If you are struggling to get your dog to listen or work with you… here are 3 common mistakes you might be making:

1. Free choice or access to food…
Food is the most common reward used in training because it is easy to dispense, portable, offers variety, and most of us(human or canine!) can agree that we like snacks. It’s important that the dog wants whatever you have to reward him with.
While it’s always important to ensure the needs (both physical – food, water, shelter – and mental) of dogs are met, a dog who has food available whenever he wants is going to be more difficult to motivate with other treats. Talk to your vet about what calories are appropriate for your dog, and don’t forget to consider whatever you’re using in training! Some dogs are even happy to work for kibble.

2. Food rewards/intended reinforcement that doesn’t level up…
While the kibble mentioned above or some milk bone pieces might hold some appeal at home, are they better than your Dog’s friend, that Bunny snacking on Dandelions over there, or some exciting people? Try to adjust the quality of your reward to match the other “options” your dog might notice.

3. Underestimating distraction…
What gives? Your dog was nailing that sit at home but didn’t even twitch an ear when you asked him to do it at the park. Our dogs have so many things to catch their attention in the world, we need to do our best to bring in distraction at a level that they can learn to work through. After all, is your dog learning anything if they can’t listen? Or whoops! Maybe they’re not learning what you intended!

If you struggle to catch or maintain your dog’s attention, consider these common mistakes!