The Rules of Three

When teaching a new behavior, we want to think about all the things in the puppy’s world that may challenge them and how to best set them up for success. Puppies learn at different rates and what may not challenge one pup may challenge another. There’s no one-size-fits-all training plan! Using the Rules of Three helps puppies learn at their own rate.

The Three D’s

Consider these three aspects of the pup’s environment to better set them up for success during training!

• Duration: how long a puppy is asked to maintain a behavior
• Distance: how close the puppy can be to a distraction or novel object -OR- how far the puppy can be from the handler to maintain a behavior
• Distraction: how challenging (e.g. loud, fast, large) a distraction is

---

Three Chances

If a puppy is unsuccessful too many times while learning a new behavior, they can get frustrated and disengaged. We want training to be fun, so it’s important to make things easier if a puppy is struggling!

• First Chance: If the puppy struggles the first time, go back to an easier step the next time
• Second Chance: If the puppy struggles again, go back to a step so easy the pup will definitely succeed the next time
• Last Chance: If the puppy struggles a third time, hit pause! Take a break from the activity for the day. Think about why the puppy might have had more trouble than you expected. Reach out for support if you need help ensuring the pup can succeed.

---

Three’s a Charm

This helps identify when a pup is ready to level up the difficulty when learning a new behavior. If they complete a task perfectly three times in a row, they are ready for the next level of difficulty. Don’t forget the Three D’s when deciding how to increase difficulty!

• Reduces frustration and increases fun!
• Basic FUNdamental of dog training
• Build behavior with smaller steps
• Provide guardrails to assess whether something is too easy/hard and when to level up

Here’s a Tip!

• Only increase one of the Three D’s at a time!
• As you increase the difficulty of one, you may need to decrease another
• Don’t forget to use verbal encouragement. Everyone loves to be cheered on!
• If the puppy isn’t successful as you increase the difficulty, reduce expectations to where the puppy was last successful

Imagine you are introducing the puppy to a friend. The puppy is sitting with you as your friend approaches. Here’s how you can set the puppy up for success considering the Rules of Three:

• Three D’s:
  • Duration: Have the person only come towards the puppy for a short period of time. Maybe even less than <30 seconds.
  • Distance: Have the person keep a distance. It might need to be farther than you think!
  • Distraction: Have the person avoid talking to the puppy and look at you instead. This can be harder for the person than the puppy (let’s be honest, puppies are too cute!)
• Three Chances: If the puppy jumps up after making the greeting easier three times, take a break and think about how you can better set the puppy up for success next time.
• Three’s a Charm: The puppy keeps all four paws on the floor when the friend approaches three times. Yay! You are ready to increase one of the Three D’s!