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the treats are in there, he just doesn't know the too quickly, the training may regress. Give it
trick to getting those hands to open. Begin to
say his voice again, calmly and at intervals of
10-15 seconds. Watch for that quick glance. It
will happen. If your dog starts to get bored and
wander off, shorten the leash if necessary to keep
him within a couple of feet of you. Continue to
say his name. If absolutely necessary, you may
need to change your voice a bit to encourage him
to look at you. I prefer not to do that if I don't
have to, because the more forceful your voice
sounds in this early training, the more forceful it
may have to sound later on.
When you get that second glance, immediately
say "YES!!" again and give the treat. The timing
of the "yes" is the most important thing here.
You want to say it as soon as those eyes flicker
up to you. It's the marker that tells the dog the
exact moment when he actually did the behavior
you want. The treat simply backs up the marker.
Your dog will learn quickly if your timing is
right on, but the timing takes some practice too.
Keep that in mind as you do this and don't allow
frustration to get to you. You'll be amazed at how
quickly your dog will learn when your timing has
developed and he understands what you want.
Continue this exercise until you have used up
all the treats in your hands. Then release your
dog from the leash and walk away. Don't make
a big fuss of your dog after training. The biggest
rewards and praise should always come during
training sessions or you'll end up with a dog that
likes the end of training but doesn't like the rest. two you do it. But, if you make gradual changes,
Plan on doing this little five-minute training
session two times a day. There will come a time
when you see the concept click with your dog.
Suddenly his head will pop up and he'll be
looking at your face. This is a great moment! It
may happen that first session, or several sessions
down the line. Each dog learns at his own level
and it will also depend on how quickly you
develop the proper timing. Once your dog is
consistently glancing up at you when you say his
name, you're ready to go to the next step.
Now you will expect your dog to look at you
twice before you say "yes" and give the treat.
Say his name in the normal manner. When he
glances up, do nothing. He will do one of two
things. He will either look away (often at your
hand, expecting a treat) or he will continue
to look at you. If he looks away, wait until he
glances at you again and then say "YES!" and give
the treat. If he continues to look at you, hold that
gaze for 2-3 seconds and then say "YES!" and
give the treat.
The goal is to have your dog hold that attentive
look on you for a length of time. He will quickly
learn that he needs to keep his eyes up at you
longer. Don't push it for a long time at this point
though - gradually build the behavior until your
dog can hold the gaze longer. If you try to move
time! You have a lifetime with your dog.
When you have built the attention to the point
where your dog will keep his eyes on your face
for a count of 15 seconds, you are ready to start
adding in some distractions. Move your training
to a slightly more distractive area. This is where
you, as a trainer, have to adjust your behavior
in order to fit the dog. You need to expect that
he will take a few steps back in his behavior as
he adjusts to the new distractions. Don't expect
those 15 seconds of focused behavior on the
first try when you add in new distractions. Dogs
learn behaviors based on their surroundings and
when you change those surroundings they may
truly not understand that they are to still offer
the same behavior. So go back to asking for a
simple glance, and then immediately reinforce.
You'll find that your dog will quickly fall into the
focused attention once he understands.
Gradually increase the number of distractions.
Do this over a period of weeks - don't take your
dog from a quiet area straight into the noise
of a dog show and expect that he will give you
focused behavior, that's just not fair to the dog.
Build that focused attention slowly so that you
have a good foundation. Begin to add in other
changes too. Ask for attention while standing up.
Put the dog at your left side and ask for attention.
Sit on the floor and ask for attention. Each of
these involves a change in behavior for the dog
and you may have to expect less the first time or
your dog will quickly learn that focused attention
should happen regardless of surroundings and
posture.
This is an excellent method for teaching a dog
focus during heeling for obedience training. It is
also an excellent basis for other types of training.
Once your dog has grasped the concept of focus,
you can transfer that focus to a target and teach
your dog to go to that target. This allows you to
train a variety of behaviors. If you want your dog
to gait smartly forward in a straight line, start
using a target (such as a small lid from a butter
container, or a target stick). Put a small dab of
squeeze cheese on the target , show it to the dog
and put the target a couple of feet away. Choose
a command you are going to use (forward, trot,
gait - whatever works for you) and send your
dog to the target. Praise once the dog reaches
the target and is licking the cheese off. Gradually
move the target (or the dog) farther away.
I am currently training my young Chow, Khana,
to go to a target so that she will trot forward
and be focused on what is ahead of her. When I
take her away from the target and circle her to
face back toward it, I say her name and ask for
her to look up at me. I want the focus to
be on me when we are circling, and then
I give the command to look forward and
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