Proof it everywhere, fade the food and keep going
A cue learned in the kitchen is not yet known in the park. Proof each cue across places, fade food to life rewards, review the binder, and list the professionals you would call.
- Start here: the essentials
- 1. Why a known cue breaks in a new place
- 2. Fading the food without losing the behavior
- 3. Reading your binder and choosing what comes next
- 4. Whom to call: credentials, directories and questions
- 5. Export the binder and keep going
- 6. See it
- 7. Practice
- 8. Your dog
- 9. Check your work
- 10. Knowledge check and scenario
Start here Essentials
Take your most-used cues out of the kitchen, swap one food reward for a life reward, write down whom you would call, and export your binder.
- Pick the three cues you use most. If fewer than three are on the word, use the ones that are (reading your binder).
- Test each in a new room, then just outside the door. Five tries in each place; record five attempts and the successful responses in the sessions sheet (the proofing plan).
- Swap one food reward for a life reward. Choose a cue the dog does five out of five, and pay it with the door opening, the leash going on or the ball (fading the food).
- Write two names on the help list. Your veterinarian, and one credentialed professional found through a directory, even if you do not call them (whom to call).
- Export the binder. Save the file from the binder page.
Minimum time: about 45 minutes over two or three days. Done when: the binder export file is saved, and the help list has two names.
1. Why a known cue breaks in a new place Understand
Anyone who has taught a cue has seen it happen. The dog sits on the first ask in the kitchen, and in the park it looks at you as if the word were new. That is not defiance. It is how dogs learn. AKC's article on the three Ds puts it plainly: dogs do not generalize well. A dog that learns to sit in front of you does not automatically know that "sit" means the same thing from across the room.
Generalization is a dog responding to a cue across places, people, positions and distractions, not only where it was taught. It is something you teach, place by place. The tool is proofing: practicing a known cue on purpose in new places and with new distractions, one change at a time, until it holds. Karen Pryor Clicker Training's article on proofing, by trainer Casey Lomonaco, lists what counts as a change. The obvious ones are new rooms, new people and other dogs. It adds the surface under the dog (hardwood, grass, pavement, snow), the weather, your own movement, and scents, which it calls a huge distraction for dogs.
The three Ds, and place
Settle, stay and leave it introduced the three Ds: duration (how long the dog holds the behavior), distance (how far you are) and distraction (whatever else is going on). AKC's rule for raising them is one at a time, with distraction last, and when you raise one, you drop the others back to easy. Start duration at about one second and build a second at a time. Preference Sources order the first two Ds differently, and Settle, stay and leave it shows both orders. They agree on the part that matters: change one thing, keep the rest easy.
A new place is a bundle of distractions at once. Treat it as its own step. When you take a cue somewhere new, ask for the easiest version: no duration, no distance, you right in front of the dog. Build the Ds again in that place before you combine them.
When to make it harder: the 80 percent rule
Lomonaco's proofing article gives a rule for when to raise the difficulty. Do not raise criteria until the dog succeeds about 80 percent of the time at the current level. If it succeeds less than 50 percent of the time, break the step into smaller pieces. Preference The rule is one practitioner's, not a law of learning, but it fits what the other sources say about keeping the dog successful, and it is easy to apply with the sessions sheet.
In tries of five, which is how this manual counts:
| Successful responses out of 5 attempts | Percent | What to do next session |
|---|---|---|
| 5 or 4 | 100 or 80 | Raise one thing: the next place on the ladder, a little more duration, distance or distraction. |
| 3 | 60 | Stay at this level. Check the reward and the rate of payment. |
| 2, 1 or 0 | 40 or less | Make it easier: go back a place, closer, shorter, quieter. Split the step. |
The same article recommends working on one aspect at a time in a session, short sessions (it says most dogs prefer five three-minute sessions to one 10- or 15-minute session), and keeping records. Your sessions sheet has a column for each: the place, the distraction level, and the successes.
A proofing ladder
The ladder below is one way to order places for a cue first learned in the kitchen. Each rung changes one main thing. Your home and neighborhood decide the actual rungs; the order is a starting point to test. Test it
| Rung | Place | What changes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The room where the cue was taught | Nothing; this is the baseline | Five of five here before anything else. |
| 2 | A second room | Place only | Ask the easiest version first. |
| 3 | A third room, or a hallway or stairs | Place, sometimes surface | Three places is the "in three places" stage in the cue inventory. |
| 4 | Just outside the door: porch, yard, balcony, building hallway | Outdoor smells and sounds | On leash, or a long line for recall (Come when called). |
| 5 | A quiet outdoor place away from home | New place, new scents | Pick the quietest time of day. |
| 6 | The same place with one mild distraction | Distraction | A person walking at a distance; a dropped toy; you moving. |
| 7 | Places the household actually uses | Real life | The vet's lobby, a friend's house, the street outside a café. |
Food and the best rewards come back at every new rung. A new place is a new behavior for the dog for the first few tries, so pay it like one (see fading the food).
