When you look at your dog and they make eye contact with you it is a magical moment. Biologically we have a connection to our dogs because we inherently treat them like our own children. When we try to move to fast without being a cohesive unit. You are losing your sense of connection with your dog. That is why it is important to have a focus command.
When I teach the focus command, my most common question is “What is this for” the reason why I hate that question is because what is more important then making that connection with your dog instead of just to move forward. When I started as a trainer I watched the other trainers and I would see when the dog would listen to their commands in classes and when they would not. When the dog focused on the person they would complete the command everytime. When they did not have that focus the dog would not listen.
Other factors real quick (if they don’t listen) would be the age of the dog. When the dog is sixth months to a year old they will not listen as well. It could be hormones which is what I check first. Even if they have had a spay or a neuter it gets easier to handle them, but it will take three months for them to fully calm down. Then you have to consider generally every 5-10lbs that a dog gains they will not listen as well. This gets easier when the dog gains its full weight. This can also help if you are rescuing an older dog who already has all of it’s weight.
How to get a focus or “WATCH” command
Now the first step is to get the dog’s attention. That happy baby voice that comes naturally when you see the dog. Do not be too calm (monotone) or upset when you want the dog’s attention. You can also use a snap or a whistle, and you can use treat to reinforce the sound. Even making the noise before you put down a dog’s meal will help them to understand that you want their attention. When you get their attention I call this a “snap out”. This is a magical moment when the dog chooses you over all other distraction. Their foraging behavior is put aside to give you their attention. DO NOT take this for granted they have the right to make their own choices.
So get excited when they look at you then do a hand signal and a verbal command at the same time. This is to help the dog with association. If I ran into a room just shouting “BANANAS!” you would rightfully think I was crazy. If you then looked to may hands and I saw I was holding a banana. “AH!” then you could associate and connect that I was talking about a banana. When you say SIT as a command and the dog does not know what it is you seem like a crazy person to them. When you wait for them to complete the SIT and THEN say SIT you save yourself the work by not repeating and help your dog to understand you. Dogs are not just magically born knowing what you want from them.
So let’s add that to the focus comand. Your dog looks at you with your index finger point to your nose and then say WATCH say good and give the dog a treat. Pratice this about two to three times before moving on.
Now, you want to increase the time the dog looks at you. In a dog’s natural state they do not calm down until they are tired and want to take a nap. When they get worked up they will NOT do your command. You need to calm them down. Then they will do your command. I know not everyone agrees with me, and that is ok. It has been a very successful technique for me and my four years of dog training.
The number pattern that you hold their gaze is 3, 5, 3, 10 and that is the number of seconds you hold their gaze and then give them a treat in between. Say GOOD everytime you give them a treat. This is called a MARK basically you are saying good job to your dog because they need to learn correct behavior to keep doing it for you. So in each of the commas you give yur dog a treat and say GOOD. When you have completed the cycle you can RELEASE the dog with an “ALL DONE” and then they are free to go and do what they want.
I have used this technique on heavily abused rescue dogs, jumpy dogs, puppies, and new rescuses. If you practice this technique once in the morning and once in the evening then you will have a dog that is much more responsive and connected to you. Then you will find Pawvana.
Pawvana 