focus problem - Page 1

whats the best method of pup focusing?

probably need a little more info here... how old is the pup and what are you trying to do??? to start with...

Please be more specific about what focus problem have your pup and how old he or she?

Regardless of age, focusing is relatively simple to teach. Focus is an obedience exercise and there are three stages to obedience. First stage is the teaching phase and teaching should always involve food (this is imperative when dealing with very young dogs). The second stage is corrective e.g. refusing food reward or a "pop" on the collar coupled with positive praise for correct behaviour. The last stage is proofing, that is, learning to ignore outside distractions. I started my pup as early as 8 weeks. She didn't get her dinner without eye contact. I would hold her dinner approximately at my eye level. As she focused on her food, I watched for eye contact. As soon as she made eye contact with me, BOOM! dinner would be immediately given to her. This is the teaching phase. When she learned eye contact eqauled reward, the corrective stage begun. Longer eye contact was asked for, and if she broke it by looking at the food bowl, a gentle, calm "no" brought her back to eye contact and as soon as she did, BOOM! dinner was immediately presented. Proofing was waving the food bowl around in the air while reminding her to maintain eye contact. Keep in mind this didn't happen in two days. I'm talking several weeks here. When she fully grasped the concept, I transfered her focus away from her mealtime to toys, while on walks, etc. She is now a year and a half and her focus is amazing. She stumbles when there is a lot of activity surronding her, but that is entirely my fault for not proofing her to the next level (competitive obedience). I think we could flounder our way through to a CD (companion dog) but it wouldn't be pretty (except for our heeling, her focus and bouncy step is beatiful. But sadly for her, it's me with co-ordination problems who will bring our score down!) An older dog can benefit by this advice as well. If your dog isn't food motivated, use a toy or special activity the dog loves. Get a toy the dog loves, let him know it's play time but don't let him have it. The dog has to look at you before he recieves the toy. Again, as soon as you get eye contact, instantly reward. He will quickly grasp the concept and when he does, ask for longer times, etc. Before you let him off the leash for a run, ask for eye contact (that might take forever, but if you have patience, you will be richly rewarded!). Hope this helps!