Bringing the Exercises Together

Once your dog is confidently completing each of the exercises individually, you can begin to bring them together into a complete training sequence.

At this stage, your dog should have a clear understanding of each behaviour on its own. Combining exercises allows you to build your dog's ability to listen, think and respond while moving between different tasks.

Start by putting together simple combinations and gradually increase the complexity as your dog becomes more confident. Remember that combining behaviours makes the exercise more challenging, even if your dog already knows each individual part.

If it doesn't go to plan, don't worry. Simply take a step back, make the exercise easier, and rebuild the behaviour before progressing again. This is a normal part of training and not a sign that your dog has failed.

Training is about building understanding, not rushing to the finished picture. Take your time, reward success and always set your dog up to achieve.

As always, less is more. Strong foundations create reliable results.