Training help

[Lizzie211]

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Hi we have a new rescue dog collie/German Shepard who’s 4yrs old, he has settled in well but we are having an issue with training, he is very easily distracted we are trying to train watch me to hold his attention, he has learnt the command and will watch me if I hold the treat under my eyes. He will watch for a long period but as I’m trying to progress the traning away from holding the treat at my face he is anticipating were the treat is coming from, so he will watch me for 1 second then flick to looking at my hands/pockets/treatbag wherever I store the treat anticipating the treat is coming from there, I don’t use a treat every time sometimes praise or a toy but he still does it, what can I do to hold the watch me for longer?

 

[JudyN]

I've not tried this, but it might help... Hold the treat in your hand with your arm outstretched to your side (not in front of you or it'll look like you're offering it to him! Then he will have to make a much more deliberate shift to look into your eyes, which might help him get the idea.

Also, never give him the treat in your hand - give him one from your other hand instead. Then he won't be anticipating the visible treat, but one you produce 'by magic'.

Clicker training might be useful here, so you can more clearly mark what he got right. It's all about very accurate timing though, so you do some research on it before trying it - it's easily done wrong.

 

[Dibbythedog]

Well done for adopting an unwanted dog .
I use Watch me with my dogs . I point my forefinger and the rest of my fingers and hand forms a fist with the treat in it . This way the dog cant usually tell if you have a treat or not .
It will help your dog if you give a release command so he knows the exercise is finished such as That's It and then the treat will come . When you want to phrase out the treats , praise and if he likes it , a stroke as a reward. You will still need to reinforce with treats now and then .

 

[Kayak]

Once they understand the word means eye contact, you can start demanding more from the dog and when they don’t offer what you want, just hold out until they do. Once he knows what the word means and once he realises flicking his eyes back and forth isn’t the command, he’ll hold eye contact for a little longer. Praise for any lengthened eye contact, and the longer he holds your gaze the longer you can expect him to next time.

I love a good focused heel.

 

[Kayak]

Add: you can also, in low distraction areas, start moving the treat around in his sight while he holds eye contact to build his consistency with it and practise around a distraction. It doesn’t matter if he can see the treat, the command needs to be followed anyway type thing. He’ll catch on quick.