I need to train my 100 lb GS rescue dog a command such as STOP or SIT which he will obey under any circumstances no matter what; whether it is a jogger running by, walking past other dogs, people walking their dogs past the house, a delivery person walking up the driveway, etc.


The problem I have is creating the circumstances.
He obeys mys commands in a calm environment but when the dog across the street comes out or a jogger passes by he looses all restraint.

I was thinking of bringing him to a dog training facility where they can create any of these circumstances bu have found the cost out of my range for the number of visits it would take.

Any suggestions?

I'm training my mal puppy to do the same thing...I want him to be focused on me and obey my commands no matter what environment we are in. I take him to our local park almost daily where there are TONS of distractions...kids on bikes, joggers, other dogs, baseball games, etc. I also make sure I take lots of treats to keep his attention focused on me. When he starts to loose focus on me, I show him a treat and give him a command. Obviously once he's ignoring the distraction and obeys the command he's rewarded. He's come a long way in just a few weeks and will now keep his focus on me and obey me even with a ton of crazy distractions close by. I've proven to him that I'm a lot more interesting than anything else he might encounter and when he obeys, he's rewarded. Is there anywhere you can take him that will supply the environment you are wanting? Maybe start with just a few distractions and gradually increase it to where he will obey you no matter where you are or what is going on around him. I'm no expert...this is just what has worked well for me and my puppy.

Hi William:
For my dog's USAR training, we are required to have an "emergency stop." This means the dog must immediately stop moving and stay in either a drop, sit or stand until given another command. Sounds like this is what you're looking for as well?

I do this by repetition, repetition and more repetition of the behavior (first the dog must down in front of me, then farther away, then even farther away) until it is completely solid without distractions. I don't move to the next step until the dog can down at any distance from me and regardless of whether he's in motion or not...all without distractions. Then I slowly up the level of distraction. I use the dog's own reward toy at first, then a familiar low-energy dog, and so on, working up towards more tempting distractions.

At first, I'll use a leash to prevent the dog from accessing the distraction. It's a short leash at first, and then I'll graduate to a longer leash. Then I use corrections if necessary to make the behavior solid. In my training, the corrections come in the form of an ecollar. HOWEVER, I don't use the ecollar until the behavior is pretty much solid otherwise. The ecollar is used as a "reminder" for something I am positive the dog already knows. And, the dog is already properly conditioned to the ecollar, so he knows what it means and how to "turn it off."

This training is relatively easy for me because I choose dogs for my work who are obsessed with a ball and/or food reward. However, it can be done with a dog who isn't similarly obsessed. It will just take more time/reps.

In addition to the advice above, you may want to search on "desensitizing" - there is a lot of info which might be helpful.