Eye Contact

[lovemesideways]

So so so!!!

My boy Riddick (who is so adorable at 5 months, I may just die from the cuteness!!!)

Working on eye contact!

He's got a habit I noticed today, of when I recall, he orientates himself towards my right hand, which is where the treat comes from!

What are ways to work on stopping this?

It goes side along with eye contact. He only gets the treat if hes looking at me. But how do I gain steady eye contact, At the moment its, glance at eyes - to right hand - to eyes.

Even if hes staring at me and I mark it, when I mark he then looks at my hand, waiting for treat.

Today I started treating him from my left hand instead, but I figure hes gonna just start staring at my left hand instead.

So, TEACH ME!!!

What can I do?

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

give treat from random hand.

I sometimes practice drop on recall and my dog lines up towards the usual treat hand, so I have a treat in both hands when I make the X drop signal, and treat from the hand she's pointing away from. If you can rig a treat bag at your back / behind you that you can reach into - so much the better. Thought that does seem to make my dog go searching behind me and jump up from behind me, not so great.

I really shouldn't type when I'm tired, my fingers keep typing not what I want. Sigh.

click for eye contact on "watch me" and then start upping the standard, he has to make eye contact for longer to get the click and the treat. Start with tiny increases in time though. Wave the treat round for "proofing" distraction.

[bedazzledx2]

Have him sit in front of you and show him a treat in both hands held out to your side.....wait until he looks you in the eyes and click treat. Rinse and repeat.

Edited to say Be quick when you treat....shove the food in his mouth...don't wait for him to look away.

So so so!!!

My boy Riddick (who is so adorable at 5 months, I may just die from the cuteness!!!)

Working on eye contact!

He's got a habit I noticed today, of when I recall, he orientates himself towards my right hand, which is where the treat comes from!

What are ways to work on stopping this?

It goes side along with eye contact. He only gets the treat if hes looking at me. But how do I gain steady eye contact, At the moment its, glance at eyes - to right hand - to eyes.

Even if hes staring at me and I mark it, when I mark he then looks at my hand, waiting for treat.

Today I started treating him from my left hand instead, but I figure hes gonna just start staring at my left hand instead.

So, TEACH ME!!!

What can I do?

Edited May 23, 2010 by bedazzledx2

[corvus]

In addition to what the others suggested 'cause that's where I'd start, you could mix up your treat delivery a little by throwing the treat instead of handing it to him.

[W Sibs]

Riddick is tooo adorable!!!

I have the "look at mummy' command... which means they must look into my eyes. The boyfriend want to change that command to 'focus' or 'look at me' though

When we are training, the dogs don't know which hand they are going to get fed from either... then again, they know they won't get a treat if they don't look at me first.

[bedazzledx2]

Why bother teaching a watch or look at me command? That should be a given! Never command a dog to watch when they are looking away....if they are looking at you no need to command!!!!

Riddick is tooo adorable!!!

I have the "look at mummy' command... which means they must look into my eyes. The boyfriend want to change that command to 'focus' or 'look at me' though

When we are training, the dogs don't know which hand they are going to get fed from either... then again, they know they won't get a treat if they don't look at me first.

[W Sibs]

Why bother teaching a watch or look at me command? That should be a given! Never command a dog to watch when they are looking away....if they are looking at you no need to command!!!!

Riddick is tooo adorable!!!

I have the "look at mummy' command... which means they must look into my eyes. The boyfriend want to change that command to 'focus' or 'look at me' though

When we are training, the dogs don't know which hand they are going to get fed from either... then again, they know they won't get a treat if they don't look at me first.

Why shouldn't we command a dog to watch when they are looking away?

I do have the "look at me" command and use it I don't like them focus too much on my hands or the treat or a particular object. They have to focus on me. Charlie doesn't need the look at me command now because he knows the drill. But, I do have a 14 weeks old puppy, that's in training with no attention span. I'm not going to use her name to get her attention.. in fact, I rarely use her name in training.

If they are looking at me.. why i tell them to do something they are already doing? that's just silly

I also use the "look at me" command when I'm feeding Emmy too. When feed her, she has to sit and her eyes are always on me... sometimes she get distracted (and she does VERY easily), and i will say 'look at mummy' as a reminder.

Edited May 24, 2010 by CW EW

[huski]

I train a look command to use for times other than when we are doing heel work I.e. When we are out for a walk and I want to get my dogs focus and attention for whatever reason.

[RubyStar]

If they are looking at me.. why i tell them to do something they are already doing? that's just silly

If you keep reinforcing something they are already doing and offered themselves, it becomes a VERY reinforcing thing to be looking at mum (or dad ), and it was all the dog's idea

[W Sibs]

If they are looking at me.. why i tell them to do something they are already doing? that's just silly

If you keep reinforcing something they are already doing and offered themselves, it becomes a VERY reinforcing thing to be looking at mum (or dad ), and it was all the dog's idea

Is that how my first reply sounds like?

it's not what i meant.

i meant, if i got all their focus... i'm not using the "look at me" command. but, if they lose focus, that's when i use the command, as a reminder.

i hope that make sense

Edited May 24, 2010 by CW EW

[corvus]

I trained for eye contact to begin with, but never put it on cue. I just used it as a foundation and built on it. If I need their attention I just say their name or something.

