Dog training glossary
Latency
Quick answer
The time between a cue being given and the dog responding to it.
Written by the TailorPup team, updated September 2026. See our editorial approach.
What it means
Shorter latency generally reflects a more fluent, well-proofed behavior, one the dog understands clearly and finds rewarding to perform quickly. Latency tends to increase in new or distracting environments even for a well-known behavior, which is a normal sign that the behavior needs more proofing there, not that the dog has forgotten it.
A real example
A dog that sits within half a second of the cue at home, but takes 4-5 seconds to sit at a busy park, is showing longer latency due to the added distraction, not defiance.
Common mistake
Repeating or raising the volume of a cue when latency is high, rather than recognizing it as a signal that the behavior needs more practice in that specific context.
Related terms
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