# Attention/Focus on me during training



## ndirishkmk (Jan 23, 2016)

Hi!

Gipper and I are working towards the Canine Good Citizen test. He's solid on skills like sit/down/stay/come and sit for greeting but isn't great with any of the skills that involve walking (walking in a crowd, doing the L, encountering another dog) because he pays more attention to the other dogs/sniffing the floor/stealing treats from others/etc. vs. paying attention to me and what I'm saying/doing. (He also isn't the greatest at walking outside of class!) I take him to daycare all day before class so he's definitely tired out and he will SOMETIMES do the skills with treats but not consistently. Any suggestions on getting him to pay more attention to me and less to everything else around??


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## FosterGolden (Mar 10, 2014)

Beyond the Backyard is a great book for working with your dog outside of your own home! Highly recommend it.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Take the show on the road and train different places. Work with him when he's hungry. Get some people food that he really likes and teach him to "watch" you and when he makes eye contact with you, spit the food from your mouth right at his nose. Start sitting down and having him sit in front of you on leash. He will catch on eventually. Try it with popcorn or low sodium goldfish crackers. My dog particularly likes "cheese balls" (they are made my Utz and they are cheetos in the shape of a ball. they make a satisfying crunch and dogs LOVE them.) Eventually you can transfer this to heel position and practice it all over the place with distractions. It takes LOTS of practice to get a young dog to focus on you, but it's worth the effort. You can use the watch command for any situation and it helps your dog focus on you and ignore the outside world.


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## gdgli (Aug 24, 2011)

I clicker train for attentions.


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

gdgli said:


> I clicker train for attentions.


I did this with Molly. She has the most amazing attention/eye contact.


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

ndirishkmk said:


> Hi!
> 
> Gipper and I are working towards the Canine Good Citizen test. He's solid on skills like sit/down/stay/come and sit for greeting but isn't great with any of the skills that involve walking (walking in a crowd, doing the L, encountering another dog) because he pays more attention to the other dogs/sniffing the floor/stealing treats from others/etc. vs. paying attention to me and what I'm saying/doing. (He also isn't the greatest at walking outside of class!) I take him to daycare all day before class so he's definitely tired out and he will SOMETIMES do the skills with treats but not consistently. Any suggestions on getting him to pay more attention to me and less to everything else around??


I would suggest that the two phrases I've highlighted above might be linked. Your dog is used to playing with other dogs at daycare. So perhaps he sees other dogs in class and thinks he's there to play with them.

As for building focus: as others have said, the best way is to practise in different places. I took my pup to superstore car parks (hardware stores, Walmart) to practise. Find a very high-value treat he loves, one that will get his attention in every situation - cheese works for us, and I have a friend who uses cooked chicken. Use that treat only in situations where other dogs are present, and give it to him only when he's looking at and focused on you. 

In our puppy class and basic obedience class, there was an exercise where we all walked around the room with our dogs, and the trainer would call one dog's name. The handler of that dog then had to ask it to sit and maintain its attention (looking straight at the handler) with treats while all the other dogs in the class were brought to sit as close by as possible. This exercise really helped everyone to develop their dog's attention.

You can also take the high-value treat on walks, and bring them out occasionally for periods of "focused" walking, where the dog must look up at you. Only reward when he's looking at you.

Good luck!


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