Train Test Train. It's Important To Test Your Dog When Training

When training your new puppy or older dog it’s important to have an end goal in mind. Depending on that goal there will be a different number of steps to go through until you get to the final result.

Testing at each level is a step I believe is often overlooked for many people.

 I have been working on teaching “out’ with Louie. My expectation is when he hears it to drop what is in his mouth.

 Today he jumped on my bed (not a problem for me) and decided my pajamas were a good thing to grab and chew on.

I was in the bathroom but could see him in the mirror.  I have done many repetitions of “out” with success over the past few days and weeks. This was a good time to test it as a cold trial. That means outside of a training session where there is predictability.

 It’s out of the blue.

 I cued “out” and waited. I looked at him. He looked at me. A few seconds passed. A few seconds can seem like a very long time. I didn’t repeat it. I simply waited.

He dropped them and I praised the heck out of him. He ran to me and I grabbed a couple of treats from the container I always keep on the counter in the bathroom, and rewarded him for a great job.

Testing is important. It tells you whether you need to continue training the skill, whether to make it easier or whether it’s time to add a layer of difficulty.

This applies to any skill. The biggest failure I come across is with recalls in a park with distractions.

Success in the home does not translate to success in the above situation. There are many steps to go through before you will be successful.

How and when do you know?

Test. Test. Test

If you test and your dog fails, it’s not something to get upset about. It’s valuable information for you. Use that cold trial to help guide your training plan.

Do you stay at the same level, make it easier or make it more difficult?

 Without testing you don’t know.