Building Attention: "Watch Me"
Goal: Build your dog’s focus and attention on you by teaching him to make eye contact on cue.
Step 1: Place a treat in your hand and close your hand around the treat. Your dog may sniff, lick, paw, and may even gently nibble at your hand. Don’t move your hand away or say anything, just wait until he stops, even for just a second. When he leaves your hand alone momentarily, click and give him the treat. If you don’t use a clicker, you can use a verbal marker, such as “yes”. Make sure it is a clear, crisp word that you will use consistently to mark when your dog has done the behaviour you were looking for.
Do this a number of times in various locations until he stops licking or nosing at your hand altogether.
Step 2: Once he’s really good at leaving the treat with a closed hand, expect him to do so for a little bit longer (a full second, two seconds, and so on) before clicking and giving him the treat.
Step 3: When your dog can leave the treat for at least two seconds, repeat step one, but this time do not click until your dog gives you a flicker of eye contact. Timing is important here: as soon as you see his eyes meet yours, click and give him the treat.
Important to note: Some dogs (especially shy ones) find eye contact intimidating, so do not expect extended eye contact. Even if your dog's eyes just flicker toward your face and away, click that and reward it. The goal is to increase your dog's attention on you (and away from a trigger), and to put it on cue, the goal is not a staring contest with your dog 😉
Step 4: Once your dog is catching on to step 3, expect slightly longer eye contact before you click and give him the treat. Count seconds in your head, and each time wait for eye contact for one second longer before clicking & treating. Again, only slightly longer, and only if your dog appears comfortable with this prospect. Don't push if your dog seems shy or uncomfortable about the eye contact.
Step 5: When you are satisfied with steps one through four, add a cue, such as “watch me”. Hold your hand out with the treat in a closed fist and say “watch me” or “look” or whatever cue you would like to use to ask for eye contact. When your dog gives you eye contact, click and treat, repeating step 4 but incorporating a verbal cue.
Step 6: Fade out the treat in a closed hand. Once your dog is very good at step five, hold the treat somewhere else (behind your back, out to the side, in your pocket) and ask for eye contact using your consistent cue.
Tip: If your dog doesn't look at you when you say your cue, do not repeat the cue. Wait a beat to see if your dog just needs a moment to process. If your dog does not seem to understand the cue, go back a step and practice the behaviour more before adding the cue.
When your dog gives you eye contact, click and treat, as before starting out with a flicker and each time expecting slightly longer.
Practice this all around the house, in the backyard, under zero or low distractions.
When your dog is a pro at “watch me” in your yard, move it to the streets and try it on a walk when there is no one around. If you practice this, giving your dog a delicious treat each time, he will learn to pay attention to you and ignore distractions in the environment when you want him to (i.e. passing other dogs on the street).
Remember that he needs practice doing this (and we humans need practice at our timing as well!), so be patient and realistic when moving from low distractions to medium and high distractions. Go at his pace and set yourselves up for success.
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