Training Tutorial: How to Train Your Dog to Focus on You
Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could make the things that really distract your dog become the cues that tell them to look at you?! Good news! You can begin to train your dog to focus on you by simply capturing behavior - aka rewarding your dog for what they’re already offering! This can make walks (among so many other activities) much more enjoyable! In the video above, Juliana Willems, CPDT-KA, and owner and head trainer at JW Dog Training & Behavior, explains how to find the smallest possible behavior to reward your dog for at first. Then she says to build on that until you have a dog who will happily and easily give you attention. Be sure to watch the whole video for a more thorough explanation and a great demo, and keep scrolling for the written steps for how to train your dog to focus on you.
Step by Step: How to Train Your Dog to Focus on You
✏️Pre-Reqs:
- A conditioned marker (aka yes, good, or clicker). If you’re interested in all things markers, check out the Tails of Connection Challenge.
📍 Setup:
- Line up some distractions on the ground, put your dog’s leash on, and have your treats ready. Start far enough away from distractions to keep your dog successful.
Trainer Juliana Wilems walks Austin the dog past cones as part of a training session for “how to train your dog to focus on you.”
✅Basic Steps:
Step One: Begin walking parallel to the distractions. The moment your dog looks at the distraction, mark and give them a treat. (Yes, you read that right! You want your dog to actually look at the distraction to start because you are going to teach them how to cope in real life when they notice things.)
Step Two: Slowly move closer to distractions (may take multiple sessions). Continue to mark and reward when your dog first notices the distraction.
Step Three: In time, you will be able to increase your criteria around distractions by asking for a behavior like eye contact. This means instead of marking the distraction, you will let your dog notice the distraction and wait for your dog to look back at you. You will then mark and reward that eye contact. (You may pick a different behavior for certain distractions). At this point, you are marking and rewarding your dog for noticing the distraction and disengaging from it on their own.
Why This Is a Great Strategy for How To Teach a Dog To Focus
Editor’s Note from TOC co-founder, Christie Catan: This is one of my absolute favorite things to do with puppies and dogs. It might feel counterintuitive to you at first to mark your dog for looking away from you, but remember, your dog hasn’t left to go engage with that distraction yet if they have only just noticed it. Simply marking the distractions starts to create beautiful behavior and takes so little effort on your part -- you just have to pay attention to your environment and your dog and have some treats on you.
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