dog goes on trick auto pilot

Chaining of trained behaviors is a goal at many times but your dog is just beating you to the punch and most likely exhibiting this behavior when it is not desired nor intended. Think of a simple game of fetch as it is a trained behavior which involves at least three distinct behaviors. The chase to the object, the retrieval of the object and the release of the object. The dog exhibits all 3 skills in this task and then is rewarded. However, the finished product is many times taught in separate sections and then ultimately combined. At times, trainers will back chain to utilize the final behavior as the one which has the highest reward factor. In doing this in reverse order, the dog will accomplish the release of the object and be highly rewarded therefore the chase and retrieve lead to the release of the object which has the highest reward factor if done properly by the trainer.

My guess is your dog might be used to a certain beginning point such as a sit or just the notion that it's training time and the dog does its entire repertoire knowing that it leads to the reward. The other posts regarding impulse control make good sense and should be incorporated in your training sessions. If you desire a trained behavior to remain a single behavior than a default hold or wait needs to be incorporated into your sessions after each command is completed. If the dog fails the hold then you need to reset the dog and start anew. Your positive and negative verbal markers will aid you as well as the positive reward for success. Also, become less predictable and start each session with a different beginning command and mix it up. What I have found to be the best way to keep my dog paying attention and focusing on what my next command might be, is training right and left leg step aways. I started with verbal cues matching my right or left leg step away and then removed the verbal cues making the dog key on which leg steps forward or backwards first. If you choose to do this, your consistency is significant. You walk away from your dog left leg first, the dog heels. You step away right leg first the dog stays in the previous commanded position. When using verbal cues during the initial training it sometimes is easy to screw up and step away with the wrong leg and a verbal cue which contradicts the skill being taught.

What's great about your situation and dog is the ability of your dog to chain trained behaviors. This should lead to more complex and involved skills if you choose to train that way.