Pro Training Tips-Page 3--What is Salience?

To understand salience, we must understand what is important to the dog.  In a dog’s world, the nose is more important than the eyes.  The eyes are more important than the ears.  The ears are usually more important than touch and touch is more important than taste.  When there are multiple stimuli, the dog may not respond to the owner’s command word with the desired response, but respond to some other more salient stimulus with his own action.  To the dog, this is not bad.  To us, it may be something we do not want him to do.  An example is when your dog is trying to chase a squirrel and doesn’t respond to your request to walk calmly beside you.  It is not his fault; he is just being a dog.