The cue inventory is your record of one dog in a few places. It does not predict the dog in a new place. "With distractions" means with the distractions you tested, at the distances you tested. No recall is certain: the long line and the fence stay the plan for roads, wildlife and other dogs, whatever the inventory says. And a dog that cannot take food in a new place is telling you about stress, not about training. That is the threshold from Read your dog, and the answer is more distance, not more practice.
Fluency beyond the three Ds
Lomonaco's article goes further than the three Ds. It adds precision (how exact the behavior looks), latency (the time between the cue and the start of the response) and speed (the time from the start of the response to its end). It also adds stimulus control: the dog does the behavior when cued, does not offer it uncued during training, and does not do it to the wrong cue. For a pet household, latency is the useful one. A sit that comes three seconds after the cue may be fine in the kitchen and too slow at a curb. The article suggests timing ten tries, taking the average as a baseline, and paying only responses at or under it for the next ten. It also says not every behavior needs this level of proofing, and that the first few behaviors you proof take longest.
2. Fading the food without losing the behavior
Two different things get called "fading," and they are easy to confuse. First behaviors faded the lure: the food in your hand that guided the dog into position. That fade happens early, within a few repetitions. This section fades the reward: how often the behavior is paid with food once the dog knows it. That fade happens late, only for behaviors that are solid, and for most dogs not all the way to zero. Karen Pryor's article on fading the click draws a third line: the marker is not faded. Fading means making a signal smaller until it is barely needed, and that applies to prompts and cues, not to the marker. If you mark a behavior, you pay it.
From every time to some of the time
VCA's handout on reinforcement and rewards names the two schedules. Continuous reinforcement means paying every correct response. It is right for learning, and VCA says to use favored rewards and even small jackpots the first few times. But VCA warns that a behavior paid every time often stops when the payments stop. A variable schedule (also called intermittent reinforcement) pays some correct responses, unpredictably: VCA's example is every third time, then two in a row, then not until five more. VCA says behavior paid this way tends to be stronger and last longer, and that the switch belongs after the dog reliably knows the behavior.
The 2015 AAHA behavior guidelines say the same in veterinary terms. New behaviors are learned best when rewarded every time they occur. Once learned, they are maintained best when rewarded randomly and intermittently, which AAHA notes means more often than "seldom." Convention AKC's article on fading the lure gives the practical version: once the dog does the behavior consistently, ask for it a couple of times before you reward, then mix it up, sometimes paying the first, sometimes after several. AKC adds that fading does not mean you stop rewarding; it means the dog does not know which response will be paid.
Life rewards
A life reward is anything the dog wants that you control, given for a cued behavior instead of food: the door opening for a walk, the leash clipping on, the ball thrown, permission to go sniff, a greeting, the dinner bowl going down. VCA lists owner attention, a walk in the park and a game of fetch as rewards for many dogs, and says any moment the dog wants something is a chance to ask for a behavior first. Life rewards do most of the work of a variable schedule in daily life, because the dog wants them many times a day and they cost no calories.
Life rewards fit some cues better than others:
| Cue | Natural life rewards | Keep food for |
|---|---|---|
| Sit | The door opening; the bowl going down; a guest's greeting; the leash going on | New places; sits near distractions |
| Down and mat | A chew handed over on the mat; the family sitting down to eat | Long settles; visitors |
| Loose leash | Forward movement; permission to sniff (Loose-leash walking) | Busy streets; passing dogs |
| Come | Being released back to play or sniffing | Every recall away from something interesting; Come when called keeps the best food for recall |
| Leave it | Being allowed to go on, or to take something else | Food on the ground on walks |
| Wait at doors | The door opening and the release word | New doors and the car |
Where food stays
Food goes back to every-time payment whenever the task gets harder: a new behavior, a new place on the ladder, a harder distraction, a longer duration, a new person handling the dog. It also stays for anything the dog finds worrying. Pairing a mildly worrying thing with food is counterconditioning (Read your dog), and that pairing is not faded. VCA adds that a dog with a hard behavior to change may need consistently excellent rewards, including jackpots, for a long time before any move to an intermittent schedule.
