How To Keep A Dogs Focus

[Red Fox]

I'd like some tips on how to keep my dogs focus on me when there are other dogs around. While he is generally well behaved, our puppy classes and early obedience classes focussed heavily on socialisation between the dogs and now he seems to see 'play' as the highest reward. Obviously this becomes an issue when we encounter other dogs either at training or out on a walk.

At the moment I use a high value treat -either food or toy- to gain his attention before he has a chance to become fixated on the other dog. While this does work I am not always quick enough and then the struggle begins

At 11 months old he is still a puppy (although a BIG one!). Is focus something that will come with age if we keep at it? What else can I do?

Thanks :D

[corvus]

Laffi has just shown me what happens when your reward rate is really high. They suddenly find you very interesting! One of the ways to a really reliable recall is to break a large treat of high quality up into tiny bits and feed one tiny piece at a time, gooing over your dog and how clever they are as you go. Same sort of principle.

[Red Fox]

Laffi has just shown me what happens when your reward rate is really high. They suddenly find you very interesting! One of the ways to a really reliable recall is to break a large treat of high quality up into tiny bits and feed one tiny piece at a time, gooing over your dog and how clever they are as you go. Same sort of principle.

:D Yes, I do this. I swear some of the passers by look at me like I'm mad too lol.

The problem starts when he decides that the passing dog is of more value than the treat I have. Sometimes all is going well until the dog we are passing decides to show an interest in him, or an off-lead dog comes running into our space. I those cases I can have a handful of roast chicken and it means nothing to him ;) But then other times he will trot along beside me with no problems at all

Obedience classes are another issue all-together as he just sees it as a big doggie playground, very hard to get much out of him at all in that environment which I would very much like to change

[alpha bet]

Socialising classes are great.... but sometimes the social can become the main focus..... The other thing to watch is that sometimes the food is over-used.... hence there is the danger of handlers becoming reliant on the food...

When I run social classes I try to incorporate the humans into the social contact.... not just dog and dog but creating off lead games for dog and human....

Something to try....

If you have a few people you know who have fun dogs - perhaps they have the same issues - try to organise some time together.... someones place is best initially..... you dont need to use much food at all..... try to create an environment where there are games to play with the dog...

Example.... I set up jump grids.... a row of small jumps dont need to be very high and you can use milk crate with brooms. Perhaps some witches hats to set as bending poles and get hold of a large plastic barrel and cut out the end.... you then have a tunnel...

Each of you take turns using the same techniques....use the food to initially guide the dogs thru the grid, let them go and play, call them back and use food to guide thru the tunnel, let them go play, use the food to guide thru the witches hats... let them go and play....

Now let them play..... call your boy over and get him to jump something... praise and cuddle him and let him go play...

The aim of course is for the dog to find you just as much fun (perhaps more fun) than the other dogs.... Just some food now and then. You may even find a couple of the dogs will try to work the gridline with you.... this is terrific, means you are the best fun.

Hope this gives you some ideas.... let your imagination go and try developing constructive fun into your work this can then transfer to your day to day activity.

[Kavik]

Have you done any focus work? Teaching the dog to focus on you?

Best to start in a low distraction area with no other dogs. I like to use a clicker for focus work (you don't have to) and click and treat when the dog looks at you. When you can do this at home and you can put it on cue you can start taking it on the road and do it with other dogs at a distance.

While your dog is not aggressive, the technique I use for getting focus on me around other dogs is explained well in Click to Calm: Healing the Aggressive Dog by Emma Parsons - the book uses clicker focus techniques and I use it with all of my dogs including those that are not aggressive towards other dogs.

I like it because it gives the dog a choice and the correct choice of paying attention to you instead of the other dog is rewarded. That way you are not constantly trying to bribe or talk your dog out of paying attention to the other dog (you don't have to stick a treat under their nose) but they can look at the other dog and then choose to look at you instead of pulling towards the other dog.

[Tonymc]

Secret, have you explored Drive training? Tony

[Red Fox]

Have you done any focus work? Teaching the dog to focus on you?

Thanks Kavik. I've done a little focus work with him and already do some of the things that you have suggested-

I started off by by clicking and treating at home whenever he looked at me then progressed outside into the yard/front of the house and now to taking him out to the park or local primary school oval (lots of distracting smells and after school care kids running around the playground). At the oval I put him on a 10m long line (tied around my waist) and let him sniff around. Every time he comes to me I click and treat (or play a short game of tug) then send him of to sniff again. Occasionall I'll run in the other direction when he is distracted with something and then click and reward when he catches up to me. I try to take him about 3-4 times a week when I can. He enjoys it, and it has helped with his focus.

I also take the clicker on walks with me. Kei is allowed to look at anything that interests him -ducks, cats, kids, bikes etc, and then I will click and treat him for looking back at me. I also reward him if he looks at me when I say his name or 'look'.

