How to...in 5 Steps

As a trainer I am often asked how do I keep my dog from barking at other dogs or people etc.? Bessey's Positive Paws teaches you and your dog a behavior that will help greatly in any area where you want your dog to focus on you and not the distraction. It is called  "Watch Me"

What is "Watch Me"?
This is a behavior where we teach our dog that is pays off to ignore the distraction and focus on you.
We make it highly rewarding for them and when they are focusing on you they can't be stimulated by the distraction. To teach the behavior do as follows.

1. One meal a day, hand feed your dog. This means instead of putting your dogs dish down on the floor, full of food, and letting them eat without working for it, we are going to pick one meal or do half of each meal and feed them from our hands. Take a small handful of food, present it to your dog and then before giving it to your dog bring the handful of food up to your face. Once your dog looks in the general vicinity of your face you give the food. We are teaching our dog that if he wants food, or access to something, he needs to ask, and to ask he needs to focus on you.

2. Once your dog seems pronounced at the food bowl exercises proceed to this step. Take a small handful of kibble in each hand and stick your hands straight out so you are forming a T. Naturally the dog will look from one hand to the other many times. Once he makes a split second of eye contact you will give him a handful of kibble. Now we are teaching him that in the face of temptation the reward will come quicker by maintaining eye contact. Gradually, we can lengthen the amount of time we ask for eye contact before relinquishing the handful of treats.

3. Now we move to creating a hand signal to achieve eye contact. Typically this is a pointed finger near your dogs nose, brought directly up to your own face between your eyes. Having done the previous exercises your dog will follow the finger and meet your gaze. He is now giving you attention. Mark this with a word such as "Good" or "Yes" and deliver him a tasty treat.

4. After a week of practicing this in different parts of the home and outside in your yard, you may begin introducing a verbal marker such as "Watch Me". Say the word, wait a couple of moments, and then follow through with your hand signal of a pointed finger to your face. This will help teach your dog what "Watch Me" means. To your dog it is teaching them English. They hear the word and tie it in with the hand signal we introduced earlier.

5. Once you feel confident your dog understands the verbal word and hand signal you can begin increasing the level of distractions. Remember to SET YOUR DOG UP FOR SUCCESS. If people riding by on bicycles is a trigger for your dog, make sure you set it up so they are far enough away that you can regain your dog's attention.