Watch the dog, not the calendar, to know whether you faded too fast. Signs include a slower response, a glance at your hands or pocket before responding, a dog that wanders off mid-session, or a drop in successes in the sessions sheet. Any of these means going back to paying more often for a while. Test it
Fading the food also frees up calories. Food used for training still counts: meal food comes out of the bowl, and extras such as cheese or chicken count against the extras budget from Set up to train. As the number of food rewards drops, use the difference on the harder rungs of the proofing ladder rather than adding new treats.
A variable schedule in practice
The sources give the principle, not a formula. One way to apply it, for a cue at five out of five in a place:
- Every time, while the cue is new in this place.
- Most of the time. Skip the food now and then, replacing it with praise or a life reward, in no set pattern.
- About half the time, unpredictably. Pay the best responses (the fastest, or the ones under distraction) with food more often than the ordinary ones.
- Mostly life rewards at home, with food back for every new place, person or distraction.
Move one step at a time, and only while successful responses stay at four or five out of five attempts (80 percent or more). These steps are our planning convention, not a published protocol. Preference The pattern matters less than the unpredictability: a dog that learns food comes every third time can learn to wait for the third time.
The same principle explains why problem behaviors are hard to stop. A dog that jumps on guests and gets greeted by some of them is on a variable schedule for jumping (Everyday problems).
3. Reading your binder and choosing what comes next
Your binder holds the evidence for what your dog can do. Reading it well means separating three groups: what is solid, what is partial, and what is not started yet. Do it at a table with the cue inventory and the sessions sheet side by side.
The cue inventory's stages run from not started, to lured, to on a hand signal, to on the word, to in three places, to with distractions. A stage is the furthest point the dog reaches five times out of five, not the best moment you have seen. Read each row against the sessions sheet. A cue marked "in three places" with no session in a third place since the summer is a cue to retest, not a cue to trust.
| Group | Stages | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Solid | In three places; with distractions | Fade the food toward life rewards at home. Keep proofing one new place a week. |
| Partial | Lured; on a hand signal; on the word | Finish the stage first: fade the lure (First behaviors), then the proofing ladder from rung 1. |
| Not started | Not started, or no row | Go back to the chapter that teaches it. Choose the one the household needs most. |
| Cue | Chapter that teaches it |
|---|---|
| Name game | How dogs learn |
| Hand target, sit, down | First behaviors |
| Loose leash | Loose-leash walking |
| Come | Come when called |
| Mat settle, stay, wait, leave it, drop it | Settle, stay and leave it |
Read the sessions sheet for patterns, not single sessions. Look for the place where successes drop (often the first outdoor rung), the distraction level where they drop, and the time of day. Look at the minutes column too: a cue that stalls with one two-minute session a week is short of practice, not short of ability. Then read the problem plan. A row still marked "same" after two weeks goes back through the three checks in Everyday problems. A row marked "worse" or "needs a professional" belongs on the help list now.
Adolescence: expect a dip
VCA places adolescence at about 6 to 18 months. The best-known measurement of what it does to training is a 2020 study by Asher and colleagues in Biology Letters. It followed 285 guide-dog candidates (Labrador and golden retrievers, German shepherds and crosses). Their main carers rated them less trainable at 8 months than at 5 months, and more trainable again by 12 months. The dip was specific to the carer: trainers who knew the dogs less well did not see it. In a smaller test in the same study, dogs at 8 months responded less to "sit" from their carer, but not from a stranger.
The study's limits matter. Its dogs were three breeds and their crosses, raised for guide work, so it does not tell you the size or timing of the dip for your dog. What it supports is the expectation that a cue that was fine at five months may wobble around eight, and that the wobble is a phase, not a failure. Test it In practice: drop back a rung on the proofing ladder, pay more often again, keep the long line on for recall, keep management in place, and keep logging. A sudden change at any age, especially with signs of pain or illness, is a veterinary question first.
Senior dogs and changing cues
Older dogs learn, but hearing, vision, joints and pain change how you teach them. Plan for that, and keep two things in view:
- A senior that stops responding to a cue it knew is a veterinary question first. Hearing or vision loss, joint pain and cognitive change can all look like "ignoring." The Merck manual's owner pages list the signs of cognitive dysfunction in older dogs: less social interaction, loss of house training, getting lost in familiar places, and changes in sleep. ASPCA notes that older dogs can become confused and irritable, and that pain and sensory loss can change behavior. Ask the authority
- Match the cue to the dog. If hearing is fading, a hand signal can become the primary cue, recorded as such in the inventory's signal column (First behaviors). If getting down is uncomfortable, a stand or a sit on a mat replaces a down on a hard floor. Sessions get shorter, surfaces softer, and treats count against a smaller allowance.
