Training your dog to respond around distractions can feel impossible, but I promise you that it’s not! It is totally doable with patience and a smart plan. This post will guide you through how to do that.

There are a huge variety of distraction and the way dogs respond to them is also super varied, so feel free to adapt everything in here for your dog and your training goals.

No Motivation, No Training

When you are competing against a distraction for your dog’s attention, you need rewards that your dog finds more interesting than the distraction. To do that, I generally like to use meat or cheese purchased at the grocery store for these tougher training challenges. I dice it up into pea sized pieces, even smaller for dogs below 20 pounds.

To see if you have a motivating enough reward, head out to your training spot. When the distraction is present, offer your dog the reward for free. If they take it and are willing to turn around towards you to try to get more, you are good to go! If they refuse it, spit it out, or won’t look away from the distraction while they eat it, you’ll need to up your motivation.

Quick note: You should do this test around the version of the distraction that you are using in your current training, not the full version of it. For instance, if you are using a toy squirrel to one day be able to loose leash walk around squirrels, do this test with the toy squirrel nearby, not a real squirrel.

Figure Out Your Distractions

I know I’ve been referring to distractions as one thing, but there are actually tons of different types of distractions, and you are usually dealing with a few at one time. Thinking about them as distinct elements will help you be more realistic and successful in your training.

Gracie and Kona distract each other when we hike off leash.

Common types of distractions:

Location

When the general environment is exciting or distracting to your dog. Like on trails, in stores, or in the backyard.

Other Beings

Any living creatures who your dog finds distracting, including other dogs, people, or critters.

Other Senses

When they see, smell, or hear things that distract them.

Food or Things Dogs Call Food

If there are things that your dog wants to eat.

Break Down Each Distraction

Now you have a list of each distraction you are dealing with. You have to break things down even further by thinking about what makes each of these distractions more or less compelling to your dog.

Here are a few common elements that affect if something is more or less distracting:

Kona had never seen seagulls before, so they were way too distracting for her to look at me for a photo.

Distance

Things that are farther away are typically less tempting or exciting.

Novelty

The more familiar something is, the less distracting it usually is, unless your dog has a particularly strong history with it.

Behavior

Generally faster, more animated, and less predictable, the more distracting to a dog.

Duration and/or Frequency

It can go either way. Repeated exposure could make something less novel and therefore less exciting. Repeatedly having to resist a temptation could wear down their willpower.

Your Dog’s Quirks

Dogs tend to get more worked up by certain types of dogs, certain dog or human behavior, or other sometimes random factors that are not at all consistent from dog to dog.

The Variables in Your Dog’s Head

This was our first time at this trail in a while, so Gracie was more excited and distracted than usual.

How your dog is feeling in the moment, both generally and about this specific distraction, play a big role. A few things to keep in mind as you train and to adjust to help your dog succeed:

Your Dog’s General Mental State

How much exercise and enrichment have they have lately? Do they have much extra energy to burn or have their needs been satisfied?

Have they had any particularly good or bad experiences today?

Are they in a mood that would make training harder or easier?

Their Feelings about This Situation

How long has it been since they were in this situation or a similar one?

How have their most recent similar experiences gone?

Find an Easy Version to Start

Using creative thinking, you can find a version of the distraction that your dog can deal with now. For instance, when working with dogs who are distracted by squirrels, I often start training with family members walking around outside or with birds spotted on walks. From there, I might try a fake squirrel on a rope but keep it completely still and have the dog 50 feet away from it.

You’ll know you’ve found a good starting point when your dog is succeeding relatively easily at the training. It should be barely harder for them here than it is in your quiet living room.

As your dog succeeds, you can make one element of the distraction harder at a time to gradually increase the difficulty. We have a whole post on creating custom training plans that might really help you with this process!

Here are the three core ways you can adjust the difficulty level of a distraction:

Move Farther Away

This is the most objective and my favorite way to make a distraction easier. You know very clearly if you are farther or closer as opposed to trying to make distractions less intense in other ways, which can be a bit fuzzier.

One tip: This works best if you can find a spot where the distraction will appear just in one place, not all around you. For instance, I used to take dogs to a grassy hill in an office park to watch bikes on the path below us rather than trying to practice in the parking lot where people were biking in from all directions.

Rosie and I started practicing her loose leash walking skills on her front steps.

Find a Less Intense Version

Think of something that is similar to the distraction but more familiar, more mellow, or less distracting to your dog for any reason.

Squirrels: birds, a stuffed animal on a rope, family members being silly or playing with toys

Dogs: napping dogs, fake dogs, dog siblings, human family members

Foods: Fully sealed packaged food

Strangers: Family members, human friends

Busy stores: A park, the parking lot, going at off hours

The nice thing about this strategy is that you can often think of ways you can get practice in at home or around your neighborhood rather than having to travel to the spot where the distraction is long term.

Let Your Dog Get Borded with It

This strategy only works for distractions that your dog is allowed to have access to, like playing with other dogs or sniffing things on walks, but it works really well for that type of thing.

Here’s how I would do it if you were trying to teach your dog to be more responsive at the dog park:

Start by letting them play as much as they want with the other dogs, wait until they are taking a break, and then call them.
Once that works smoothly, wait until they have played half as much as they usually like but are currently taking a break.
Then try calling while they have played half as much as they usually like and are playing lightly.
Continuing to make it harder one little bit at a time.

A Few Other Tips for You

Try Training in a Controlled Setting at First.

Most distractions are things that come at you uncontrollably in the real world, making it hard to set your dog up to succeed. Setting up training sessions where you are able to partially or fully control the intensity and distance of the distraction can get your training off to a strong start.

Plus, if you can figure out a way to practice close to home, it will also be more convenient!

Use Treat Upgrades for Tough Spots

You can’t use this one too much or those special treats might become a bit ho-hum to your dog, but upgrading your treats to something amazing like fish, feta, or cat food could help you when you get stuck or have a big jump in your training plan, like the first time you go from a controlled training setting into the real world.

We had to work on distractions for over a year before Kona could hike in places like this, but now we’ve had 4 years of fun off leash hikes!

Turn the Distraction into the Reward

In a pretty limited amount of situations, access to the distraction can be your dog’s reward. One classic example is walking to the dog park on leash. If your dog walks the whole way there on leash, they get the reward of playing with their friends!

Conclusion

Distractions are tricky and overcoming them in your training requires customization, creativity, and flexibility. But learning how to function around tough distraction can open up a ton of opportunities for your dog and take stress out of your relationship, so I think it’s worth the effort.

Video Version

For those of you who like to get information via video, here you go!

Resources

Using distractions as rewards is an application of the Premack Principle. Eileen and Dogs has a great overview of the Premack Principle with an emphasis on when not to use it.
This is my favorite fake squirrel. I tie yarn around its neck to make it move around.

Overcome Distractions in Your Dog Training