Building a truly reliable behavior!
Teaching your dog a behavior at home, is not a guarantee that he will respond in other situations or other locations!
Donna Ashley, CPDT-KA, CBATI-KA
3/19/2026
Developing a truly reliable behavior means 'proofing' that behavior. Does the dog respond in any situation, at any distance, with any distractions? In other words, does the dog respond in real life?
Training a behavior so that it works well anywhere means training through the 'Four D's of Dog Training'.
Simply put, the 4 D’s are conditions under which you train your dog to ‘build’ the reliability of the ‘cue’ and their ability to do it, no matter what! We often find ourselves saying, “I don’t know why he won’t do it - he does it perfectly at home!’ Well, these '4D's are exactly why! The behavior needs to be 'proofed' under a variety of conditions that happen in real life! Let's explain a little better!
