When you are training your dog, trying to take a skill that they can do up close and teach them how to do it far away can feel like an impossible task. But with a solid foundation and the right approach, it doesn’t need to be so difficult.

The behaviors I focused on when writing these tips are recall, loose leash walking, go to place, hand targeting, and leave it. But they should be relevant when incorporating distance into just about any training plan. We do have a second list of tips that is more specific to stay, which you can find here.

The Tips

Here’s a quick overview of the tips. I went into more detail and had more specifics for each of these in the video, so I definitely recommend watching it!

1. Make sure the skill is solid before incorporating distance.

Any iffy or troublesome spots in your initial training will only be that much worse once you are farther away.

2. Start with baby steps.

Even though it might be demoralizing, you need to start with a teeny distance that barely feels like anything for your dog. Build very gradually for your first 5 steps of your plan or so to slowly build to something that starts to feel like a legitimate distance.

3. Increase distance quickly after that.

Kona is on step 4 of the “touch” training plan, so she’s gone from 6 inches to 4 feet.

Once you’re there, you can move really quickly through the rest of your plan. If your dog has a solid foundation, you should be able to double your distance with each step in your training plan.

4. As soon as your dog starts to struggle, make it easier.

Learning isn’t linear and training plans aren’t made to be completed in a perfectly straight path. As soon as your dog struggles, make it easier and easier until they are succeeding with ease again.

This is especially important for things like leave it or recall where your dog can quickly learn that there are perks to ignoring you.

5. Incorporate practice in different locations and while at different angles from your dog.

If you want your dog to be able to do their skill whether you are in front, behind, or next to them, you’ll want to practice all of those in your training. Same thing for any new locations you may want them to succeed in.

When teaching loose leash walking, once you go 10 steps between treats, it’s better to think in terms of duration rather than distance.

6. Be on the lookout for sneaky duration or distractions.

The three D’s of dog training are distance, duration, and distraction. When we’re training, we try to separate the three D’s from each other to make sure we aren’t making too many different things harder at once. But there are sometimes when the D’s are too tangled to separate. Loose leash walking and recall are two great examples of this that I discuss in the video.

Get More Details in This Video

Resources to Learn More

If you want to see tips that are specifically designed for increasing distance while teaching stay, check out this post.

To learn more about tracking your dog’s progress to know when to make things harder or easier, try this post, which also has a bunch of other great tips!

Tips to Increase Distance in Dog Training