"We walk out the door and it's like he forgets everything he knows!"
One of the most common challenges I hear dog owners struggle with is that their dog is performing a skill brilliantly at home, but seem to forget everything they’ve learned when they step out the door.
This training problem isn’t because they’re being stubborn, or forgetful or acting out. It’s that they haven’t learned how to generalize the skill.
What is generalization?
Generalization is the ability of a dog to apply a learned skill in one setting to different settings, situations, or stimuli. For example, your dog might consistently respond to “Sit” in the living room but then act confused when asked to “Sit” at the park.
This can be very frustrating for dog owners, as it may seem like our dog hasn’t learned anything or is being purposefully uncooperative.
It may also appear inconsistent- that our dog knows what we’re asking under some circumstances but not others.
And when it comes to skills like recall- there are safety concerns if our dog hasn’t learned how to generalize the behaviors we’ve taught them.
So what do we do?
1. Practice in different locations, around different distractions.
Once they learn a skill at home, practice it in different rooms of the house, then in the yard, then on walks, at the pet store, etc.
Don’t throw them in the deep end and expect them to perform a skill at the dog park that they’ve only practiced in the kitchen! Increase the difficulty of the distractions gradually rather than all at once.
2. Expect to go back a step or two.
When practicing a skill in a different location for the first time, expect your dog to need to go back a few steps in the training process.
They might respond well to a verbal “down” cue at home, but you may need to remind them with a treat lure the first couple times you practice in a different location.
3. Pay them well to keep them motivated!
Your dog might listen to you for a single biscuit at home, but when out and about you’ll need to be more generous to motivate them to train.
If we are too stingy or our treats too boring, our dog will be more motivated to pay attention to the new distractions around them than to us.
The more skills a dog learns to generalize, the quicker they get at generalizing skills. So be sure to pack plenty of tasty treats when heading out the door with your pup.
With patience, practice and more practice, your dog will be ready to show off their skills almost anywhere you take them.