I talk to owners a lot about “the Disney problem”. What does that mean?
If you were to ask a young child while they are sitting calmly at home working on their homework, “What is two plus two?”, they would almost certainly give you a correct answer right away.
But walk through the gates of Disney with that same child and ask them, “What is two plus two?”. It would not be surprising if they do not answer you at all. Does this mean they have forgotten 2+2? Of course not. But they are in DISNEY. They probably didn’t even hear the question at all because their brain is a mess of excitement in that moment!
This is what it is like for our dogs – we may practice obedience at home in a calm and familiar environment and all goes well. But as soon as they’re out on a walk or they see another dog, etc., that all seems to go out the window and they are incapable of listening. Have they forgotten the obedience? No. So why? Because it’s like walking through the gates of Disney! The distraction level is too strong.
So how can we overcome the Disney problem?
Imagine if you took that young child to Disney every single day. After a while, Disney would no longer be the most amazing and distracting place to them. Because it would lose the novelty factor. It would be the norm. It would be predictable. If you were to then ask the child 2+2 at that point, they would give you the answer just the same as at home.
So, if your dog loses all ability to listen to you around distractions, you need to focus on exposing them to those distractions regularly and practicing your obedience in those environments, so this becomes the norm.
