3D's of Difficulty

A useful tool to judge the difficulty of the situation, the 3D's are:

• Duration - how much time will they need to express the behaviour

• Distraction - interruptions to their training picture and focus

• Distance - physically how far is the dog from:

  • the stimulus - the subject/target of the behaviour. Typically closer is more difficult.

  • the consequence the reinforcement/accountability (e.g. you). Typically further is more difficult.

  • any distractions - anything that disrupts the training picture. Typically closer is more difficult.

Example of duration:

As part of building confidence with a dog you might ask them to walk across an unusual surface. Initially it starts easy with only a very short patch, and gradually increases to minutes at a time.

Example of Distraction:

You dog really wants to break heel so that they can chase things. As part of your training you may add in distractions. For this dog that wants to chase, the first distractions might be dropped food (unrelated to chasing). Then later a helper trying to offer a tug toy. And finally to a ball being thrown past (very related to chasing).

Example of Distance:

Training an emergency stop, you might throw a ball and ask your dog to stop during the chase. Starting with little distance, you may ask for the stop while they are near you, and far from the thrown ball, in a place with minimum distractions. As they advance and training distance increases, you would ask the down when they are further from you, closer to the thrown ball, and near distractions.