[RubyStar]

If they are looking at me.. why i tell them to do something they are already doing? that's just silly

If you keep reinforcing something they are already doing and offered themselves, it becomes a VERY reinforcing thing to be looking at mum (or dad ), and it was all the dog's idea ;)

Is that how my first reply sounds like?

it's not what i meant.

i meant, if i got all their focus... i'm not using the "look at me" command. but, if they lose focus, that's when i use the command, as a reminder.

i hope that make sense

Sorry, don't think my post was too clear. I was trying to explain why some choose not to ask for them to pay attention. If you mark them when they do it on their own, and reward big time, they soon want to offer it all the time. And if you wait for them to do it instead of asking for, it makes them think it's their idea to watch you which is a good thing

[Vickie]

In the learning stage, it is never good to put a command on something the dog doesn't know.

I did a great job of teaching one of my dogs that "steady" actually means go faster on sheep. Everytime she was moving too quck I would say steady, so that's what she thought it meant! Doh! she doesn't speak English.

Go to any offlead park & you will see a host of people calling "come" while their dogs run the other way.

For a watch command, to pair the word with a cue, you are better off clicking your fingers (or something to get their attention) and then giving the command once they are giving the desired bahaviour.

ETA, I don't ever want eye contact b/c it is detrimental to our agility, so your hand focus would suit me just fine

Edited May 24, 2010 by Vickie

[W Sibs]

If they are looking at me.. why i tell them to do something they are already doing? that's just silly

If you keep reinforcing something they are already doing and offered themselves, it becomes a VERY reinforcing thing to be looking at mum (or dad ), and it was all the dog's idea ;)

Is that how my first reply sounds like?

it's not what i meant.

i meant, if i got all their focus... i'm not using the "look at me" command. but, if they lose focus, that's when i use the command, as a reminder.

i hope that make sense

Sorry, don't think my post was too clear. I was trying to explain why some choose not to ask for them to pay attention. If you mark them when they do it on their own, and reward big time, they soon want to offer it all the time. And if you wait for them to do it instead of asking for, it makes them think it's their idea to watch you which is a good thing ;)

Ok, that makes sense.

Edited May 24, 2010 by CW EW

[Jetty]

Why bother teaching a watch or look at me command? That should be a given! Never command a dog to watch when they are looking away....if they are looking at you no need to command!!!!

Riddick is tooo adorable!!!

I have the "look at mummy' command... which means they must look into my eyes. The boyfriend want to change that command to 'focus' or 'look at me' though

When we are training, the dogs don't know which hand they are going to get fed from either... then again, they know they won't get a treat if they don't look at me first.

Why shouldn't we give the command to look when they are looking away??

The "look at me" command is one of the best tools I have with Jet. He used to have such a bad case of fear agression, now I used that command to help with it. If I see him getting a bit wary I will tell him to look at me then treat him. When I was at our classes and we were waiting for instructions from the trainer this worked very well. Jet would look at other dogs and start to bark/growl but by using this command he would ignore every other dog and focus on me the whole time.

ETA: sorry if I have misunderstood.

Edited May 24, 2010 by ♥JJ

[lovemesideways]

Soo does anyone have any advice?

[huski]

Soo does anyone have any advice?

:D Did you see Bedazzled's earlier post about putting the food in your hand, holding your hands out and rewarding when the dog makes eye contact with you? That's what I did and I find it useful because it teaches the dog to look to you for the food.

[Mas1981]

Soo does anyone have any advice?

:D Did you see Bedazzled's earlier post about putting the food in your hand, holding your hands out and rewarding when the dog makes eye contact with you? That's what I did and I find it useful because it teaches the dog to look to you for the food.

I agree with Huski, some people at my club also hold the food by their faces so that encourages the dog to look up....

[jesomil]

Like what Bedazzled said, I hold food in both hands and wait for a split second of eye contact then reward.

You build it up so that the dog learns everytime he wants food, he has to look you in the eyes. He learns that food only comes from eye contact, nothing else. Food never comes from looking at the hand or nudging the hand, so the dog will do what works.

Then you start asking for longer eye contact, so you only reward after 2 secs then 5 secs then 10 secs etc etc till you get the required eye contact you desire.

[lovemesideways]

Soo does anyone have any advice?

Did you see Bedazzled's earlier post about putting the food in your hand, holding your hands out and rewarding when the dog makes eye contact with you? That's what I did and I find it useful because it teaches the dog to look to you for the food.

Yes I saw but,

Even if hes staring at me and I mark it, when I mark he then looks at my hand, waiting for treat.

How do I get that continued focus on me, even after I mark and move my hand.

If I am just marking a good behaviour and not treating him for it, I don't want him breaking that focus.

Also,

He's got a habit I noticed today, of when I recall, he orientates himself towards my right hand, which is where the treat comes from!

What are ways to work on stopping this?

So more advice I should have said.