The Canine Good Citizen test, as an optional benchmark
Some households want an outside test. The American Kennel Club's Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test is the common one in the United States: ten everyday items, scored by an AKC-approved evaluator on one day. This manual does not require it. It is useful as a checklist, because nearly every item is something other chapters teach. AKC's test items page lists them:
| Item | Title | Where this manual covers it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Accepting a friendly stranger | Socialization and confidence and Everyday problems (greetings) |
| 2 | Sitting politely for petting | First behaviors and Everyday problems |
| 3 | Appearance and grooming | Socialization and confidence (handling) |
| 4 | Out for a walk (walking on a loose lead) | Loose-leash walking |
| 5 | Walking through a crowd | Loose-leash walking and Proof it and keep going (proofing) |
| 6 | Sit and down on cue and stay in place | First behaviors and Settle, stay and leave it |
| 7 | Coming when called | Come when called |
| 8 | Reaction to another dog | Read your dog and Socialization and confidence |
| 9 | Reaction to distraction | Read your dog and Proof it and keep going |
| 10 | Supervised separation | Crate, pen and alone time |
AKC asks test-takers to agree to its Responsible Dog Owner's Pledge, which it publishes with the puppy program's items. The pledge has 13 commitments in four groups: the dog's health, its safety, not letting it infringe on others, and its quality of life. For puppies, AKC runs the S.T.A.R. Puppy program, a class-based award with simpler items. AKC's page directs you to its training resources and to an approved CGC evaluator, often through a training class.
The CGC is ten items on one day with one evaluator. Passing it is a benchmark, not a guarantee of how the dog behaves elsewhere. Items 8 and 10 test the things Read your dog and Crate, pen and alone time send to a professional when they go badly. If your dog lunges at other dogs or panics when left, the test is not the next step, and training toward it is not a treatment.
The CGC items one by one
From AKC's item descriptions, in brief:
- Items 1 and 2. The evaluator greets you and ignores the dog, then pets the dog while it sits at your side. The dog shows no shyness or resentment, and may stand while petted.
- Item 3. The evaluator checks that the dog looks healthy, brushes it lightly, examines the ears and picks up each front foot. You may talk to the dog throughout.
- Item 4. A walk with a right turn, a left turn, an about turn and stops. The dog does not need to be perfectly aligned or to sit at the halts.
- Item 5. Passing close to at least three people without jumping, straining or shying.
- Items 6 and 7. The leash is swapped for a 20-foot line. The dog sits and downs on cue (more than one cue is allowed), stays while you walk to the end of the line and back, then comes when called from 10 feet away.
- Item 8. Two handlers with dogs approach from about 20 feet, stop, pretend to shake hands, and walk on about 10 feet. The dogs show no more than casual interest in each other.
- Item 9. Two distractions, such as a dropped chair or a jogger. The dog may look and even startle a little, but does not panic, run, bark or show aggression.
- Item 10. You go out of sight for three minutes while the evaluator holds the leash. The dog does not keep barking, whining or pacing.
Items 6 and 7 are the proofing ladder in miniature: distance on a line, a stranger nearby, a new place. Item 10 is the alone-time ladder from Crate, pen and alone time, with a stranger holding the leash.
4. Whom to call: credentials, directories and questions
This manual has named the same group of problems in every chapter as the point to stop and call someone: bites, snaps, guarding, fear the dog cannot recover from, panic when left, and any sudden change in behavior. This section makes the list concrete: who those people are, what each credential means, where to find them, and how to choose.
A credential is evidence of training and testing, not a guarantee of quality. The certifying bodies say so themselves: the Animal Behavior Society states that its certification is not a guarantee of a specific standard of competence, and AVSAB's guide to choosing a trainer says credentials alone do not guarantee quality. The titles "dog trainer," "behaviorist" and "behavior consultant" are not protected. AVSAB's handout on selecting a behavior consultant says anyone can use "behavior consultant," and that "behaviorist" means nothing specific unless it follows "veterinary" or "applied animal." Ask what the credential is, who granted it, and what the person actually does with your dog.
