How Do I Get My Dog to Focus
When you blow your whistle, your dog should be conditioned to immediately stop and look at you while holding eye contact. How do you achieve such focus in a dog? Tips for getting your dog to focus will be described here.
To achieve the ultimate in focus – having your dog staring at you breathlessly waiting for your next command – you should start focus-training early when your dog is a puppy. The goal is to hold eye contact with your dog until you give the command.
In order to achieve this type of behavior, always use your dog’s name before administering any command. If your dog is not already conditioned to look at you when you say its name, work on this skill first. With training treats in hand, say your dog’s name and then give your dog a treat every time he or she makes eye contact in response.
In the beginning, only hold eye contact with your puppy for a half second at a time. As your dog better understands how to focus his or her attention, increase the amount of time you hold eye contact before saying a command. By following this pattern each time you run training drills with your dog, you will develop an animal that stops and focuses as soon as soon you hit the whistle.
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