Alright, so our animal can do some certain behavior. Let’s say it’s “sit”, for simplicity’s sake. We can get our animal to sit on cue when we’re at home with them. But what comes after a solid, reliable “sit”? That’s where proofing behaviors comes in to make it reliable in everyday types of situations. And to proof it, we employ the 3 D’s of behavior: Duration, Distance, and Distraction. These don’t necessarily have to be done in any specific order, but this order seems to generally work well for most situations.
After getting through each level of proofing behaviors individually, we want to combine them in pairs of two, and then eventually work all three parameters at the same time. Also—very importantly—whenever we start working on a new parameter or combination of parameters we always reset to giving reinforcement right away and consistently. But first, let’s get to each parameter individually.
Duration
Usually when we’re training a new behavior we give the animal some sort of reinforcement (likes treats) right after they complete the behavior. So, using our example of “sit”, after your animal sits we deliver reinforcement immediately. Adding duration is as simple as it sounds. So once your animal has completed a successful series of “sits”—maybe ten or so—we start making them hold that “sit” for some duration of time before delivering the reinforcement.
Initial duration times should be short enough so that your animal doesn’t lose focus in between sitting and receiving reinforcement. Start by making them wait for only a second or two, then maybe five, then ten, and so on until you’ve reached your target duration. Your target duration can be one minute or ten minutes, but whatever duration you choose, build up to it gradually so that you’re not causing frustration for your animal (and yourself).
Distance
So again, usually when we’re training a new behavior we’re right next to our animal, ready to give them reinforcement as soon as they’ve completed the behavior. Adding distance to the equation is just as straightforward as duration. After a successful series of “sits”, we want to start cueing (asking for) that “sit” from farther and farther away.
We want to have our animal in front of us just as if we were about to ask for a usual “sit”, but now when calmly take a step away from them and request the “sit”. If your animal is following you, you may need to leash them up and have somebody or something hold them in place. Reset by getting them to stand back up or come to you, and repeat until you can cue that “sit” reliably from one step away. Then, just like with the other D parameters, we build up to two steps away, then five, then ten, until we’re reliably cueing a “sit” from across the room (or whatever distance is appropriate).
Distraction
Distraction is also just what it sounds like. Since presumably we want our animal to reliably sit when there are other things happening around us, we slowly add in extra distractions. So up until this point you’ve been getting reliable “sits” when it’s just you and your animal. To add distraction then, we want to cue a “sit” when somebody familiar is in the room. Someone the animal is used to and not overly excited by, like a roommate or significant other, etc. That person can be quietly sitting and ignoring the animal, quietly standing across the room, or whatever, as long as they’re not too distracting.
Once you can get reliable “sits” with that other person sitting or standing quietly nearby, you can have them move closer. Again, we’re building up the distraction levels incrementally at whatever pace the animal is comfortable with. So now that that person is standing nearby, maybe they start calmly talking, then maybe waving their hands around their head, then eventually maybe running around the room and raving like a lunatic.
The amount of distractions you add into the mix will generally only need to be enough to cover whatever you might encounter in day-to-day life with your animal. So if you live a quiet life, you might only need to go as far as people walking past and not interacting with your animal. However, if you like to throw raucous parties and still need your animal to respond to your requests reliably, you’ll need to get your animal used to groups of people, music, background noises, the works.
Combinations of D Parameters
Once we’ve worked on each individual parameter and gotten them to the appropriate levels, we can start combining them. Proofing behaviors really gains a lot of effectiveness here.
If we were to work duration and distance simultaneously, for example, we could cue our animal to sit, then take a step back, then deliver reinforcement. The process of putting distance between yourself and the animal takes a little time, so you’re basically already adding duration automatically. But to build on that, you could cue the sit, take a step back, wait a couple of seconds, and then deliver reinforcement. Eventually you could work up to cuing a sit, casually walking across the room, then waiting for 30 seconds (or whatever) before giving reinforcement. Again, whatever specific distances and durations are appropriate to your lifestyle.
Then we could do duration and distraction together by cueing a sit, staying where we are right next to the animal, and having them hold that sit while somebody familiar quietly walks past. Eventually we could build this up to cuing a sit, staying in place, and having the animal hold the sit while that familiar person approaches and has a conversation with us, or runs circles around us while screaming, etc. Again, whatever you choose.
Distance and distraction could be worked in together by having a person in the room with you and then asking your animal to sit from a foot or so away (remember, we’re not working duration at this point so as soon as the animal sits we give them reinforcement). Eventually we work up to something like having a group of people conversing together on the opposite side of the room from the animal, and cueing the animal to sit.
Then to start tying all three parameters into our training and really proof our behavior against real world situations we could cue a “sit” while another person is standing nearby, step away, wait while the animal holds the “sit”, and then deliver reinforcement. Eventually working up to something like having a group of people in the room conversing, cuing a sit from our animal, walking across the room to get the reinforcement while they hold the sit, then walking back and delivering that reinforcement.
Remember that we’re not jumping from our quiet starting scenario straight to our party one; we’re slowly and incrementally ramping up each individual variable within the situation until we eventually reach our end goal. And probably the most important thing to keep in mind throughout all this (and with any training really) is to always proceed at the animal’s pace! If they can’t hold that sit in an empty room with you right next to them, don’t expect them to do it when there are extra distractions and you’re away from them. Proofing behaviors should be done incrementally to avoid causing frustration in your animal.
Keep these concepts in mind each and every time you’re working on a new behavior and try applying them to every possible scenario and you should have yourself a real distraction-proof animal!