Who does what
- Your veterinarian comes first for any behavior problem. AVSAB's consultant handout notes that veterinarians are the only behavior professionals legally able to diagnose behavior problems and prescribe medication for them, and that a physical exam is the first step for any behavior problem.
- A veterinary behaviorist (DACVB, Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists) is a veterinarian with specialty training in behavior. They can diagnose, rule out medical causes, prescribe, and build a treatment plan. This is the person for aggression, severe fear and separation anxiety, especially when medication may be part of the answer.
- A certified applied animal behaviorist (CAAB) has a doctorate in animal behavior, or a veterinary degree with a behavior residency, plus years of applied experience. An associate (ACAAB) has a master's degree. CAABs do not prescribe; ASPCA notes that most work through veterinary referrals.
- A certified behavior consultant (CBCC-KA from CCPDT, or CDBC from IAABC) works on fear, anxiety, aggression and similar problems, usually alongside your veterinarian.
- A certified trainer (CPDT-KA or CPDT-KSA from CCPDT, among others) teaches manners and the cues in this manual, in classes or private lessons. ASPCA notes that expertise in fear and aggression is not required for CPDT certification, so ask about it if that is your concern.
What each credential requires, and where to search
Each row comes from the body that grants the credential, read on 2026-10-12.
| Credential | Granted by | What the body requires | Keeping it | Where to search |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DACVB (veterinary behaviorist) | American College of Veterinary Behaviorists | A veterinary degree and license; a rotating internship or equivalent; an approved behavior residency with supervision across 400 cases; a published peer-reviewed research paper and case report; a two-day board examination (ACVB's application portal) | Board certification | The DACVB website's owner page links its search (What is a veterinary behaviorist?) |
| CAAB and ACAAB | Animal Behavior Society | CAAB: a doctorate in a biological or behavioral science with an emphasis on animal behavior and five years of professional experience, or a veterinary degree with a two-year behavior residency and three more years of experience. ACAAB: a master's degree and two years of experience (ABS requirements, June 2018) | Set by the Society | The Animal Behavior Society's directory |
| CBCC-KA (behavior consultant) | Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers (CCPDT) | At least 300 hours of behavior consulting on fear, phobias, compulsive behaviors, anxiety and aggression in the previous three years; an attestation; a 200-question exam (CCPDT) | Every 5 years, 36 continuing-education units (CCPDT) | CCPDT directory |
| CPDT-KA (trainer) | CCPDT | At least 300 hours of dog training in the last three years; an attestation; a 200-question exam (CCPDT) | Every 3 years, 36 units | CCPDT directory |
| CPDT-KSA (trainer, skills tested) | CCPDT | Four hands-on training exercises, video recorded and assessed | Every 3 years, 36 units | CCPDT directory |
| CDBC (behavior consultant) | International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) | IAABC membership; three or more years of consulting on complex cases; a written examination with case studies, reviewed by experienced consultants (IAABC credentials) | 36 units every 3 years | IAABC consultant search |
| Fear Free Certified Trainer | Fear Free | An entrance exam passed at 80 percent or better; a current certification from an approved list (which includes DACVB, ACAAB, and IAABC certified consultants) or an approved course; each course chapter passed at 80 percent; signing the Fear Free Pledge; active membership (Fear Free) | Annual membership | Fear Free's directory, linked from that page |
| APDT listing | Association of Professional Dog Trainers | Membership in a professional association. It is not a certification; ASPCA notes that CCPDT was set up by APDT as a separate certifying body. | Membership | APDT trainer search |
Two more names come up often. A Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA CTP) is a graduate of that academy's professional program, and the Pet Professional Guild (PPG) is a membership organization of trainers who commit to force-free principles. AVSAB's guide names both as backgrounds to look for. This manual does not describe either organization's requirements. Ask the trainer what the credential or membership required and how it is kept current.
Sources sometimes disagree in the details. AVSAB's 2020 consultant handout describes the DACVB residency as two to three years with three case reports; the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists' current portal lists one case report and one research paper. The same handout gives IAABC hour counts that IAABC's current credentials page no longer states. Where they differ, we give the granting body's current page.
What the method standards say, and the "LIMA" label
Many trainers describe themselves as "LIMA," short for least intrusive, minimally aversive. It is easy to read that as "force-free." It is not quite that. CCPDT's LIMA policy sets out a six-step hierarchy: health and wellness first, then changing the antecedents, then positive reinforcement, then reinforcing an alternative behavior, then negative punishment, negative reinforcement or extinction, and positive punishment as the last step. The policy says LIMA does not justify punishment, or electronic, choke or prong collars, in place of positive-reinforcement strategies. It keeps punishment on the list as a last resort all the same.
