Attention Please
Your dogs will pay attention to you happily for any reason and every time you say their name if you’re consistent with this training. Puppies, old dogs, new dogs, rescues, and the dog who lives with you will learn this quickly. Be kind and have fun.
Meals are great for this training. I encourage using regular meals (no matter what food you feed at your house) to get your dog to pay attention to you. You can be sitting, standing, lying down, running, goofing off, laughing, crying, stumbling, crawling, any and every position you can think of or all of these in one meal. And after you do this for a full two weeks, your dog will turn and come to you when you call or say her name. It’s great for the dog who runs into the street, call the name and she’ll come running back, even if you’re yelling at the top of your lungs and ready to have a heart attack! Of course, this is not guaranteed, please practice caution around great big moving things like cars.
Okay, here we go. Every single meal, start by giving three bites of food: One, two, three. Then in a quiet voice, say your dog’s name. “Spot” and give a bite of food. Do it again and again until the meal is gone. Next meal, say your dog’s name quietly, and give a bite of food. Next bite, say your dog’s name with a growl in your voice and give the food. Again and again, every meal, every day, every bite use different tone of voice until one day you are yelling at the top of your lungs with every bite. Your dog will understand that no matter what you sound like, she will turn to you when you say her name. It’s really fun to yell, “Spot! Oh, my gosh, are you the very best dog in the whole world?” and give a bite. Your dog will be looking at you with happiness and expectation no matter your mood or your level of excitement.
Please do not say your dog’s name when you’re upset or mad. And don’t say their name just to get them to look at you, that can get old and they’ll stop doing it. If you need them, call their name. If you don’t need them, go to them and pet them with long soft petting. A name should always precede something good. You’ll get the best results that way. (It works the same way with people, especially children but adults, too. Need to scold? Okay, but don’t use their name when you’re upset, they’ll start to expect bad things when they hear their own name. It’s very sad. Say someone’s name to them and give them something good. Then every time you say their name, they will turn to you with a smile.)
Darcie Krueger, Owner
SitStay.com
A very useful request to protect food, small animals, the cat, shoes, socks, your stuff.
Use clicker training for fastest results. Please make sure that you read a book or watch a DVD before starting clicker training. You will create bad behavior as quickly as good if you don't know what you're doing.
Use low value treats for this training session, nothing too yummy.
Dinner in bites is perfect for this. It the food is wet, use a plate.
I like to teach this trick while I'm sitting. You'll need to get close to your dog for this one.
Sit on the floor if you can. Put a small amount of food on the floor and point to it. Quiet voice, say "Leave it". If your dog starts to take the food, cover it with your hand. Take it away by picking it up if you have to. Try again when your dog is calm. (If you have a high drive dog, have the dog lay down to work on this. It's harder for your dog to grab and run when laying down.) Theinstant your dog makes an effort to leave it, give it to her. Say words that you like, like "It's Yours" or "Eat". Don't use "Okay". That word is too common and it will get you and your dog into trouble. Do it again until all the food is gone. Dogs learn this one quickly. Give up the treat to get the treat.
It's a Zen thing.
Once your dog understands and leaves the food, stretch the time a little longer until your dog will not touch it until you say it's all right, even if you leave the room. Then use Leave It for your stuff. And then the cat. And then, anything. Soon you'll be able to point to anything and say, "Leave it" and your dog will leave that thing alone.
Darcie Krueger, Owner
SitStay.com
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