equipment
Appropriate equipment can provide additional control and management while obedience is being developed.
A short line can provide close control during training.
A harness may be appropriate where additional management is required.
A long line can provide greater distance while maintaining an appropriate level of control when the training environment allows it.
Free roam may be appropriate when the dog’s behaviour and environment allow sufficient behavioural responsibility.
The equipment should always be considered in relation to the individual dog, exercise and environment.
Develop obedience gradually
Once the dog understands an exercise, gradually increase the difficulty.
Progression can involve increasing distance, duration, environmental difficulty, freedom or distractions.
These changes should be introduced according to the dog’s response.
Avoid introducing unnecessary difficulty simply because the dog has successfully completed an exercise once.
The objective is to develop increasingly reliable behaviour through appropriate progression.
Manage distractions
As obedience develops, environmental distractions can gradually be introduced.
A dog may respond appropriately in a calm environment but struggle when the environment becomes more difficult.
Observe what changes when the dog begins to struggle.
Remove unnecessary distractions where appropriate and allow the dog to calm before reassessing.
Once the dog is able to engage again, return to an appropriate level of training.
Progress can then continue gradually.
What should I do if my dog cannot continue?
If your dog cannot respond appropriately, stop the current exercise and observe what has changed.
Assess the environment, the dog’s behaviour and the level of difficulty.
Remove unnecessary distractions where appropriate and allow the dog to calm.
Reassess once the dog is able to engage again.
If the dog cannot reduce or cannot calm sufficiently to continue, an appropriate reset may be required.
Following a reset, return to the relevant obedience training at an appropriate level rather than immediately returning to the situation that caused the difficulty.
Where behaviour presents a significant safety concern, including serious aggression or bite risk, professional support should be sought.
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Develop behavioural responsibility alongside freedom
Obedience should develop alongside appropriate behavioural responsibility.
As the dog becomes more reliable, its level of freedom can gradually increase where the environment allows.
Free roam should not simply be given because the dog has learned an exercise.
The dog’s ability to respond appropriately should determine whether additional freedom is suitable.
More freedom requires more behavioural responsibility.
