In this short instructional video, Brandon, a trainer at Custom K9 Unlimited, explains why and how to train working dogs to maintain obedience amid real‑world distractions. He emphasizes that uncontrolled environmental factors—other dogs, people, moving objects—can undermine detection, tracking, and bite work, so the solution is to embed distraction‑resistance into obedience training. The method involves gradually exposing the dog to varied distractions, establishing distance thresholds (e.g., a 10‑foot marker) where the dog remains compliant, and using corrective moves such as a turn to re‑heel when the dog reacts. Desired behavior is positively marked with treats or praise, while unwanted reactions are extinguished. This approach is then linked to detection and tracking tasks: a dog with high drive for the reward will ignore peripheral stimuli and stay focused on the odor or track. Brandon notes that many strategies exist, but the core principle is consistent positive reinforcement and maintaining the handler’s attention as the source of reward. He concludes with a call to contact Custom K9 Unlimited for questions and to follow their social media for more content.
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Hey, welcome back to today's short set. I am Brandon, one of the trainers here at Custom K9 Unlimited. Today we're going to go over, uh, what I would say is a very important part of training Uh, I know we have a short set on obedience. Um, but today we're going to work through a little bit of that obedience and the importance of working through distractions. Anything in the real world, uh, you can't control. We can't control our environments when we're doing detection. We can't control our environments when we're doing bite work. And ultimately, the way to get around all of those distractions is working your dog in obedience around those distractions. A very important part of a dog's obedience is working through distractions and the dog's ability to work through all of the outside factors that we as handlers can't control. Working through distractions is going to be pivotal in a working dog and being able to work through side-of-the-road pullovers, out in the public, tracking, drug detection, bite work, all of those things Having a dog that has no reaction to distractions is going to be key to the success of all of those outside factors that we can't control. One of the ways that we try to mitigate any of the reactions to the distractions— might be a poet and you just don't know it— one of the ways that we work through those distractions is introducing the dog to as many real-world situations as we possibly can and rewarding the behavior that we are looking for. So whether it's you know, we'll start with obedience. So whether we're working in obedience and the dog is distracted by another dog or another human or somebody bouncing a tennis ball, you know, those are all things that are going— could possibly happen in the real world, especially with, you know, human interaction and other animal interaction. And we want to mitigate those reactions from our canine companions as much as possible. So one of the ways that we're going to do that is we're going to practice obedience with distractions. Uh, when we're practicing those— that obedience with distractions, we need to know how the dog is going to react. And so exposing dogs to react, uh, distractions and then marking the behavior that we're looking for. So if we've got our dog in a heel, they're— here comes another dog walking down the road and our dog starts to pull, we're going to use a turn, for example, to get our dog away from that. The dog gets back into a heel and has no problems. We're going to mark that behavior, whether it's a reward, a treat for pet owners, a treat, or just praise. We're going to mark the good behavior, and then we're going to continue to move on. We're going to slowly build those thresholds up for that. So if we're in obedience, we're walking up to a dog, we get 10 feet away, there's no reaction, but we get to that 9, 9 feet and closer, our dog starts to pull, our dog starts to react to the other dog. Our 10-foot marker is our our threshold for that obedience session. So we're going to take that, we're going to build off of that 10 feet that we were able to get between us and that other distraction. So marking the good behavior and praising, praising, reward, whatever that looks like in your training instance, to work through those distractions until eventually you're able to pass that dog or that other distraction with no issues. So we work to work on our dog through distractions in obedience, for example. We've already gotten past, hey, I can approach this other person walking to me and my dog doesn't react to it, his attention is on me. One of the key things with us and our dogs is that that dog's attention needs to be me. The dog needs to have a good understanding that I am where the reward's coming from. So as we're moving towards closer and closer to these distractions, I want my dog to constantly be looking for me. I don't want them looking at those distractions. I don't want them to become a problem. And so we're marking the behavior that we are wanting and extinguishing the behavior that is unwanted. The same kind of goes for distractions during detection work or tracking. I put my dog out, we're doing some detection work, and the dog gets distracted by another human walking by. Well, I'm going to get my dog back into odor the second that dog— or back into work the second that dog is back into work. I'm going to mark that behavior. Hey, good boy! That's what I'm looking for, letting him know that those are the things that we're looking for. We want his drive to be so high to find that odor that those outside distractions don't necessarily mean anything to him because he knows that's not where his reward's coming from. So a lot of our obedience carries into our detection and our tracking work. With those distractions around, uh, it gives us the opportunity for our dog or our canine companion to understand that no matter what I get distracted by, my reward isn't coming from that distraction. My reward is coming from this obedience set, or my reward is coming from completing this track. So that's just a short little how to work through some distractions. There are a million ways to skin a cat, and you probably have to take that out, don't you? There's more than one way to work through some of those issues. And so, uh, this is not the, the only way. This is not the end-all be-all, but it's a good step for you guys to be able to take in working through some of those distractions. Extinct the unwanted behavior and mark the good behavior. Ultimately, that is the goal of all training— make everything positive. Dog's attention's on you, it's a good thing. The dog's attention's on something else or another outside factor that you can't control, it's not a good thing. As always, if you've got any questions, feel free to reach out to Custom K9 Unlimited. All of our contact information is below, all of our social media as well. If you don't already, like and follow us, subscribe, and stay tuned Friday for our full set, uh, sort Source Podcast, all things working dogs.
