#automatic focus

[muddydogtraining]

Guide Dogs for the Blind calls this skill responding to Collar Cues. It is similar if not the same as the Silky Leash method. These are good skills to have for Loose Leash Walking.

The goal is to teach a puppy to respond to light pressure on the collar, to teach the puppy how to move backwards, forwards, sideways, downwards, and pivot into position.

This is a difficult skill due to the natural opposition reflex: when dogs feel pressure on the collar, they want to pull away from it. I will direct you back to my posts on Ground Tether part one and part two. Ground tether games set you up for automatic focus as well as an introduction to not pulling on the leash.

This is the fourth post from the Guide Dogs for the Blind videos. The first two are the Ground Tethers ones linked above. The third was on Loose Leash Walking.

[muddydogtraining]

This is the next video in the Ground Tether exercises from the Guide Dogs for the Blind YouTube page. Here is the first. To recap, these videos are about using a ground tether to work on automatic focus and not pulling on the leash.

This one really focuses on adding distractions to work on impulse control and to help proof the behavior.

Using a ground tether is great for many exercises we’ll see in the future, including Puppy Greeting Manners. 

[muddydogtraining]

I got to try out different ways of teaching loose leash walking tonight, and it was awesome! I'm so proud of myself and the dogs and owners!

I have been teaching loose leash walking with more of a lure, and I think I will still incorporate that as needed, especially with puppies. Tonight was a beginner class with a little bit older dogs, and I really focused on marking and getting them a treat after one step, then two, without luring it. 

When they pulled, I had them stop. One of the important things in using this approach is that it has to be a dead stop. The dog doesn’t get to take even one more step. To achieve this, the handler has to keep the leash against their leg with fixed pressure when the dog pulls. No “bungee hand” i.e. allowing your hand to move forward with the pulled leash and therefore allowing another step or more. When the dog feels that sudden stop (remember that they chose that and it’s not me jerking them back or anything), wait for them to give the leash some slack, and then mark and reward! The mark/reward encourages the dog to look at you in anticipation of the food reward, which is incorporating automatic focus.

I had tried a similar approach before, but the key items missing were the automatic focus and the dead stop. Without the automatic focus and allowing them that little extra room to pull with my “bungee hand,” I got dogs that continued to strain against their leashes excessively. When I use the lure to keep the dog with me and turn away from whatever they were pulling towards, I found myself tripping over dogs that walked in front of me looking for a food reward. So for this, I also worked on the accuracy of giving treats next to my leg instead of wherever the dog is, including when walking in front of me.

There’s no one way to train dogs, although we do stick to positive reinforcement. I’m excited to continue to learn different ways of teaching different behaviors. I pulled a lot of this from some of the Guide Dogs for the Blind YouTube videos, some from another trainer, and some is just common sense. I’m excited to keep sharing what I’m learning with you!