Focus/Attention Exercise
Prerequisite: Settle Exercise
This exercise is geared toward getting your dog’s attention – regardless of distractions.
This session requires that you follow the program precisely.
There are 7 important rules you should follow while doing your foundation training practice:
- Begin each session after an hour or two of quiet confinement. This will make sure the dog is bored and ready for
action - your training is the marvelous relief to that boredom.
- Do NOT tell your dog you’re going to start moving by jiggling the leash, or speaking to it.
- Do NOT stop walking, just because your dog doesn't want to walk, or is registering some sort of protest with you.
- Do NOT be concerned if your dog is in front of you, to the side of you, or behind you…for
our purposes, you do not have a dog attached to you. You have simply chosen a destination
and are walking to it.
- DO be aware of your dog’s position…but do not spend time staring at the dog. If it gets
hopelessly tangled, untangle it – with NO verbal communication – and continue on to your
point.
- Do NOT stray from the daily order of foundation training. You are teaching your dog that
you are in charge of which direction the two of you will travel. Moving forward before
the training has been completed will not allow the dog the opportunity to truly learn what
you are teaching it.
- Finish each session with a short period of letting the dog drag the long line.
Stop any attempts at ‘escape’ by keeping an eye on the dog and stepping on, or
grabbing the line whenever it wonders too far. Finally, allow the dog another hour of quiet time (ignore him) after the
training is done.
Now we’re ready to begin:
Day One:
1. Pick a point – approximately 25 to 50 feet away.
2. With your dog on a loose, long lead, walk to that point. Do not stop walking, regardless of your dog's response.
3. Upon arrival at the point, simply stop and stand for a minute or two – wait for your dog to get distracted and sniff
about, then pick another point and walk to it. Your goal is to have the dog mentally 'disconnect' from you before you
walk to your next point.
4. Repeat Steps 1 through 3, with three different points, with 15 to 20 rotations per day.
5. Practice this exercise for at least 20 minutes, twice a day. Pick 3 different points,
and use them over and over.
6. NOTE: Hold the handle of the leash looped over your right thumb, then close your right fist around the leash. Lock
your left hand on the leash under your right hand. Always use both hands, elbows and arms tucked close to your body -
giving the dog the full 12 - 15 feet to explore and learn with.
Day Two:
1. Use the same three points you used on days one and two.
2. This time, check where your dog is just before you begin to walk.
3. If your dog doesn't start walking when you head for your next point, SPEED UP!
4. Repeat this process at each point, for your normal 15 - 20 rotations.
Day Three:
1. Pick one of the points you’ve been using on the first 2 days.
2. With your dog on a loose, long lead, begin to walk to the point.
3. When you get half-way to your point, do an about-face turn and walk back to your
beginning point.
4. Repeat Step 3 until you can walk toward any of your chosen points without the dog
forging ahead of you.
Days Four, Five, Six, & Seven:
1. Set up a distraction*. You can plant the distraction at one of the points you've been using, or in any open area
(including your own backyard).
2. This distraction should be at least 20 feet away from you as you begin toward it.
3. If your dog forges ahead toward the distraction, do an about-face turn and move QUICKLY back to your beginning
point.
Even if your dog doesn’t forge ahead of you, when you get half-way toward the distraction,
do an about-face turn and walk back to your beginning point.
4. When your dog is no longer forging wildly toward the distraction, approach to a safe distance
(4 to 10 feet) and turn away again. If the dog turns with you, showing more interest in you than the distraction, you have
one 'refusal.' Get several more refusals (the dog turning with you and refusing to go after the distraction) before moving
on to step 5. Use good judgement - don't approach too closely to any distractions that could be dangerous to you or
your dog.
5. After you have several refusals, move toward the distraction again. This time, when you reach your desired distance
from the distraction (4-10 feet), simply stop. If the dog moves forward, turn and run. Continue this process
until the dog shows no interest in the distraction and is stopping behind you or next to you, waiting expectantly for your
next move. This is called a 'proof.' Repeat until you get 10 proofs per distraction.
6. Repeat Steps 1 through 5 with as many distractions as you possibly can. You will
not be ready for formal heeling (loose-leash walking) until your dog views every distraction it encounters
as a set-up that you have created for training.
NOTE: Sometimes, you will have a distraction that the dog will eventually be allowed to
interact with calmly, such as a toy, another dog, a person, etc. In these cases, we don't
want the dog to think the distraction itself is bad, but that forging wildly ahead of you
to get to the distraction is. For these distractions, follow steps 1 through 4 above,
until you have a few good refusals. Then, give your dog the 'release' to calmly investigate
the distraction. If your dog is not calm, it is not proofed!
SNEAK PEEK:
Ponder this: How many walks have you and your dog shared together - as opposed to walks where your dog isn't really
mentally connected to you, or you're not really connected to your dog, or both.
In your next session, we will take distraction-proofing to another level by teaching your dog the formal 'heel'. The heel
position is defined as:
1. your dog on your left side
2. keeping it's head even with your leg, even when you change speeds, change directions, or start or stop suddenly
3. all of this is done with a LOOSE leash
As you can imagine, this will take quite a bit of concentration on your dog's part, as well as more than a little
coordination on your part. Not to fear! Heeling should come quite naturally, if you've been practicing your distraction-
proofing.
The incredible benefit of formal heeling is that it gives your dog a job. Your dog craves mental exercise. Heeling
teaches your dog to take a 'working walk.' Just like paying attention to its leader during a hunt in the wild, a dog who is
taking a working walk is much more satisfied and tired at the end of the walk than a dog who spent the whole walk being
in charge, dragging its owner down the street, oblivious to any sort of structure or order to the walk.
Can you visualize the following?
A calm, relaxed you, walking down the street with your happy, relaxed pooch trotting along next to you, occasionally
looking up at you to smile and wag its tail as if to say, "We're on an adventure - together. Isn't it great?" The key word
is 'together.'