Most obedience checklists ask whether your dog knows a cue. That is the wrong question — almost every dog sits in the kitchen. This assesses six cues across the level of proofing each has actually reached, weighs the handling mechanics that decide whether they hold, and tells you which single cue to work on next. It runs entirely in your browser.
How the obedience assessment works
Two things produce the score: where each cue sits on the proofing ladder, and the mechanics of how you train.
The proofing ladder
A cue is not learned or unlearned. It moves through stages, and most dogs are stuck somewhere in the middle:
| Level | What it means |
|---|---|
| 0 | Not taught yet. |
| 1 | Follows a lure or hand signal. The word means nothing yet. |
| 2 | Responds to the word indoors, with nothing else going on. |
| 3 | Holds with mild distraction — someone moving, a noise outside. |
| 4 | Holds in genuinely busy environments. |
Why the cues are weighted differently
Recall carries the most weight (24), then stay (20) and leave it (18), because those are the cues with safety consequences. Sit and down carry 12 each. A dog with a perfect sit and no recall is not a well-trained dog, and a flat average would hide that.
The mechanics multiplier
Four handling habits then scale the result, because they determine whether cues survive contact with the real world:
- No release cue — minus 10%. This is why most stays break: without a word that ends the behavior, your dog decides when it is over.
- Lure never faded — minus 12%. The most skipped step in dog training, and the reason so many dogs only work when they can see food.
- Repeating cues — minus 10%. Said four times, the word becomes background noise and the dog learns the first three do not count.
- No marker — minus 8%. A marker tells the dog precisely which moment earned the reward.
Adolescence applies a further 7% because the regression between six and eighteen months is developmental rather than a training failure.
This is not a certification
The levels here are an educational scale created for this tool. They are not an official qualification, they do not correspond to Canine Good Citizen or any other formal scheme, and passing at level 4 is not a credential.
What the result is useful for is direction: which cue is weakest, and which handling habit is costing you the most.
Raise one variable at a time
The three variables are duration, distance and distraction. When you increase one, drop the other two back.
A dog that can hold a stay for thirty seconds beside you cannot hold thirty seconds while you walk ten paces away. That is not disobedience — you changed two variables at once. This single principle accounts for a large share of the plateaus owners describe.
What the research says about method
The tool penalises correction-based training, and the reason is measured rather than ideological.
In a survey of 140 owners of dogs with behavior problems, confrontational techniques produced aggressive responses at high rates — 43% for hitting or kicking, 31% for alpha rolls, 39% for physically forcing an item from the mouth. Non-confrontational methods produced them in 0–6% of cases.
And in a controlled field comparison, the reward-based group responded correctly after the first command more often, and needed fewer repeated commands. The corrections were not buying extra reliability.
Limitations
- An educational self-assessment, not a certification, qualification or veterinary opinion.
- Based on your own rating of your dog, which is inherently subjective.
- The cue weights, proofing levels and mechanics multipliers are PawMastery’s model.
- It covers six household cues and does not assess sport, working or service-dog standards.
- A cue that suddenly stops working in a dog that knew it well is a veterinary question first.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good obedience score?
Above 68 means your cues are reliable at home and the remaining work is generalisation. Above 85 means they hold under real conditions. Most pet dogs in ordinary households sit between 40 and 70, and that is normal.
Why does my dog obey at home but not outside?
Because the cue reached level 2 and stopped. Responding indoors and responding in a park are different behaviors to a dog, and the gap is proofing rather than obedience.
What is a release cue and why does it matter?
A word that ends a behavior — okay, free, break. Without one your dog decides when the stay is over, which is what owners describe as breaking the stay.
How do I fade a food lure?
Around repetition six, make the same hand movement with no food in that hand, and reward from the other hand or a pouch afterwards. Fading late is why some dogs only work when they can see food.
Is this an official dog obedience test?
No. It is an educational self-assessment created by PawMastery and carries no certification of any kind.
My dog was trained and has stopped listening. Why?
If it is between six and eighteen months, adolescent regression is the likely explanation and it passes. If it is sudden in an adult dog, see your vet — pain and hearing loss both look like stubbornness.
Sources and methodology
Evidence-based findings used here:
- Herron et al., Applied Animal Behaviour Science — aggressive responses to confrontational versus non-confrontational techniques.
- China, Mills & Cooper, Frontiers in Veterinary Science — first-command responsiveness.
- AVSAB position statements — reward-based methods as the recommended standard.
PawMastery’s own model: the five proofing levels, the per-cue weightings, the mechanics multipliers and the band thresholds. These form an educational scoring model created for this tool. It is not a clinically validated test and it is not a certification.
This tool provides an educational training estimate and is not a substitute for advice from a qualified veterinarian or certified behavior professional. Last reviewed: 18 August 2026.