Get your smart device and speaker set up and let’s talk about how it’s done!
The Process:
- Determine whether you would like to use a pre-recorded sound or record your own. TrainAway comes with nearly 100 professionally recorded sounds that commonly cause dogs stress. Note that our doorbell sound and yours don’t have to be 100% similar to work. Just as a doorbell on a commercial can cause your dog to bark so can a similar doorbell sound work to counter condition your dog’s reaction.
- Choose between stage 1 and stage 2 (multiple sounds) automated training methods. Stage 1 is less stressful on your dog and we recommend starting here for each new sound. As your dog becomes habitualized to a sound, it’s important to refresh that sound periodically. That’s where stage 2 comes in, every now and then use stage two to play all the sounds your dog has already learned to ignore in order to reinforce those sounds.
- Selecting a sound/s – Choose one or more of our professionally recorded sounds or one of your recorded custom sounds.
- Sound Test – After you have selected your sound/s it’s time to test the sound to find the appropriate learning threshold. For an ideal learning environment, it is important that your volume and frequency levels are set appropriately. The goal is to find the lowest volume that still garners a visible or audible reaction from your dog. The threshold will gradually increase as your dog is habitualized to the desired sound until you reach the same volume as the naturally occurring event.
- Set Duration – Duration gives us another way to lower the learning threshold for your dog. Ideally, you’ll want the duration to last the whole time you’re away to maximize the amount of time your dog can learn. However, if your dog has a particularly stressful reaction to a sound and you’re already at the lowest volume level, reducing the training time can be helpful.
- Set Frequency (repetitions per hour) – We recommend starting with 2 repetitions per hour and building your way up slowly. You want to give your dog time to process the sound and allow the stress to dissipate completely before another sound is played.
- Start the session – Now that you’re all set up just press start and walk away! The training session will keep your smart device awake and playing for the predetermined duration and provide you a training summary when complete.