Leerburg / Dog Training Articles / Obedience & Marker Training / Environment Will Influence Your Dog's Behavior

Environment Will Influence Your Dog's Behavior

By Cindy Rhodes

URL Copied!

For a large majority of the dog trainers, I spend time with, this statement is a given: "The environment we are in will greatly influence the behavior of our dogs and our behavior as well." Sometimes this is a positive influence but often it's the opposite of what is expected.

dog in field of grass — The environment we are in will greatly influence the behavior of our dogs.

I'd like for you to think about some scenarios: How do you behave when you are in church with your grandmother? How do you behave when you are in a bar with your friends? Think about being called into your supervisor's office. I'm certain that the environment and the people surrounding you influence your behavior quite a bit.

When we are spending time with our dogs, the places we take them will greatly change the behaviors we see from them. We often train new behaviors in a somewhat sterile environment inside our home or quiet space. Successful trainers understand that adding a new environment that includes distractions will likely show gaps in the dog's understanding of behaviors that were easy in a low to no distraction location. Sometimes new trainers or even experienced trainers with a new dog may fail to recognize that the dog isn't "blowing you off" or "giving you the finger", he or she is simply overwhelmed by the environment.

How does your dog behave in your kitchen? What type of reactions will your dog have to the distractions at a park? At an agility or IPO trial? In city traffic? At the vet's office?

How do you behave in these environments? Are you nervous? Distracted? Excited?

The way you behave in new environments also influences your dog. A fearful dog can gain confidence from your calmness but if you are nervous, it can hurt an already insecure dog's confidence.

I think many dog trainers select a certain type of dog for our dogs. Until recently I always chose working or herding breeds like the Malinois. It makes sense to pick a dog that is so motivated that it is easy to work them through training challenges in the environment. The issue lies in the large number of dogs that are not extremely motivated by primary reinforcers (such as food or toys) or dogs that have fear or other confidence issues. I know that I have been spoiled in the past. I have had dogs that could focus and engage no matter what the distraction or environment. These dogs are priceless and make training easy. Dogs like this also make it easy to forget that not all dogs are this way

Six years ago, I got my first terrier. She's probably the most intelligent dog I've owned and a real problem solver. She's a breeze to train until you get out of a sterile training environment. Once you are outside and the delicious smell of critters is on the breeze, she can appear to be a completely untrained dog. I've had to work extremely hard for the smallest increments of progress with this dog in that environment. I've had other trainers tell me she's blowing me off and I suppose this may be true, but the core of the issue is that I'm not as valuable or interesting to her as her new environment. I just have to work harder on our relationship and reward system. This dog has made me look at training from a different point of view and evaluate my training environments from the dog's side. I don't believe I was very good at doing that before.

This is my first post and was written as a reminder to myself more than anything. Train the dog in front of you at that moment and try not to compare dogs to each other because you will not only shortchange the dog but your education as a trainer. Look at things from the dog's point of view when changing environments.

Shop Training Supplies

Enroll in Training Courses

About Author

Cindy Rhodes

Cindy Rhodes has been training dogs since the 1980s. She has competed at a national level in Schutzhund (now called IPO) and Mondio Ring. Cindy has bred Dobermans and Malinois under the kennel name Kaiserhaus since the 80s. Cindy has also worked as a dog groomer for 15 years. Her experience and wealth of information led to the development of Leerburg's advice column. If you are looking for free dog training advice from an expert trainer, you can view Leerburg's Ask Cindy section. Cindy also offers in-person training in puppy training and dog sport foundations here.