Best methods for teaching focus? - Page 3

I do not exclusively recommend all of Koehlers techniques, but the long line used correctly at the right age with enough effort can get you the focus you need for other training later.
Its not for everyone I admit, its not easy to create all the different setups and distractions.
It is one of the ways I evaluate the intelligence of the dog also.
I like a dog who will not take its eyes off of me, and looks to me anytime something happens to see what I want it to do next.
My pup is now five months old and she is finishing her second week on the line, I cannot catch her off guard.
Now I need to dig deep for as many distractions as I can set up, takes the help of others at this point.
Anyone know where I can get a cat..... LOL

CHECK OUT SOME FLINKS VIDS http://leerburg.com/101e.htm

ForFoxyRoxy,

I make a sound that my dog learned very early and can hear at the distance allowed and that is a hissing kind of sound, hard to describe in type but it's kinda like ...SssSssSssSss.  She forgets all else when I make that sound and looks to me to see what I am alerting her to.  I useit to let her know I see something she doesn't and she looks to me for direction and then I can use the watch me command which always leads to another command. 
Deb

Hi .. foxyroxy's post prompted  me to to reply here. first --  for 20 years i have been teching the differentiation between focus/ attention vs. 'Attentiveness'. they are behaviorally quite different. in short . IMO my aim is not have the dog look at me .. but have the dog become motivated to want to motivate me .. to form an interaction  in mind and actions [that is a whole seminar in itself. good that roxie understands the difference. secondly .... this attentiveness is formed either in a static postion or a dynamic / moving position . i teach my pups ... what i am doing is not important as much as what They Are Doing that is important.  The Lesson : That  Which YOU[ dog]  are doing Is important . [ That is why we use the term 'Operant Conditioning'] ...... which also brings me to distractions.      As for ATTENTIVENESS  .. right from the start .. i use all the distractions as i can possibly find. IMO i want to teach: no matter what's going on , when where or why ... seek attentiveness to me. this is the lesson i wish to imprint and have the dog learn [ clicker traing or no clicker training. ... this is the exact lesson i teach. ...next  point. I do not teach by giving my dogs a cue. .. verbal or non-verbal . the lesson : dog it is your responsibility to seek direction / attention   etc.    from me ..  it's not my outlook to have to prompt you . the dog will learn [ if taught properly ] that it is in it's best interest to be attentive .  That also it is their RESPONSIBILITY to seekbe attentive in order that their needs be fulfilled . e.g eating , walking , etc. ...... after a behavior is taught then i may choose to put a cue on it ... that cue may be from me or not ... e.g a gunshot can be in and of itself a cue., the doorebell ringing ... etc. .. last point. regarding the sit/stay . there is NO' STAY'  . a Sit  is a Sit... unles i over-ride it  with a release from the sit or i give  another request.  But rather i do teach the dog to ALWAYS  hold the position sit/ down /stand. So re: Roxy's post... Why leave the dog with a hand motion / or verbal cue   ,  if the dog has not been taught to keep that position no matter what. if that has been  taught there need be no cue.[ hand] to keep in sitting attentive to you . .to add... should not matter which foot you leave with .  [although admittedly leaving on the right foot does help communicate to the dog especially if one uses leaving on the left foot to mean something else to the dog eg as in competeing] teaching all this is another seminar.  Think if you will about the post but decide for oneself.

Wow,
Just be sure you don't put the poor dog to sleep.

Moons.

ALPHAPUP,
To answer your question "why leave the dog with a hand motion/or verbal cue?"   If the dog is in the heel position next to me and i want to walk away from the dog and have her not move, why wouldn't I give a command?  If I am going to walk away from her, I think it is only fair to give a stay command so she knows she should not follow.  This is different, if, I have given a sit or down command from a distance, then she should hold that position until given another command.  I can move around, walk out of site, whatever. 

In my training, if I lead with the left foot (silent, no command), the dog is taught to go forward on a heel.  If I lead with the right foot (silent, no command), the dog knows that is a stay command.  So, in this advanced level of training, no command for a stay is given, however the signal to stay is the lead off with the right foot.  That is how I obtain attentivness.