Other bodies go further:
- AVSAB's 2021 humane dog training statement recommends reward-based methods only, for all training including behavior problems, and says aversive methods should not be used. Its 2025 board statement reaffirms that position.
- The 2015 AAHA behavior guidelines oppose aversive techniques, and advise switching away from trainers who use prong or shock collars, leash jerks or dominance methods.
- IAABC's 2025 standards of practice make positive reinforcement the primary strategy, oppose methods involving pain, fear or intimidation, and require members to refrain from using shock.
- Describes itself as a force-free organization; this manual does not describe its requirements.
So "LIMA" on a trainer's website tells you the person follows a hierarchy, not that they rule out aversive tools. This manual's position is AVSAB's: reward-based only. Ask every professional directly what equipment and consequences they use, whatever label they use.
Green flags and red flags
AVSAB's How to Choose a Trainer suggests reading a trainer's website, social media and videos for clues. It sorts them like this (paraphrased):
| Green flags | Red flags |
|---|---|
| Rewards: treats, toys, praise | Prong or shock collars; pushing, pulling, poking or hitting; leash jerks; rolling the dog onto its back; rattle cans; spray bottles |
| Talk of communication, cues and the relationship | Talk of being the boss, alpha or pack leader; dominance and submission; respect, obey, command |
| Clicker training, force free, positive reinforcement | "Balanced training" |
| Preventing unwanted behavior and teaching a replacement | Punishing or correcting unwanted behavior |
| An upbeat voice and friendly body language | Yelling, stomping, threatening body language |
| Outlets for normal dog behavior, and choice | Shutting down normal behavior and demanding control |
The same guide's fourth step is to advocate for your dog. Watch for stressed or fearful body language during a lesson, ask for other options, and change trainers if you are not heard.
AVSAB's Selecting a Behavior Consultant adds a go-and-stop checklist for behavior professionals. Go signs: the person gives specific details of the methods they will use; their approach fits AVSAB's position statements (no shock, choke or prong collars; reward-based methods); they keep up continuing education; and they have a working relationship with a veterinary behaviorist or CAAB for referrals. Stop signs: vague answers such as "balanced" or "whatever works"; a focus on you being dominant or the pack leader; discouraging food rewards; a guarantee to fix any problem (AVSAB notes a professional can guarantee their service, not an outcome); and no answer to whom they refer cases they cannot handle.
Questions to ask
The help list comes pre-filled with five of these. The rest come from AVSAB's and ASPCA's guidance.
- What credential do you hold, and from whom?
- What methods and equipment do you use? Do you use prong, choke or shock collars?
- What happens if my dog does not do what you ask?
- Will you work with my veterinarian?
- How will we measure progress, and how often will we review it?
- What continuing education have you done recently? (AVSAB)
- Whom do you refer to when a case is beyond your expertise or not progressing? (AVSAB)
- For fear or aggression: what training and experience do you have with these problems specifically? (ASPCA)
- Can you give me references from former clients or veterinarians? (ASPCA)
ASPCA's page on finding behavior help suggests contacting more than one professional to compare methods, credentials and experience. For a board-and-train program, where you are not there to see the methods, it says to know and agree with them in advance, and to make sure the trainer teaches you how to keep the new behaviors going.
What a first consultation involves
The Merck manual's owner page on diagnosing behavior problems describes the work-up. The veterinarian first rules out health problems that could cause the behavior. Then they take a behavioral history before making any diagnosis. Merck's list includes the dog's age, sex and breed; when the problem started and how long it has gone on; exactly what the dog does, how often, and how long an episode lasts; any change in the pattern; what has been tried, and what stopped it; the daily schedule of the dog and the household; the dog's family history; its home; and anything else the owner thinks matters. They consider the ABCs (the antecedent, the behavior and the consequence; Everyday problems), and how the problem began. Merck notes that video of the behavior helps the veterinarian make an accurate diagnosis.
Your binder is that history. Print it before the appointment, and bring:
- The observations sheet, with dates, triggers, distances and recovery times.
- The problem plan, including the rows that did not work.
- Any bite or near-bite, written as what happened before, during and after.
- Short videos of the behavior, taken from a safe distance without setting it up.
- Your list of questions, and the medications and diet the dog is on.
5. Export the binder and keep going
Everything you have entered on this site lives in this browser. The binder page exports it as one file: your setup, every sheet and the chapters you marked done. The file re-imports only into this manual, on any device. Export after any session where you typed something you would not want to lose, and print the whole binder before a veterinary or training appointment.
