Leash Logic LLC

Excited to start offering agility classes in Clifton!

Please join me at The Ides of Bark Festival on March 26! I’ll be conducting Canine Good Citizen tests and answering questions. There will be lots of demos and fun events and shopping for you and your dog.

Do I Have Your Attention?

When many people decide they want to train their dog, they start listing a bunch of commands or tricks that they want to tackle. However, that list is of that little value unless you first condition the foundation of all obedience training: ATTENTION.

So what does that mean, attention? This means that in the face of external distractions and exciting environments, you are able to get your dog to focus on you.

A familiar scenario is the owner repeating, 'Sit, sit, no sit, SIT!" while desperately waving a slice of hot dog in the face of a dog that is tuned out, staring off at something in the distance. The dog may know the sit command very well, but the chances of him performing it in that scenario are almost nonexistent. He is not paying attention to the owner, and she might as well be on another planet.

When I begin working with a new client, attention is one of the first concepts I like to introduce. Even baby puppies with short attention spans can begin with short duration and a frequent reward schedule. Building that connection with your dog takes time and must be done bit by bit. But that foundational relationship will support your future training success. Having solid attention is also key to preventing and managing on-leash reactivity, which is a very common problem for pet owners!

I like this photo because these dogs were wrestling with each other and the toy, but when their owner asked for their attention, they stopped what they were doing to focus on her.

Practice does make perfect, whether it be for good habits or bad!

The more often your dog performs a behavior, the more ingrained it becomes in her. This is great for things like sitting politely before being served dinner, coming when called, and walking nicely on leash.

However, if we regularly allow our dog to bark out of control at the front windows, pull on the leash, jump on people, or react when they see another dog, that will become their default behavior, and the habit will get harder to break.

The first step in breaking the chain of events is to plan ahead and create circumstances where the behavior is less likely to occur. While you and your dog build the obedience training skills and attention you need to overcome these issues, you may need to simply manage the situation in the meantime. This may mean gating off a front room where the dog likes to bark, or crossing the street instead of going face-to-face with a dog you know yours will react to.

The next installment will be about attention, and why it is the foundation of all training!