The Smacking Sound (The Airplane Game)
The Smacking Sound
Before we start playing “The Airplane Game,” I thought I’d teach you a neat trick you can use to get your dog’s attention whenever you need it. To do this we will use a special type of noise known as the “smacking sound.” But before we can harness its power, we will first need to teach our dog to associate the sound with food. To do this, with your dog in a quiet room, make a smacking sound as though you were kissing the air, then immediately give him a treat. It doesn’t matter what he’s doing when you give him the treat (so long as he’s not doing anything bad like tearing up the sofa), the idea is simply to show him that whenever he hears the sound, he gets treats. After doing this for a while, you should notice that your dog looks at you for his treat whenever you make
the sound. With continued practice, you can start using the smacking sound in everyday life when you want to grab your dog’s attention! Keep in mind, however, that the smacking sound may be less effective at times when your dog is too worked up. For example, if he has seen something outside that he reacts strongly to, your sound may go unnoticed. One remedy for this is the “Look at That” game found in the Brain Training for Dogs online training course. In “Look at That,” we will work specifically on teaching your dog to pay attention to the smacking sound despite strong distractions.