Take everything you and your puppy have been working on the past few months and bring it to the next level: outdoor obedience!
The Puppy Academy Students (Left to Right: Levi, Maverick, and Chewie)
If you have been following along with our Puppyhood Made Easy for New Owners and Puppy Training 101 blog series, now it’s time to take all of the obedience commands, and routines, and apply them outside! The next phase of training will work on adding gradual distance between you and your puppy, even longer durations on holding certain commands, and real-world distractions that your puppy will face throughout their life.
Still, even if your puppy has seemed to breeze through their obedience indoors (or not!), and learned to listen to their commands in your yard or local neighborhood, a change in location can arise new challenges in getting your puppy to listen! For this puppy training phase, you should have your puppy on a standard six-foot leash, working up to ten, fifteen, and eventually one as long as twenty feet the better your puppy gets at performing obedience commands outside.
Using a Long-Line for Advanced Outdoor Obedience
Bring your puppy to a new location to practice their outdoor obedience. A park in your town or city is a great choice especially if you plan on taking your puppy there in the future! Pick a spot that is quiet and not heavy with distractions for your first few sessions. As you continue to work on building up their focus, you can gradually bring them closer to more active areas.
With your puppy on a long lead, start by working on a familiar routine that your puppy is comfortable performing. Ask your puppy for a “Sit” then add in a “Down”, and “Stay”. Throughout these initial training phases outdoors, maintain a calm tone, and use robotic movements, in order to keep your puppy focused on listening and not getting overly excited or distracted by your energy. Even if your puppy showed the ability to work with a fluid and energetic delivery of commands at home, if your puppy starts to get distracted, or becomes excited outside, reverting to steady and calm command delivery, slow and robotic movements, can help snap them into working and listening mode!
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Adding in the 3Ds - Distance, Duration, and Distractions
The Puppy Academy student, Bori!
Also known as the 3Ds, adding distance, duration, and distractions to your puppy’s outside obedience work will help increase their level of focus and communication with you! If you have already practiced doing these advanced routines at home and in your own backyard or neighborhood, try doing them at your local park for an added challenge!
A good routine to practice with your puppy outside is a combination of “Sit”, “Down” and “Stay”. You can also work up to adding in “Come” from a distance however, it’s a good practice to establish your puppy’s focus and longer impulse control first before building in the recall.
By using a long lead, your puppy will essentially perform the same commands they already know, however you are gradually increasing the amount of distance between yourself and your puppy. With duration, your puppy will hold a specific command for longer and longer periods of time, increasing their focus and decreasing their impulse to snap toward something more exciting. Finally, and the most challenging is layering in distractions. From people, dogs, cars, sounds, etc., all of these real-world situations will challenge your puppy’s ability to remain cued in on you.
You can learn more about incorporating the 3Ds into your puppy’s regular training, and some fun routines to try in our blog Puppy Training 101: Advance Your Puppy’s Training with Distance, Duration, and Distraction, a.k.a. The 3Ds!
Next time you’re out with your puppy and are ready to practice this routine, start off by asking for a “Sit” then add in “Down” and “Stay”. At this point, start working on the distance part of the 3Ds, taking slow robotic steps backward and away from your puppy, working your way to the end of your lead. When incorporation the next phase, duration, keep your hand up with your palm flat and facing your puppy (this is the hand signal for the “Stay” command) as you move back and keep it there for the period of time you want your puppy to hold their position. Finally, even if you’re in a quiet area of your local park with minimal distractions but you want to start trying your puppy’s impulse control, make yourself the distraction! You can do this by taking steps to the side, essentially circling your puppy which is called 360-degree practice!
Finally to finish off the routine, call your puppy back to you with their name and “Come!” and reward them for a job well done!
Reality Check: What to Expect from Your Puppy and How to Adjust
If you’ve started your puppy’s outdoor obedience, you might notice that your puppy is easily distracted or excitable. That’s totally normal and to be expected. In fact, it’s a great opportunity to work on regaining attention through distractions!
One way you can readjust if you notice that your puppy is focusing on what’s happening around them instead of you is to first try to find a quieter place. This goes especially if this is your first or one of your first sessions. Work up to the noisier and congested areas little by little but we always recommend staying a distance first to really help your puppy focus on the work and listening to your commands.
Secondly, try to readjust your routines by adding in recall from distractions. If your puppy notices people walking by, other dogs, a squirrel, etc., try to gain back their attention by switching your tone and energy level and calling them back to you! Say your puppy’s name and “Come”, then follow up by rewarding them with some food. By doing so, you’re actively working with your puppy to learn to respond to you even if things are happening around them.
You might also find that your puppy isn’t staying put for very long, getting up to sniff around before you release them with “Break”. In these situations, adjust your own expectations of what you want from your puppy versus what they can do at the moment. Remember that changing location adds the challenge of working against distractions and the curiosity and excitement that may come along with it. If you want your puppy to hold their “Down” and “Stay”, try a few seconds at a time then release them. Build up, slowly, until your puppy can hold the command for a minute, then two, and so on mixing between longer and shorter intervals.
Take a moment to look back at all the achievements you and your puppy have been able to fulfill together! Outdoor obedience is advanced work that challenges many pups and their owners. It’s a continuing work in progress and probably something you will continue even when your puppy is a one-year-old young adult. But you’ve conquered everything from their early potty accidents, socializing them with the world, the obedience commands, and now your in this phase! It’s a huge step and your puppy is set to live a comfortable, happy, and fulfilling life thanks to the work you’ve put in!
There’s still more to come in Puppyhood Made Easy for New Owners series! In the meantime, join us each Wednesday at 1 pm PT on our @thepuppyacademy Instagram for live puppy trainer Q&As. If you need help with outdoor obedience or any other puppy-related topic, we’re here to help you!
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