But they KNOW it.
Chances are, they don’t. Not out there.

This is one of those areas that frustrates both ends of the leash.
But we have to look at what’s actually happening.

A quick side step.

I design logos and graphics for clients.
Put me in my office, at my computer, and I can do it well.

Now put me in a busy café or a mall?

I’m looking at the cabinet with the cakes.
I’m hearing the person beside me going on about their co-worker.
I bump into someone I know.
That great idea I had? Gone.

I suddenly can’t do what I KNOW how to do.

The environment changed. Completely.

Put me in a quieter café, I’d probably manage.
Do it there a few times, I’d get better and better.

So why do we think dogs are any different?

They learned to listen in the lounge.
Maybe did a few solid downs in the yard.
Then it all falls apart the moment you step out the gate.

Because the environment changed.

That new smell in the grass.
The grumbly motorbike going past.
The lawn mower in the background.

None of that existed in your lounge.

And the further you move into higher distraction areas,
the more the environment will win.

So flip it.

Build those listening skills in those lower level environments first.
Add small distractions.
Use higher value rewards so it’s worth it.

Ask for a few basics there. Then build.

That’s how you grow the skill.

If you haven’t put those intermediate steps in,
you’re asking too much, too soon.