What’s the 80:20 rule in dog behaviour training, and why knowing it could be a game changer?

If you’ve ever felt like you’re putting in loads of effort with your dog’s behaviour training but not seeing the results you hoped for, you’re not alone. It can be incredibly frustrating to work tirelessly and still feel like you’re getting nowhere. In this blog, I’ll explain a key principle that might be the missing piece in your training puzzle: the 80-20 rule. This rule is a powerful tool that can help you understand and improve your training outcomes.

What is the 80-20 Rule?

The 80-20 rule is a concept I use in dog behaviour training to describe the ratio of successes to failures. Essentially, it means that aiming for an 80% success rate and accepting a 20% failure rate can make your training both effective and sustainable. This ratio helps predict the likelihood of making progress and ensures you’re getting enough right to see improvements.

For instance, if your dog likes to bark out the window and you are ready and respond with training four out of five times successfully, that’s an 80% success rate. This level of consistency is usually enough to make progress. Of course, in a perfect world, through management, we would achieve a 100% success rate. But settling for 80% provides a balance between effort and results and allows for those days we are not quite on our game. Or those moments when we are simply unable to respond, for example, if the dog barks at the window and we aren’t home, or when we are right in the middle of serving tea!

Why is the 80-20 Rule Important?

The 80-20 rule is crucial because if your success rate drops below 80%, the impact of your misses starts to outweigh your wins. When you get to about a 60-40 ratio, progress becomes painfully slow, and you’re putting in a lot of effort for minimal reward. At this point, it’s not about increasing the amount of training you’re doing but managing situations better and tightening up the consistency of your efforts.

When your success rate falls below 50%, you might as well not be training at all. In fact, at this level, you might even find yourself going backwards. Your dog becomes confused and unsure of what’s expected, leading to frustration for both of you. This is often where people start blaming the training technique, but in reality, the dog has had too little consistent practice to make any real progress.

Applying the 80-20 Rule to Common Training Scenarios

Let’s delve into some common training scenarios to see how the 80-20 rule applies and how you can adjust your approach to achieve better results.

Loose Lead Training

Loose lead training is a common challenge where the ratio is often skewed, and not in your favour. Many people practice this diligently in a class but fail to maintain the same consistency during regular walks. For example, you might spend 15 minutes in class practicing with perfect consistency but then go on seven one-hour walks each week where you don’t practise at all. This results in a success rate of less than 3.5%, which is far below the 80-20 ratio needed for progress.

To improve on the walk too, you need to apply the techniques you learned in the class to every walk.

Recall Training

Recall is another area where the 80-20 rule is often ignored. If you call your dog five times and they only come back on the fifth, that’s a 20% success rate, or a 20-80 ratio. This inconsistency can actually cause your recall to deteriorate over time. Your dog might return on the fifth call out of boredom. Or perhaps you finally become more appealing than the distractions, but this doesn’t build reliable recall behaviour.

To ensure success, use a long line so that every time you call your dog, you can gently reel them in, ensuring they come back to you every time. This way, you maintain a 100% success rate – even if you are doing all the work at the beginning.

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Reactive Behaviour Training

Reactive behaviour is particularly susceptible to inconsistency. Let’s say your dog is reactive towards other dogs. You might have a training plan in place and three dogs successfully, with no reactions. However, if you’re surprised twice by other dogs on the way home, your success rate drops to 60%. While you will eventually make progress at this rate, it will feel slow and arduous.

Planning ahead is crucial if you want to fix this. Choose routes that minimise unexpected encounters, avoid blind corners, and consider driving to a park where you can control the environment better. This way, you can maintain higher success rates and make more consistent, and faster, progress.

Improving Your Training Consistency

So, how do you improve your training consistency to achieve that crucial 80-20 ratio?

1. Plan Ahead: For reactive dogs, avoid alleyways and blind corners. If necessary, drive to a park to avoid unexpected encounters. This helps maintain a higher success rate by controlling the environment.
2. Use Tools Wisely: For recall, use a long line to ensure your dog always responds to your call. This helps reinforce the behaviour and prevents confusion. A drawn curtain might have prevented the dog from noticing something outside the window while you were busy! Crates can also be used effectively for managing your dogs behaviour when you aren’t home. And a lead in the house can help keep your dog under control especially when answering the door.
3. Be Consistent: Apply training principles consistently, not just in class but in everyday situations. This helps your dog understand that the behaviours are expected all the time and in different places.
4. Use Avoidance: Avoid situations that you don’t have control over during the learning phase.

Conclusion

Understanding and applying the 80-20 rule can transform your dog training progress. It helps you understand why you might not be making progress, despite working hard. If you’ve been struggling with your training, assess your current success rate and look for ways to tighten up your consistency.

Remember, the goal is to balance out your wins and fails to achieve faster progress.