The other thing I do is to take him to the playground during school holidays when there are lots of kids around jumping and screaming and the occasional dog. We sit outside on the grass where he is allowed to look at whatever he likes and I reward him for laying down quietly.

Are they the kind of things you mean or am I missing something?

I do try to do this when there are other dogs around but find it very hard to get his focus back when he is so determined to get to them. If there is a dog walking in front of us (same direction) I will stop as soon as the lead goes tight and then reward when he turns back to me and the lead slackens before I take another step. However if there is a dog coming towards us or running around off lead it is much harder. In this case I normally either distract with food as we walk (doesn't always work) or put him in a sit and wait for the other dog to pass. Lately I have been carrying a tug with me and using that to distract him sometimes too.

Sorry for the long winded explanation, hope this clarifies what I'm actually doing with him

Secret, have you explored Drive training? Tony

YES! It's actually something that i have been doing for a while now without realising it

Right now I am working on building his drive under distraction (ie short 2 min bursts with the tug out in the park) and it's working quite well. He gets very excited to hear the word 'ready' as he knows the tug is coming out.

If I am training him in drive at the oval I use a favourite toy that only comes out during these sessions. I have noticed that when he is focussed like this I can put him in a down stay at a distance from me while another dog crosses the oval (happens quite often) and he will remain completely focused on me and the toy. I just need to work out how to translate that into walks and obedience (club) training. Hopefully the work with the tug will help?

I'd love to do a proper course in drive training when i have the time and the money, I think it's a fantastic way to train!

[Kavik]

Yes that is the kind of focus work I was talking about

How close are you to the other dogs when you do your focus work? Maybe you are too close and they are too much of a distraction for him at the moment. I would go further away until you find the spot where he will focus on you instead of trying to get to the other dog. With my DA dog this means I go into a driveway so I can get enough space.

[Red Fox]

Thanks Kavik, I will take that into consideration

Do you have any suggestions on what I could do when another dog all of a sudden appears very close to us? ie, come around a corner or is let of lead by their owners and comes running towards/around us.

[Kavik]

Those times are tricky! You just have to trust your training and hope when dogs pop up suddenly. If yours isn't aggressive I guess the worst that will happen is your dog will try to play. If it doesn't work out the way you wanted I just go - oh well, not anybody's fault as it was sudden and unexpected. I will turn around and walk the other way if a dog comes out of nowhere but it doesn't always work if the other dog comes rushing over off lead.

[The Spotted Devil]

Roast chicken, age and maturity do help

One thing I have done with Ziggy is to use the thing that he wants to do desperately (i.e. zoomies, meet other dogs and piss on everything) as a reward in itself. So he looks me in the eye, click/treat, focus, click/treat etc and BEFORE I think that the pressure of the other dog etc is too much I then release him to do what he wants. It's a lot harder in an uncontrolled environment where you don't know the dogs of course but perhaps it's something you can work at. What has happened over time is that the presence of another distraction is almost a cue to focus and earn a food treat - often he will get the best of both worlds - the treat and the release so for him it becomes incredibly rewarding to focus. What also happens now is that when I release him he will go and do a quick zoomie and then return as if to say: "Now I'll teach her to give me a treat...." It's lovely to have him bolt back because the training has become more rewarding than the distraction. I'm not saying we haven't had our ups and downs but he continues to improve with age (nearly 3) and he has an amazing recall. Oh, and make sure you take your dog out when he's HUNGRY!!! No point having a pocket full of treats if they can take it or leave it - I also went through a phase of feeding every scrap of food for focus or some other sort of training. They soon get the idea

[Got Spots]

I have just finished reading Control Unleashed - very good book

In the book the author describes a game to improve focus - she especially recommends it for nervous dogs.

She calls it the "look at that game"

Your dog looks at another dog, person, whatever -- you click -- only treat if the dog then looks at you. If the dog doesn't look at you then move away from the source of stimulus, until the dog will look at you for a treat. As you get better at the game you go closer.

After a command such as look, or that - to que your dog to look at something.

Another take on this game is if you dog is really interested in sniffing or playing - get there attention then send them off to whatever they were doing, call them back and treat and send them back - apparently after a while your dog is more interested in you than other things

I thoroughly recommend this book esp if doing agility, I plan to use some of these techniques.

[huski]

I have just finished reading Control Unleashed - very good book

In the book the author describes a game to improve focus - she especially recommends it for nervous dogs.

She calls it the "look at that game"

Your dog looks at another dog, person, whatever -- you click -- only treat if the dog then looks at you. If the dog doesn't look at you then move away from the source of stimulus, until the dog will look at you for a treat. As you get better at the game you go closer.

After a command such as look, or that - to que your dog to look at something.

But doing the above, isn't that rewarding the dog for looking at whatever distraction? I thought clickers were supposed to mark desirable behaviours?

[TerraNik]

I have just finished reading Control Unleashed - very good book

In the book the author describes a game to improve focus - she especially recommends it for nervous dogs.

