Any Tips For Keeping Attention During Distractions

[Rileys mum]

Hi all.

So I'm needing some advice

my pup has hit the 9 month mark and he's mr sociable and interested in EVERYTHING that's going on around him.

We graduated into grade 4 obedience today and it's become clear that , although 100% focused during work on the circle, the moment any distractions are introduced he becomes deaf as a door post and ignores me completely. I have his fave treat ( fritz) and he couldn't care less if I use it to try and re focus him. He is SO focused on the other dogs walking past him or the trainer walking past him.

Now I understand he's still a baby and hes at the age where he's exploring things and has limited attention spans. I'm Absolutely exstatic with how he's progressing. I guess I was just looking to see if there were any methods I could use to get his focus back during these times where he thinks I'm not even there. I am COMPLETELY non existant during these times.

The hardest part is that it's just pup n me in the house and unless we pass another dog out on a walk etc he really doesn't get exposed to the types of distractions presented during class ( for info he couldn't care less about dogs working in other classes around him, it's just when we do focus work with distractions in our class. I hope I'm making sense)

thanks in advance

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

You could show up for class a bit early, there's often others there early.

Then you practice your moves far away from everything and reward - all good. Then sneak a bit closer, as soon as he notices anything but you, you're slighlty too close so walk a bit further away and practice your moves again. If there is an instructor around, or another doggy person, ask them to cruise past "far away" and gradually work closer - depending on how your dog is doing ie paying attention to you, the loves of his lives can come a little closer. Loss of focus, and they move away... Ultimate reward for paying attention - he gets to play.

You can practice this with meet and greet before class too - ie he doesn't get to meet or greet unless he can display a calm sit and watch me(you), first. If he gets that right - he gets to say hello. If he doesn't, walk a bit further away and try again.

Ideally you want to make it super easy for him to get it right, so if he gets distracted - you fail (not him) and work a bit further away or go back a step or two to where he got the last thing right.

I also practice with food distractions eg - tell dog to sit - stay. stand next to her, chuck favourite food treats everywhere - but she must stay (I hold her in position if necessary). If she does a good stay (start off with short times like a few seconds), she gets released so she can go find and eat all the treats.

My dog's stays and recalls improved HUGELY when I started working "Triangle of Temptation". I made her "stay" before she got to eat her dinner, in front of her dinner. And I upped the standard - she has to recall - going past her dinner to me, before she gets to eat her dinner, etc. Now she will do a three minute drop stay with her tail wagging the whole time, even when another dog comes and invites her to play or sits on her.

However - Possum poo is still a major distraction for us and it's everywhere.

[CJay]

I've done similar with Peg when it comes to food, she has to wait for a signal before she can eat, I also do it with treats.

Try a noise, maybe a squeaky toy, or slap your thigh, it might be enough to break his focus and bring it back to you.

Peg has simlar issues with getting distracted, mainly recall, 9 out of 10 times she will come back no dramas but that 1 time she ignores me, I found a squeaky toy in my pocket snaps her attention back to me, i squeak, call/whistle, then reward with a piece of chicken, it has worked really well with her.

[sas]

If you're into Clicker training, Karen Pyror has a video you might like: http://www.clickertraining.tv/product.html...m=KPDLVD110R-03

[Aidan]

"Look at That" game from Leslie McDevitt's book is good for this sort of problem, there should be something on YouTube demonstrating it. It teaches the dog to be able to look at distractions without losing attention on the handler.

[SpecTraining]

Hi all.

So I'm needing some advice

my pup has hit the 9 month mark and he's mr sociable and interested in EVERYTHING that's going on around him.

We graduated into grade 4 obedience today and it's become clear that , although 100% focused during work on the circle, the moment any distractions are introduced he becomes deaf as a door post and ignores me completely. I have his fave treat ( fritz) and he couldn't care less if I use it to try and re focus him. He is SO focused on the other dogs walking past him or the trainer walking past him.

Now I understand he's still a baby and hes at the age where he's exploring things and has limited attention spans. I'm Absolutely exstatic with how he's progressing. I guess I was just looking to see if there were any methods I could use to get his focus back during these times where he thinks I'm not even there. I am COMPLETELY non existant during these times.

The hardest part is that it's just pup n me in the house and unless we pass another dog out on a walk etc he really doesn't get exposed to the types of distractions presented during class ( for info he couldn't care less about dogs working in other classes around him, it's just when we do focus work with distractions in our class. I hope I'm making sense)

thanks in advance ;)

This is a good example IMHO of disobedience resultant from purely positive training methods where the dog will focus upon targets of greatest value, the other dog has more value than his favorite treat???. What I prefer to do at that point, is add a correction to teach the dog consequence of the wrong behaviour. Without experiencing negative consequences, the dog is conditioned to focus upon the good, and sometimes what is good to the dog, to the handler is bad and a poor behaviour developing in the dog.

