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Attention

Attention is the most important behavior you can teach your dog We will be spending the next 6 weeks working on building solid attention Don’t skip any steps or take shortcuts or you will slow down the training process

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Attention

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  1. Attention is the most important behavior you can teach your dog • We will be spending the next 6 weeks working on building solid attention • Don’t skip any steps or take shortcuts or you will slow down the training process • Training solid attention is the first step in creating a great performance animal • Please read this whole slideshow through and watch the videos before starting Attention

  2. All rewards go through you! Whether that is food, water, play or some good smelling thing in the grass, you’re dog should be taught to look at you BEFORE getting something they want • Make training fun so your dog wants to participate. Use your rewards but also try to make yourself the most rewarding thing in your dog’s environment Attention

  3. When taught correctly, your dog will start to “realize” that they have to look at you in order for anything good to happen. This includes additional training too. • Training Tip: Any time your dog is looking at you and you ask for a behavior or continue with training, you have reinforced attention as well as the other behavior! Attention

  4. Increasing commitment to attention is always a goal to continue to improve upon. Here are some things that you can always work on: • Duration-The length of time that your dog stays “checked in” with you • Quality- How easily distracted is your dog? Do they have laser-like focus or is it more like a dim flashlight that keeps turning on and off? Attention

  5. Stuff happens and your dog is going to be distracted from time to time. Attention is the antidote for distraction and the more your dog realizes that it is more rewarding to pay attention…the easier it gets to pay attention • Training Equation • Increased Distraction TimeIncreased Training Time Attention

  6. http://youtu.be/aTSuPk2Ccjo This is a great exercise for a puppy or any dog that doesn’t know that attention pays Attention

  7. Exercise 1: Walking Circles around your Dog • With your dog in front of you, start to walk in a circle around your dog, clicking the moment he looks at you. Try to click before your dog starts to move too. • You can move part of the way around him or all of the way but stay close at first. When he gets better at it, start to make bigger circles! • Look for better responses from your dog i.e. looking at you longer (duration) or re-engaging with you faster • You should start to move as soon as your dog has his reinforcer • Notes: If you aren’t having success, you are asking for too much or going too fast. Reduce your criteria and build solid attention • Distraction level: Low • Goal: To have your dog pay attention to you when you move anywhere around him • Duration Goal: have your dog maintain eye contact for up to 1 minute • Movement Goal: Be able to move up to 20 times with your dog maintaining eye contact Attention

  8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_g_dVwKrcXM Exercise 2: Attention in Everyday Life • Recreate this exercise in and around your house • You can click for them “checking in” from a distance and also for them starting to run to you • Try to not do this as a traditional session but rather during the course of your time at home. Have treats accessible in any room and always have your clicker. Click whenever you dog checks in or starts to come over to you and you will be amazed as to how often your dog chooses to pay attention! • Distraction level: Low • Goal: Try to do this exercise about 20 times a day (should take less than 2 minutes all together. • Behavior to look for: If your dog REALLY starts to pay attention and is offering better quality behavior then take it and increase your criteria Attention

  9. Exercise 3: Teaching your Dog’s Name as a Cue to Pay Attention • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oo6tcSxWWg • Great exercise. I usually like to teach dogs to pay attention as a default behavior but most people have trouble not using their dog’s name. • Note: In the video, the trainer raised his arm to his face at the same time he used the dog’s name. When teaching a cue, in this case pay attention to your name, you should say the cue then do the hand signal. For this exercise, say the dog’s name then start to move your hand towards your face • Distraction level: Low Attention

  10. Exercise 4: Using Movement to Capture Attention • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vbXPVJhMpU • This video was from a trainer who believes in corrections but I want you to try to apply his concepts with the positive philosophy of clicker training! • The premise is just to be unpredictable in your movements. Change directions, stop suddenly and pace changes are all good things to do to keep your dog “honest” • Distraction level-Low • Goal: 2 minutes or 20 unpredictable movements on your part with your dog maintaining attention Attention

  11. All of the previous exercises can and should be repeated in increasingly difficult levels of distraction • Low, Medium then High so make sure you challenge yourselves and your dogs daily • If trained properly, attention training will make the rest of your training EASIER and open the doors for bigger and better things! • All of this is testable too Attention

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