Training does not end with this manual. A cue that is not used goes stale, and life keeps adding new places. The plan from here is short: keep using the cues in daily life with life rewards, keep proofing one new place at a time, keep the help list current, and look at the binder once a month.
A six-month maintenance plan
A plan for the six months after this manual. It is a schedule for your attention, not a promise about results.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Every week | One proofing session per main cue in a place not yet on the inventory. A sniff walk. Life rewards for the cues the household uses daily. |
| Every month | Read the cue inventory against the sessions sheet. Move any stage that is no longer five out of five back down. Update the problem plan statuses. Export the binder. |
| At each veterinary visit | Weigh the dog, and recheck the treat allowance on the treat budget page. Ask about anything new in behavior, sleep, appetite or movement. |
| For a puppy or adolescent | Expect a dip around adolescence. Keep the long line, management and every-time payment for anything that wobbles. |
| For a senior | Retest hearing-dependent cues. Move to hand signals where needed, and shorten sessions. |
| At six months | Choose the next goal: a harder rung for a solid cue, a class, the CGC, or a cue the household has not started. |
6. See it See it
Moose's recall, out of the kitchen. Moose is eight months old, 70 pounds and still growing, in a rural house without a fence on a road with traffic. Dayo and Lena's concern was "ignores me outside."
Known: the cue inventory shows "come" (word "here," signal both arms open) at the "on the word" stage, with only the kitchen and living room as places. Nothing in the sessions sheet shows a recall outdoors. So the inventory itself answers part of the question: the recall has not been proofed outside.
The proofing plan: Dayo runs the ladder in tries of five, with the best food for every recall, as Come when called recommends. The fictional results: kitchen 5 of 5, living room 5 of 5, back hall 5 of 5, porch on a long line 4 of 5. Each of these is 80 percent or better, so Dayo moves up a rung. In the field behind the house, on a 30-foot line at the quietest time of the morning, the result is 2 of 5. That is under half, so the next session goes back to half the distance, where Moose comes 5 of 5. The field is the place Dayo chose after walking the roadside route and deciding it was not a place to practice. Lena does not hold the long line, because of her shoulder.
Assumed: that part of the problem is adolescence. That is consistent with Asher's finding of a carer-specific dip at eight months, but one study of guide-dog candidates does not settle it for Moose. Open: how much is adolescence and how much is a recall not yet proofed. The cue inventory and the next three months of sessions settle it. If successes climb with proofing alone, proofing was most of it. The road stays off-limits for practice either way, and Moose is not off the line outside.
Pearl's hand signals. Pearl is a nine-year-old beagle who moved with Walter Kaminski to a condominium in August, from the house he had lived in for twelve years. Her hearing is fading.
Known: Walter's test in First behaviors showed that Pearl responds to hand signals at any distance and to spoken words only up close, so the cue inventory lists the hand signal as the primary cue for sit, down and leave it. Her veterinarian sets her daily calories at 520 (a fictional figure), which makes her extras budget 52 kilocalories a day. Kibble used in sessions comes out of her meals and does not use it.
The plan: Walter proofs "sit" by hand signal in the condominium hallway and the lobby, where the floor is slick, and lets Pearl sit on a rug there. Leave it, for the counter surfing in the new kitchen, gets food every time, because it is new and hard. Sit at the front door is solid, so it is paid with a life reward: the door opens for her walk. His help list has the veterinarian, who found no medical cause for the new barking when Pearl is left and scheduled a recheck in a month. It also has a CBCC-KA from the CCPDT directory he has not called.
Open: whether Pearl's distress when left is a response to the move or something the veterinarian has not found yet. It is provisional until the recheck. Whether the long line is allowed on the common green is settled by the condominium association, in writing.
Free pages behind this chapter:
- Karen Pryor Clicker Training, Everything You Wanted to Know About Proofing: the 80 percent rule, one aspect at a time, and why surfaces and weather count as distractions.
- AKC, The Three Ds of Dog Training: why dogs do not generalize, and how to raise one D at a time.
- AVSAB, How to Choose a Trainer: a two-page guide with the green and red flags, worth printing.
- Asher and colleagues, Teenage dogs? (2020): the open-access adolescence study, with its methods and limits.
7. Practice Practice
Minimum: three cues tested in two new places, five tries each, one life reward in place, two names on the help list, and the binder exported. Time: about 45 minutes over two or three days, in sessions of a few minutes. Materials: extras from the day's budget or kibble from the day's meals, a leash (a long line for recall outdoors), the sessions sheet, the help list and the binder page.