Nice to talk with those who have thought as much about the details as I do!
cara

 These responses are all very interesting.

This all works well with reactive dogs like yours. It's very low-no pressure. For either the dog or handler. There's no commands and no corrections. The dog learns to work from a distance without really working and it builds the bond between dog and handler.

This is *precisely* the kind of thing I was looking for when I posted this question mobjack.  For the longest time I thought that maybe Falco wasn't capable of bonding (or at least bonding with me) because it just didn't develop in spite of my best efforts.  It's not like you can compel the dog to trust you, after all.  We're getting there now, but it's been a slow process, more like taming a wild animal than just training a dog to live in your household.

She forgets all else when I make that sound and looks to me to see what I am alerting her to. (DebiSue)

I've used a kissing sound for this (a reversed whistle, where you suck air in through pursed lips to make a shrill noise kind of like a squeaky toy) with my previous dogs.  Falco's slowly learning that that noise means "look at me, because instructions will follow".  Mostly I use it when I have to dog walking some distance out from me and want to change direction.

I understand what you're saying about Operant Conditioning and having any given command persist until you signal that it's over ALPHAPUP,  but I can't leave it up to Falco to seek attention and reinforcement -- I have to meet him at least half way or he shuts down.  He's way better than he was.  At first he was nearly completely lost in his own word, and it took him three months to begin to seek to connect with me on his own.  He started by creeping up and putting his chin into the crook of my arm if I was reading or sitting at the computer.  If I forgot myself and looked directly at him he'd run away.  Since then he's learned not to be afraid to approach me, but there are still times where he forgets he's not alone, or that his actions actually have consequences (and can yield good results if he does the right thing).  Motivating him to be mentally present has been a challenge and an exercise in patience, but bit by bit we're getting there.  I do teach "Stay" and the much more transient "Wait" as persistent cues that don't terminate until I release him, and he has the shorter "Wait" down pat (probably because I use it most with the cool reward of waiting to get into or out of the car).

Roxy i understand your situation ...  it is ok to pair a cue [ move with me and beside when you see my left foot move ] to a behavior BUT that does not negate the notion of the dog learning  'sit is sit' .   when you pair a foot movement to heel that becomes a request / release from the sit. ... but again ,  that is [ personally - i don't use the word 'command' ]  a request, HEEL , when i move my left foot. this left foot cue from a sit is  helpful if you compete . If you do not move your left foot and move the dog must hold the sit and no other cue /communication should be needed. a correctly taught sit should imply that 'dog you always sit unless i release you .  other  people reading this thread should understand that the heel is taught as a behavior and  the nonverbal cue of moving your left foot is paired. so moving the left foot overides a 'sit '  request. ..no matter what you do ... turn around , step back , roll on the ground ... scatch your nose , step to the side... people should understand : IF you request the dog to SIT, the dog must remain sitting. -   for non-competitors .. WH Y .. one day i walked my GSD trained for Schuthund and i came to a traffic light and curb. my dog automaticaly sat . ok .. a friend called me - i said Sit  - as i stepped diagonally  off the curb  a car almost crashed into me and my friend. to my dog it didn't matter what i did [ walk backwards / or turn / step to the side... there was no cue for the dog to start heel again verbal or non-verbal . . if he had moved .. i would be less one dog.  So roxy if one  teaches correctly  your dog to 'sit '........ aside from having taught that  'moving the left foot means move with and beside me.' , which is a request that overrides your initial sit request. [ another new request overides the previous one] your dog should never , never , never move.  i can begin to teach this to an 8 week pup in less than a minute .in less than a minute i can start to teach even without a spoken word, that if i walk away you hold your position no matter what. and if you compete roxy ... and want to walk away from your dog ..Although i don't have to as 'sit means sit] ..  what i can do : [ for COMPETING ]  is instead of differentiating right foot means this and /or left foot movement means that .. i simply take a one short step to the side then start to move forward , as this is a cue that is very very  very clear to the dog ,,,, that dog deosn't have to move into a heel . or a cue that i want you to stay .