Basic Obedience: Attention/Focus

We had an exciting weekend at the Columbus All-breed Training Club Winter Obedience/Rally Trials. After months of serious training, Hadley was able to turn all that hard work into earning an RN title in the Rally Trial events! Rally is an obedience event where you and your dog demonstrate your ability to work as a team as you both navigate through a course of 10-20 signs that display a skill that you and your dog are to perform together. Check out the video below if you want to see Hadley strut her stuff. To learn more about AKC Rally, visit https://www.akc.org/sports/rally/. It’s a fun way to bond with your puppy!

Earning the title this weekend at the trials took plenty of hard work and dedication over the last several months. In addition to going to training classes regularly, we practiced our skills and commands daily. Yet, before we were able to get to that point, I had to make sure that Hadley was able to focus when necessary. Focus is the key to making all training possible. Now that you have mastered “impulse control,” it’s time to teach your pup how to pay attention to you.

Focus/Attention Command
 Tools Needed: 
Treats
Quiet Room

Directions:

1. Start in a quiet room with a handful of treats and your puppy in front of you.
2. Look at your puppy and wait for her to make eye contact. She may try to sniff your handful of treats or even try to climb on you. Just wait patiently until she looks at your face. Once she does look at you, immediately say “yes” and give her a treat.
3. Repeat. Remain still until your puppy looks at your face again, say “yes” and give her a treat. It generally will take your puppy a few minutes to figure out that she gets a treat every time she looks at your face.
4. Do this exercise a few minutes at least twice a day for a week.
5. After a week, it’s time to add your puppy’s name to the exercise. Each time your puppy makes eye contact, say her name, then say “yes” and give her a treat. It is important at this step to say her name AFTER she looks at you, not before.
6. Practice this for a few minutes twice a day. You may even want to mix up the reward, offering her favorite toy, praise, or a different treat that she enjoys. Mixing rewards up allows you flexibility when you don’t have a treat handy. 
7. After a few days of practice, try saying your puppy’s name. If she looks at you, immediately say “yes” and praise her with a reward. Make sure she knows she did something great!

    Tip: If she does not look at you, bring out her favorite toy and play with it and ignore her or even pretend to eat the treat. The goal is to reinforce to her that it is worth it to look at you when you call her name, while making it clear that not  looking at you means she does not get a reward.
    8.   You should practice this daily in order to make eye contract consistently strong. Be sure that every
        time you say her name and she responds, you reinforce it with high-spirited praise such as, “YES, GOOD
        PUPPY!”
    Tip: Start adding distractions during your practice. The more distractions around, the more praise you will need to give. You may want to add extra special treats during this sessions to reinforce your puppy’s focus and attention.
 
This is one of many ways in which you can teach your dog to pay attention on cue. Some like to use commands such as “watch me” or “focus” in place of the dog’s name. Whatever method you use, be sure you are consistent and always use positive reinforcement to ensure success. 

Happy Training!

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