[Rileys mum]

Thanks for the ideas guys. I do make him wait for his dinner which he will do for however long I ask until giving him the go eat command, but will try recalling him past his bowl now too and see if we can combat that

He also loves his squeekie toys so I'll carry a small one just for those times of distraction. Another great idea ;)

Good idea using the play with other dogs as the reward for focus. I'll implement that one.

I'll be sure to check out the other two links aswell.

Thanks again. I'll keep yas posted

[Rileys mum]

Spectraining : that's what I was unsure about too. He is beautifully focussed for 98% of the work but it is almost as if he says " whatever mum, stop annoying me I'm busy looking elsewhere" when we hit something distracting. The other dog or person does definately hold a higher value in his mind than anything I offer at that time.

Baring in mind his age, what do you consider to be an appropriate correction?

[SpecTraining]

Spectraining : that's what I was unsure about too. He is beautifully focussed for 98% of the work but it is almost as if he says " whatever mum, stop annoying me I'm busy looking elsewhere" when we hit something distracting. The other dog or person does definately hold a higher value in his mind than anything I offer at that time.

Baring in mind his age, what do you consider to be an appropriate correction?

I know exactly what you mean Riley's mum and it's quite a challenge sometimes to regain their focus. I like about turn corrections on leash with a young dog as soon as they loose focus and look elsewhere, change direction and reward when they catch up. If you are consistant with with change of directions, the dog learns that not watching and being aware of where you are going, a correction will follow and keeping an eye on you and focusing brings reward.

[Nekhbet]

he's not that much of a baby anymore. At that age his attention span can be increased by putting parameters on his behaviour. I do agree with SpecTraining that now he has to realise that not paying attention to you when you ask, as you have trained him to pay attention, has a consequence. I would agree starting at a further distance as not to overload the dog and simply be yanking away at his leash, that is not fair. But if he's a reasonably distance away and still ignoring you introduce a quick pop of the leash, say nothing when you do it, then reward him for focussing on you. I prefer to reward focus when the dog naturally does it as well, makes for a better result. I agree with post 9 as well. It is not setting the dog up to fail if he knows the obedience commands you are asking of him.

[huski]

If other dogs are higher value than the owner, that is not something that is simply fixed by giving corrections IMO. I would be looking at why the owner and the reward they have to offer is not high enough value before anything else. I was told to simply correct my dog and it did nothing to build our relationship and increase my value for her.

[SpecTraining]

If other dogs are higher value than the owner, that is not something that is simply fixed by giving corrections IMO. I would be looking at why the owner and the reward they have to offer is not high enough value before anything else. I was told to simply correct my dog and it did nothing to build our relationship and increase my value for her.

I beg to differ Huski. If the dog is corrected when assuming something is of a high value, the correction lowers the value of that distraction and followed by a high value reward when the dog regains focus, the distraction that the dog once thought was high value enough to loose focus then fades into insignificance.

A dog learning consequences to poor behaviour in the correct fashion does NOT ruin a dog/handler relationship, in fact, it increases the bond and trust by setting boundaries for the dog to learn that obeying the handler provides the nicest things in life.

[huski]

I beg to differ Huski. If the dog is corrected when assuming something is of a high value, the correction lowers the value of that distraction and followed by a high value reward when the dog regains focus, the distraction that the dog once thought was high value enough to loose focus then fades into insignificance.

But how high value can the reward be if the dog is not interested in it? I used to be able to shove steak under my dogs nose and she wouldn't notice it, no amount of physical corrections changed that.

A dog learning consequences to poor behaviour in the correct fashion does NOT ruin a dog/handler relationship, in fact, it increases the bond and trust by setting boundaries for the dog to learn that obeying the handler provides the nicest things in life.

Don't get me wrong, I am not disagreeing with using corrections or consequences by any means. But I don't think that using them automatically makes the dog have a higher value for the reward you are using.

Edited September 30, 2010 by huski

[SpecTraining]

I beg to differ Huski. If the dog is corrected when assuming something is of a high value, the correction lowers the value of that distraction and followed by a high value reward when the dog regains focus, the distraction that the dog once thought was high value enough to loose focus then fades into insignificance.

But how high value can the reward be if the dog is not interested in it? I used to be able to shove steak under my dogs nose and she wouldn't notice it, no amount of physical corrections changed that.

A dog learning consequences to poor behaviour in the correct fashion does NOT ruin a dog/handler relationship, in fact, it increases the bond and trust by setting boundaries for the dog to learn that obeying the handler provides the nicest things in life.

