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When I first taught Darcy the "sit" position, as an 8 week old puppy, he was very quick to pick it up. We trained in the lounge where it was quiet and he sat reliably every time. I was well chuffed. Then I tried to get him to sit in the kitchen - he ran into the lounge and sat in front of the chair that I had been sitting in before. He thought that he had to sit in front of that chair!
This is why we have to train our dogs more than once. Firstly we train new exercises in a protected environment. Wherever the dog feels at ease and where it is quiet and few distractions. Once the dog has learnt the exercise, we have to teach it all over again in a new environment - perhaps in the garden. Then we have to teach it with distractions, then in the park with distractions.
This is known as generalising - basically extending the learning so that the same behaviour can be obtained in different ( and more distracting) environments.
There is no secret to this. It is simply down to hard work. You have to put in the ground work and get out and about with the dog. This is why participants in our puppy classes are often heard to say "he does it much better at home". Of course he does! He hasn't been taught to do the exercise anywhere else.
Fortunately, the actual teaching bit is quicker each time you go through the routine. If it took you 3 weeks to teach the dog to "stay" at home, it will probably only take you 3 days to teach the exercise in the park! At least, that's the theory!!!
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