She calls it the "look at that game"

Your dog looks at another dog, person, whatever -- you click -- only treat if the dog then looks at you. If the dog doesn't look at you then move away from the source of stimulus, until the dog will look at you for a treat. As you get better at the game you go closer.

After a command such as look, or that - to que your dog to look at something.

But doing the above, isn't that rewarding the dog for looking at whatever distraction? I thought clickers were supposed to mark desirable behaviours?

That's what I thought. The clicker is a marker for what you want from the dog. On another note, if the dog isn't paying enough attention to look at you to get its reward then it's too distracted to begin with.

I have a highly distracted dog (my lappie) and have been doing a LOT of focus work with her. I do a few different exercises with her. She has gone from a dog that is uncontrollable with excitement (barking, pulling on lead, jumping, whining, more pulling... etc) when other dogs are around. She had absolutely NO focus at all... Now she sits and waits (albeit with a bit of whining and wiggling) to greet other dogs and to one who can heel with focus within 30cm of other dogs. We're still working on her focus and her impulse control, but the following things helped a lot:

1. Sitting at heel and C&T for focus. I don't talk to her, I just wait for her to offer the behaviour. As soon as she looks at me - C&T. I slowly extended the time that she focuses on me before I C&T.

2. On a long line at the park. Walked around and let her do her own thing... As soon as she came over to me or paid attention to what I was doing, C&T. Again, I don't say anything to prompt her to do this - I want her to learn that offering focus to me is rewarding.

3. When other dogs are around she is asked to sit and focus on me and wait. She's not allowed to greet the other dog until I am satisfied that I have her full attention. It's very, very difficult for her but she is doing quite well.

[Red Fox]

Roast chicken, age and maturity do help

Thanks TSD, I hope you're right

I have just finished reading Control Unleashed - very good book

I thoroughly recommend this book esp if doing agility, I plan to use some of these techniques.

Neats, I have actually just started reading Control Unleashed but am only about 1 chapter in. I would love to start agility work with Kei when he is a little older so hopefully there will be some useful info on there for us. Of all the books I've read lately (and there's been a few!) I have found 'So your Dog's Not Lassie' to be excellent. I actually think I might go back and re-read it when I finish CU.

TerraNik, thanks for the tips. It sounds similar to the things we have been doing so I guess that we will just have to keep on working at it and trust that all this training will eventually pay off!

[TerraNik]

I know it can be very frustrating but consistency is the key. The training will pay off!

[corvus]

"So Your Dog's Not Lassie" is great.

I know a few people that went to a seminar by the Control Unleashed lady and the take home message was no shortcuts! If you use the program, you have to do it to the letter. I've heard great things about it.

The life rewards idea comes from the Premack principle. Google it for more info. The basic premise is an animal will do something less desirable in order to be allowed to do something more desirable. The activity becomes the reward. It's supposed to be good for drivey dogs, but it works on anything. If Kivi is trying to get to something on leash and I'm holding him back, he'll offer a sit because in the past I've let him go do what he wants to do once he's taken the tension off the leash and shown some restraint by sitting. The nice thing about it is that it tells me he's thinking rather than reacting. If he's actually thought of sitting to get what he wants, then if I let him off leash, for example, there is a very high chance that he will be easily recalled. That's him, though. He's a pretty mellow dude.

[kelpiechick]

I have just finished reading Control Unleashed - very good book

In the book the author describes a game to improve focus - she especially recommends it for nervous dogs.

She calls it the "look at that game"

Your dog looks at another dog, person, whatever -- you click -- only treat if the dog then looks at you. If the dog doesn't look at you then move away from the source of stimulus, until the dog will look at you for a treat. As you get better at the game you go closer.

After a command such as look, or that - to que your dog to look at something.

But doing the above, isn't that rewarding the dog for looking at whatever distraction? I thought clickers were supposed to mark desirable behaviours?

The 'Look at that' game is more for reactive dogs rather than simply building focus although it does help to build focus by default. McDevitt (author) uses it with dogs that react around other dogs - she believes that with a lot of counter-conditioning the focus is on getting reactive dogs to ignore their 'triggers' and look at handler instead, (training an incompatible behaviour) which she describes as a band aid approach.

With her approach, the click is to reward the dog for looking at their trigger with no reaction and then looking back to handler.

This description is simplifying it a bit, you need to read the whole thing, but I agree that it is an excellent resource and not just for reactive dogs. Lots of great games to help build focus.

[TerraNik]

With her approach, the click is to reward the dog for looking at their trigger with no reaction and then looking back to handler.

When you explain it like that it makes perfect sense. To me, it sounds like a calming exercise (for lack of a better word) rather than a focus exercise.

Meanwhile, Ahsoka and I had a breakthrough tonight... Usually we get out of the car at obedience and it's a struggle to get the 50m from the car to where I put her crate. She's been better (but not perfect) everywhere except at obedience when we first get out of the car. Tonight she only let out two barks and didn't pull at all! We're finally getting there... There's hope!