Don't get me wrong, I am not disagreeing with using corrections or consequences by any means. But I don't think that using them automatically makes the dog have a higher value for the reward you are using.

That's right, sometimes the very highest value reward doesn't work to regain the dog's focus, but a correction does get the dog's mind off pursuing the distraction which of course is proximity related. If the dog is in the zone to pursue a distraction, rarely anything will work other than physically dragging the dog away. I add a correction at the proximity where the dog is still managable and focus redirection is still possible to attain, then reward when the dog's focus shifts back on to you. I like the correction and reward as it provides two reinforcers one negative and one positive instead of one to reshape the behaviour to where you need it to be. A negative combined with a positive to me provides two bites at the cherry instead of one if that makes sense

Edited September 30, 2010 by SpecTraining

[huski]

Yeah but there is a lot more to it IMO than just giving a correction, IMO. I think it's an oversimplified solution to a more complex problem. JMO.

[SpecTraining]

Yeah but there is a lot more to it IMO than just giving a correction, IMO. I think it's an oversimplified solution to a more complex problem. JMO.

Many dogs will back out of a distraction focus from a correction especially if the have never experienced one, then you can work on reward motivation once the correction has snapped them out of the unwanted focus. A correction will snap the majority of dogs out of unwanted focus I have found and used at the opportune moments is an extremely effective process.

[Rileys mum]

Huski, what is your recomendation with the situation? Sounds like you have a dog that had similar issues to what I'm trying to combat. What worked for you?

[bedazzledx2]

Hows about teaching the dog an appropriate response to a distraction before the need ever arises for a correction? Too simple? Ok get out the prong collar

[Aussienot]

When Cody was going thru the "i don't want to" months, I would do one of two things. If he was focused on another dog or person, the only way he got to meet and greet was to give me attention first, and maintain that attention until I told him otherwise. If he couldn't (or didn't choose to) give me attention close to the distraction, we moved away to the point where he could. We then tried again closer and closer until the decision for him to go meet was MINE, not his.

If the loss of focus was caused by something environmental (birds, movement, noises) then I would give him his cue to go into drive, and have a really good game of tug or fetch. If I didn't have a toy handy, we would play a "naked" game like shadow chase or hand touch. We would either play our way away from the distraction, or after the game I would release him to go check it out, depending on what the distracting thing was.

Usually by that time he was pushing me to go back to training and had forgotten his earlier fascination.

Yes, I could have given him a hard correction, and forced him to watch me rather than X. I could correct a lot of things. It's heaps easier to correct a dog than to think of a way to get the dog to choose. I'd rather have a dog that reflexively performs learned behaviours on cue instead of a dog that avoids making mistakes.

[Nekhbet]

Hows about teaching the dog an appropriate response to a distraction before the need ever arises for a correction? Too simple? Ok get out the prong collar

who mentioned a prong collar? How about the dog is disobeying a direct obedience command. The dog is asked to focus on the handler and is ignoring them.

This forum seems to be attacking anyone that mentions a correction lately, I dont think enough of you understand what they are and hence come raining down with hellfire and sarcasm when someone mentions them. Plus how many of you are actually obedience instructors or professional dog trainers that work with many dogs apart from your own? I am seeing a lot of 'oh I would never use it on MY dog/s".

Corrections dont have to be hard or painful. They can be enough to simply tell the dog, no we dont do that. You have a leash attached to a collar on your dog for a reason - it is a valuable tool in helping the dog understand what you want from it. The dog in this case would not be forced to watch, it would be corrected for ignoring its owner. I have no issues with non aggressive dogs watching others, but if they start totally ignoring the owner then it's a problem.

I would be looking at why the owner and the reward they have to offer is not high enough value before anything else. I was told to simply correct my dog and it did nothing to build our relationship and increase my value for her.

neither myself or spec training only said to correct. Rewards are a massive part of fixing this problem and the corrections would only be minimal, enough to simply help the dog understand what we dont want instead of waiting for them to take their focus off another dog - I dont wait for a dog to finish a bad behaviour. Personally if this was my dog I would NEVER simply wait for him to finish his focussing or try and drag him off. What are we teaching the dog? That the owner is simply a treat dispenser at the end of the lead and when doggy gets too distracted they'll wait until dog is interested enough in what they have to offer. Sometimes you CANNOT compete with what the dog is interested in - stock chasers, aggressive dogs, no boundry dogs etc. If they want their target, you have no chance of being good enough compared to it. So a correction shows the dog, no you cannot have your target interest. So what do you have ... me, or nothing. So invariably the dog will calm down, and happily listen to what you have to say.

Edited October 1, 2010 by Nekhbet