Working distance: what is it and how to work with it?

Working distance is the distance to the stimulus at which you work with the dog. And in order for the work to be successful, the working distance must be chosen correctly.

For example, your dog is afraid of strangers. And on a walk, not being able to run away from them (the leash does not give), he begins to bark and rush. So the working distance in this case is the distance when the dog already sees the person, but has not yet begun to show problematic behavior (growling, barking and rushing).

If the working distance is too great, the dog will simply not pay attention to the stimulus, and it is useless for work.

If you close the distance too much or too quickly, the dog will behave “badly”. And at this moment it is useless (and even harmful) to pull her, call, give commands. She is simply not able to respond to your calls and execute commands. The only thing you can do is to increase the distance, thus creating a safe environment for the dog, and then he will be able to pay attention to you.

The reduction in working distance is gradual. For example, your dog calmly reacted to a person at a distance of 5 meters 9 times out of 10 – which means that you can slightly reduce the distance and look at the reaction of the pet.

If you work correctly, reducing the working distance at the right time and at the right distance, the dog will learn to behave correctly and will no longer violently attack passers-by.

You can learn other subtleties of the proper upbringing and training of dogs by humane methods using our video courses.