- Choose the three cues. Open the cue inventory and pick the three the household uses most, among those on the word. Write them down.
- Test in a new room. For each cue, five tries in a room where you have not practiced it, asking for the easiest version. Pay every success with food. Log five attempts and the successful responses in the sessions sheet, with the place.
- Test just outside the door. Same cues, five tries each, on leash or a long line. If any cue scores 2 or less, end that cue for the day with an easy win back inside, and note it.
- Update the inventory. Add the places where the dog scored 4 or 5 out of 5. Do not move a stage up on one good session; wait for a second.
- Swap one food reward. Pick a cue at five out of five at home, and for one day pay it with a life reward each time it comes up: the door, the leash, the bowl, the ball. Note what happened.
- Fill in the help list. Add your veterinarian's name and phone number. Search one directory from the credential table for a professional near you or offering remote consultations. Add their name, credential and the directory.
- Export the binder. Go to the binder page, export, and save the file where you keep important documents.
- Build the full ladder for one cue. Write rungs 1 to 7 for your home and neighborhood, and work up them over the coming weeks, applying the 80 percent rule.
- Measure latency. For one solid cue, time ten responses, take the average, and pay only responses at or under it for the next ten.
- Run a CGC-style practice. Ask a friend to play the evaluator for items 1, 2 and 3 in a quiet place. Note which items need work.
- Prepare a consultation packet. Print the binder and write a one-page summary of any problem on the plan sheet, using the history items in what a first consultation involves.
8. Your dog Your dog
9. Check your work Check your work
Criteria
- Does every cue you call "solid" have five out of five in at least three places in the sessions sheet, and recently?
- Did each new place start with the easiest version of the cue, paid every time?
- Did you raise only one thing at a time, and drop back when successes fell under half?
- Is food faded only on cues that are solid, and back to every time for new places and hard distractions?
- Does the help list name your veterinarian and one professional whose credential you can explain, with the directory you used?
- Is the binder exported to a file you can find again?
Worked example
Moose's recall work (Fictional example) meets the criteria for a partial cue. The inventory honestly records "on the word" in two rooms, which is why the plan starts at rung 1 rather than in the field. Each rung was raised only at 4 or 5 out of 5. The field session that scored 2 of 5 was split rather than repeated. Food stayed at every time throughout, because recall away from things outdoors is the hardest version. The household's help list names the veterinarian who flagged his weight, and the long line stays on outdoors whatever the scores say. What it does not yet meet is "solid": Moose is not at five of five in three places outdoors, and the inventory says so.
Pearl's file meets the criteria a different way. The hand signal is the recorded cue because Walter tested her hearing, not because he assumed it. A life reward replaced food only for a cue that was already solid. The help list has two names and a recheck date.
Common mistakes
- Testing the hardest version first. Asking for a 30-second stay at the park on the first visit tests three Ds at once. Start with the easiest version in each new place.
- Fading food on a partial cue. A cue that is not yet reliable gets slower and patchier when payments drop. Fade only what is solid.
- Trusting a stage that is out of date. A stage recorded months ago may not hold now. Retest before you rely on it, especially in adolescence.
- Choosing a professional by title. "Behaviorist" on a website is not a credential. Check the credential with the body that grants it, and ask about methods.
- Leaving the help list for an emergency. Finding someone is harder when the dog has just bitten. Write the names now.
What is still unresolved
The binder shows what your dog did in the places you tested. It cannot tell you what the dog will do in a place you have not tried, under a distraction you have not met, or on a day it is unwell. Only more proofing narrows that gap, and some of it does not close: recall near roads stays on a line. Whether a professional is a good fit for your dog is settled by the first consultation and by your dog's body language during it, not by this page.
10. Knowledge check and scenario
Your dog sits every time in the kitchen and ignores the cue in the yard. What is the most likely explanation, and what do you do?
A cue scored 2 out of 5 in a new place. What does the 80 percent rule say to do?
Why switch from paying every time to paying some of the time, and when?
A trainer's website says "LIMA." What does that tell you, and what does it not?
(Go deeper) In the CGC test, what length of line is used for the stay and the recall, and how far away do you call from?
Checklist
Have you just done what this manual teaches? If it is still fresh, we would like to hear about it. We are looking for volunteer guides to add a few short passages from their own experience to this manual. Write to guides@learnthings.online for the details.