# 3 seconds



## datacan (May 15, 2011)

*"Dogs are capable of understanding the meaning of their behavior when the context is clear and we are consistent during training. This ability provides predictability. Predictability for all animals provides a sense of well-being essential for maintaining mental and physical health."*
http://responsibledog.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/words-good-and-bad/

I read, we have a window of about 3 seconds between the moment the dog acts and a correction is applied. Or else the dog will not relate the correction with his behavior. 

I am not sure if that holds. Sam chewed on my slippers a week ago. I found my slippers about 30 minutes later. Not knowing what or how to correct, I just took him to the place the chewed up slippers were and pointed at the slippers and said NO, No, No. Let him smell the slippers and repeated No, no, no. 
It's been a week and plenty of opportunities to reoffend but my slippers are not a chew toy anymore. I have more than one pair and none are touched. 

Not sure how to explain this, tried to find reasonable logic but everything points towards a 3 second window. 

Julius


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

datacan, I do believe that the 3 second rule applies to most training and corrections, BUT I also think they get smarter as they get older, and really can understand more of what you are trying to teach. The chewed slippers are a case in point, and Sam has demonstrated that he understood your No, No, No just fine. 

Where young pups are concerned, it's definitely the 3 second rule!!


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## VictoriaW (Mar 16, 2011)

Hmmmm...no doesn't always work here, even if we catch ours red-handed! But maybe chewing a slipper isn't as rewarding as swiping a kid's meatball off the table. :-[


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