He was teaching his dog to retrieve a plastic pipe, and he was struggling.

It was clear he’d spent quite a bit of time rewarding the dog for simply holding the pipe. He also spent time teaching him to pick it up. But now, the dog was faltering.

Placing the pipe on a stand, designed to make it easier for the dog to grab, he gave the command.

In a moment, the dog snatched the item and attempted to present it to him.

Sometimes he’d make it. Other times the pipe would slip from his grip at which point he’d look up at his owner, stoic, unmoving, waiting for guidance, not understanding what to do next.

In an attempt to help, the handler then talked to the dog, encouraged him, pointed to the pipe, begging him to pick it up.

Occasionally, the cheerleading would work. The dog would grab the pipe in his mouth or nose it around. Occasionally the dog managed to pick it all the way up. But usually, it would escape his lackluster grip as he raised his head.

“Let him fail.” I coached during our online session.

“What?!?” the handler responded. He was clearly confused by my instructions. Why on Earth would he want his dog to fail? And for that matter, wasn’t his dog failing already? I mean, they had spent what seemed like an eternity teaching the dog to pick the item up – a behavior that still eluded them both.

“You need to let him fail. Stop helping him so much. He needs to figure it out on his own.”

It’s human nature for us to want our dogs to succeed. And in fact, it’s easy to feel defeated, to feel like a failure when our dog has had a bad session or simply doesn’t seem to get what we are teaching.

So we step in. We help.

We dole out encouragement, we gesture and point, we use our body to help our dogs figure out what we are after.

But the problem is, when we are always there catching them when they fall, when we are always helping instead of making them think on their own, we aren’t allowing them the chance to learn to problem solve. And if they learn they can always lean on us for guidance, they will stop trying so hard when things get tough and instead look to us and ask “what do I do next?”

We need to be strategic about failure in our training.

There is a concept floating about called “Errorless Learning” which was presented by psychologist B.F Skinner that seems to be picking up steam as of late within the dog training community. Here, Skinner contends that “errors are not necessary for learning to occur” and that they “are a function of poor analysis of behavior, a poorly designed shaping program, moving too fast from step to step in the program, and the lack of the prerequisite behavior necessary for success in the program.”

While there have been studies counter to his findings, the movement is still a popular one. And the concept, in relation to dog training, is noble – reduce the error to the bare minimum by shifting responsibility to the handler/trainer.

But for me, it’s ok, to let your dog fail, and here’s why:

This is real life. Mistakes will happen. And a strategic approach to failure will better help dog owners quit with the guilt (something much needed in this industry) and start learning to be more effective in their training.

Plainly stated, I’d rather you learn how to fall off a horse, and what to do when it happens, rather than thinking your extensive training is going to prevent a fall from happening.

My colleague and former Navy SEAL Larry Yatch talks about strategic failure when he coaches individuals and organizations. He says that in order to build power, you need to spend time learning, then practicing and finally, gaining experience. And each phase has a different approach to failure. Approaches that very readily can be adapted to the training we do with our dogs.

Check it out.

Phase 1: Learning

In humans, this is where we first learn something new. We read a book, take a class, or watch a video. In dogs, this is when we first introduce a new behavior. In this stage, we want to keep failure at a minimum.

Think about it.

What would happen if you walked into a class, and on your first day, the instructor asked you to take a 100 question test on a subject you knew nothing about. You’d inevitably fail. You’d think “that wasn’t fair” and you’d be upset. And with that big fat “F” weighing down your overall grade, how motivated would you be to return?

If you’re anything like me, you’d drop that class in a hot second.

When we are first learning something new, we need the confidence that accompanies success.

To be successful with your dog in the learning phase, simply break your behaviors down into small steps, reward often, and don’t rush. If your dog makes a mistake, take a step back and decrease the difficulty. And be sure to control your environment so that you set your dog up for success.

Stage 2: Practicing

In humans, this is where we practice. Perhaps we take a practice test before actually taking an exam on which we will be graded. Or perhaps we practice our golf swing several times before actually putting it to use on the course.

During the practice phase, we should expect failure. This is the time to allow your dog to make mistakes and learn from them. When you practice your golf swing, you aren’t always going to hit the ball straight (or, if you are like me, even make contact with the ball) your first few times. But you learn from your mistakes, adjust and try again.

To be successful in the practice phase, and to maintain your dog’s confidence, you simply need to make it safe for them to fail. Control your environment so that failure won’t be catastrophic. And don’t give your dog a hard correction when they don’t get it right. This is new to them – they are just learning the rules. So be fair and be patient and make failure part of the learning process.

Step 3: Gaining Experience

Now, you are ready to take your skills into the world. You move into places with more risk. You work out at a busy park. You take your behaviors on the training field. You enter that trial.

Failing here would have a bigger impact. Imagine if you entered a trial and your dog failed every step of the way? You’d feel like garbage.

Or imagine if you went on a hike and let your dog off leash and he made a break for it, that recall you had been working so hard on falling by the wayside. You’d face potentially dangerous implications.

When you move from practicing to gaining experience, this is where once again, it’s best to set yourself up for success. Failures might happen, and that’s ok. But with enough practice, the move to gaining experience should be a smooth one, and if you fail here, it’s a good signal that you made that transition a bit too soon.

To be most successful when you move to the gaining experience phase of training, take it slow. Don’t throw yourself and your dog to the metaphorical wolves by moving from training in your living room, to entering your first trial. It’s best instead to baby step your way through the experience phase, logging reps in different environments where failure won’t hold as much weight.

Adding failure strategically is key to keeping your dog confident, motivated and engaged with the behavior you are trying to teach.

Here are a few more tips to failing well in your training:

Don’t be a Cheerleader – If your dog makes a mistake, don’t offer any inadvertent reinforcement including talking to your dog, smiling, or even making eye contact. Don’t gesture, point, or help. When your dog makes a mistake, simply set them back up and start again. The wins should outweigh the losses – Be careful to note if your dog is failing too often, as this is a signal you’re moving too fast. Slow it down and make sure your dog is winning way more than he is losing. Don’t get stuck – If your dog gets stuck and has no clue what you are asking, don’t stare at him for 45 minutes in hopes that he’ll figure it out. Instead, take it as a sign that you’ve added too much difficulty too fast, take a step back and try again, making success easier for your dog this time around. Limit failures to the practice phase – Be sure to give your dog a positive association with an exercise before allowing failure. Early on, if your dog makes a mistake, take a step back in your training, decrease the level of difficulty and try again. Once your dog has logged enough reps and has built up his confidence, then you can move to practicing and allowing your dog to safely fail.

That day, as the handler worked his dog on his retrieves, it was clear he had spent time building a positive association with the exercise. But when his dog faltered, he’d use his body movements, his gestures, and his voice to help the dog get it right, rather than letting the dog learn from his mistakes.

Instead, I coached him to let the dog fail. If the dog picked up the item and dropped it, he was simply to pick it up, prop it back on the stand and let the dog try again. Then, he was to remain quiet, shift all of his focus off of his dog, and over to the retrieve item … and wait. Eventually, the dog, confused by the lack of help, began trying to figure out how to get his owner to engage and how to win the reward. And in no time, the dog grabbed the retrieve item and brought it to him in a perfect presentation.

They had mastered that hurdle. And they did it by taking away the help and getting strategic about letting the dog fail.

You learn valuable lessons every day.

You learn lessons when you win, and you learn lessons when you lose.

Get strategic about adding failure to your dog’s training, and help them learn to troubleshoot and problem solve when things get tough. You don’t want them failing all of the time, but a few missteps here and there will only drive home the lessons you are working so hard to teach.