Attention Training for Puppies

So, you want your puppy to turn and look at you the moment you call her name. Well, this is another rather easy behavior to teach. It takes time but, how long depends on how well your puppy is conditioned for Marker Based Training or MBT. I hope you have already read that lesson. If not, then I suggest you save yourself some frustration and give it a go first. It is very important.

Remember, whenever you read MTP in any of my training articles, I am referring to Mark, Treat & Praise.

Also, and this is very important. Take it slow and try not to get frustrated. If you do, stop and play with your puppy. Remember, keep the sessions short (no more than 15 minutes) and fun. There must be a balance between training and playtime and from a puppy’s perspective, everything must be fun and enjoyable or she simply will not participate.

Step 1

Ready? Excellent, grab your dog, a bowl full of highly tasty dog treats and go to a quiet room in your house where your puppy has been many times before and she will pay more attention to you than the other things in the room.

Place the bowl of treats behind you and out of sight. When you are ready and you have your hands at your side, say your puppies’ name. Say it in a very happy tone with a moderately high pitch. When she looks at you; Mark, Treat & Praise (MTP). Good, excellent, now wait. Wait until she looks away from you, give her a moment (about 5 seconds), then repeat. Do this about 5-10 times, at least twice a day, 3-4 times is better. Do this every day for the next few days. Your puppy has to learn that she MUST look at you every time you call her name. No matter the distractions around her, or what she is doing. Getting your puppies attention reliably may save her life someday. Not to mention the fact that all the other training that you will do with her depends on her responding immediately when called.

Now then, the above is obviously the ideal response from your puppy. But, what if she does not look at you when you call her name the first time? Don’t touch her; don’t make any physical contact with her at all. The general idea is to have her look at you when you call her name; NOT when you touch her. The ultimate goal however, when you have completed this part of your puppy training, is to have her look directly at your eyes every time you call her name.

So, to get her to look in your general direction, place a small tasty treat between your thumb and forefinger, reach out in front of her nose so the treat is noticed and slowly move your hand towards you. Then when she is looking in your general direction, give her the treat and praise; but NO mark.

Now, put your hands back at your side and try again. Call her name. If she turns to look at you or she is still looking at you; then MTP. If does not, hold a treat between your thumb and forefinger and do as before. Then, try again. She will get it soon, very soon.

Step 2

When your puppy is consistently responding to her name when you call her, it is time to start shaping the behavior so that she will look into your eyes every time you call her name.

Let’s get started. Get your dog, a bowl full of highly tasty dog treats and go to a quiet room in your house where your puppy has been many times before and she will pay more attention to you than the other things in the room.

Let’s get started. As you did in Step 1, call your puppy’s name. When she looks at you, assess where she is looking. If she looking directly at your eyes, then MTP. If not, note where she is looking. Is it your knees, your waist, your chest? Maybe she is looking at your shoulders? Where is not as important as how often. If she usually looks at your waist, for example, then praise her for looking but don’t give her a treat unless she looks closer to your eyes then your waist. Repeat this about 5-10 times. Now, restart this step but, this time, make her look a little closer to your eyes before you give treats.

Step 3

Step 3 is essentially the same as Step 1 but, this time, you add a few simple distractions to the environment. Perhaps the radio is playing or the TV is on. Maybe there are other noises around like the washing machine running or some other minor distraction. The key here is minor. You want your puppy to succeed. So make it easy. Remember, in Step 1, all your puppy had to do was look in your direction.

Step 4

Step 4 is essentially the same as Step 2 but, this time, you add the same distractions as you did in Step 3.

Congratulations!!!

You now have a puppy that will look at your eyes every time you call her name in a quiet, low distraction setting. That’s great but, you’re not done yet. Repeat steps 3 & 4 over and over adding more and more distractions until your puppy will look at your eyes regardless of what is happening in the house. The distractions you have used should include kids paying, balls rolling by, toys on the floor, food on the floor, and squeaky toys in a person hand. Finally, your puppy should look at your eyes with most or all of these distractions happening at the same time. Just think about how your puppy will do at a birthday party.

Now, your puppy should be ready to learn this all over again, outside in your backyard and ultimately at the neighborhood dog park.


Happy tails….