Overcoming Distractions

[Kingbob]

Hi all

My 2yo Beagle cross that i've had for 7 months has made great progress training. When i rescued him he had none, but now will walk beside me off the lead, come when called, sit, stay, wait for food, wait at doors, all the usual stuff.

But he's only good at them when it's just us. If we go to the park and no-one else is around he's fine, does everything i ask, but if theres a distraction like another dog or person, then all bets are off. I know if he sees someone and starts to run, he's got about 3 steps during which i can stop him if i use a really harsh sounding recall. If i'm not quick enough and he gets up to speed then theres no stopping him. He'll stop at kerbs when i do, but if he sees a dog he'll run right across the road.

Same if we're at a friends house or such, he seems to think the rules dont apply since he's not at home!

He does frequently see other dogs and people, and is never aggressive to them (unless the other dog is) so i don't think it's a case of socialisation. He just cant resist meeting people or dogs!

Any suggestions how to go about overcoming this?

[Cosmolo]

Have you consdiered taking him to some group training classes so that you can train in a controlled setting with distractions to start with?

[Tonymc]

Kingbob,the dog is good at home of course due to no distractions,Training should be as you have firstly with no distractions and then start to expose the dog to low level distractions working your way up to high level distractions.

Have a read of the Topic in this section started by Cosmolo titled Neutralisation versus Socialisation.Pay paticular attention to all K9s Posts.

Tony