Getting your dogs attention part 2

June 18th, 2009 by Peter

Yesterday I wrote about how important it is to get your dogs attention so that they listen to you. Today I am going to continue on this subject.

Playing something called ‘The Name Game’ is a great way to get your dogs attention, all you need is your dog, a stop watch and some treats. Make sure that you do this in a quiet place with little distractions, possibly in a room in your house where it is only the two of you.

Begin by saying your dogs name, say this only once in a very clear tone. With your stop watch, remember the exact second that your dog looks at you. Basically you need to continue this rewarding the dog if they do it in a quicker time with treats. You could even try adding in distractions or trying it in different locations to see if you can still get their full attention. Make sure that you play this game often and always remember to reward your dog with treats if they do well.

If you have the problem that your dog never seems to pay you attention when you call its name, first try hiding. All dogs love a game of hide and seek!! You could also try playing with one of it’s squeaky toys.

If you do decide to try this game, let me know how it goes!

Getting your dogs attention part 1

June 17th, 2009 by Peter

Today we are going to focus on dogs and how to get their attention. This can sometimes be a tricky task because as soon as they see something they prefer to look at, they are gone!

Making sure that you do get your dog’s attention is important though, if you can’t get your dog to behave then it’s likely that they wont ever listen to you. The trick is to make sure that they get something out of paying you attention, that way they will be more likely to listen next time you call them.

One good trick is to make sure that you reinforce them with a reward is they give you quiet attention without even being asked. Rewards can include treats, petting and praise. What i mean by quiet attention is if they look up at you or learn against you quietly.

When your dog is being good, make sure that you don’t ignore it. Sometimes we only pay them attention when they have done something bad like when they bark or jump up on us.

In the next post I will continue to discuss getting their attention with a simple thing called the name game!