Teaching your dog to 'watch' you

[John Thomson]

The Eye Contact Game

It is good to have your dog give you his/her/her attention. If you don't have your dog's attention, how can you teach him/her anything? YOU should be the center of his/her/her universe, and the giver of all good things. You want to "shape" the occurrence of your dog giving you his/her/her attention by rewarding those times when he/she chooses to look at you. As you know, what is rewarded will be repeated, and you will experience your dog giving you his/her attention more and more.

Start with your dog either "off leas" or on a tether or on a leash with your foot on the end (for dogs with really short attention spans). You just want a reasonable expectation that your dog will stay in the general vicinity with you so that you can teach him/her something. With your dog sitting in front of you, have a bunch of bite-sized high value treats ready. Have the rest of the treats nearby, but not really obvious to the dog, and not where he can get to them without working for you. Here you go:

Show the dog the treat (this becomes the "signal" to watch).

Move the treat out to your side at an arm's length or less.

When the dog's eyes follow the treat, do nothing. He/she may stare at it for a long time.

Sooner or later, he/she will wonder what's up with this, and look to you questioningly.

The instant his/her eyes meet yours, say “yesss” and hand him/her the treat.


You must pinpoint the instant he/she looks at you, because he/she might instantly look away again.. It's important that you don't move your hand to give him the treat before you MARK( the yessss) the behavior you wanted: EYE CONTACT. His/her eyes will be on that treat again if you move your hand. That's ok, though if you've already marked the desired behavior with the "yesss."

Repeat steps 1 - 5 again. Notice he/she's not sure if he/she should look at you or the treat (especially if you had lousy timing with the ‘yess’). He/she may glance back and forth quickly with his/her eyes between you and the treat. Be very patient. Some dogs are persistent about staring at the treat. They must learn that this behavior NEVER gets them the reward. The payoff is in looking to the handler.

Next time, wait a half-second before the “yesss” for his/her attention. Require that he/she look at your eyes steadily for a brief moment before marking and reinforcing the behavior. Each time you play the game, wait a little longer and a little longer before you mark the behavior. Count the seconds in your head. Just smile and look back at him/her. If he/she looks away too soon, you can break off the game and look away, too. Then start over and when he/she looks at you, begin counting again.

When your dog will look at you for an eternity, begin adding small distractions, and require him/her to pay attention, even though there might be something else going on. After he/she has looked at you for several seconds, move your hand. If the dog breaks eye contact to look at the hand, start counting all over again. The dog will learn to stop falling for your "fake-outs." He/she will learn that the fastest way to get the goodie is to "tune out" everything else, and focus only on you.

Notice also that we have not named this "trick" yet. There should be no ‘command’ to get your dog’s attention. You simply being ready to work should be the signal to your dog to play this game. This game has many benefits. Your dog will pay more attention to you in his/her everyday life. The dog will learn not to "help himself" to things, but to look to you for permission.
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John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk

[StuartW]

Tried this with Doogle and he has picked it up quickly.

Only thing is, my favourite trick used to be when he would stare at a treat right in front of him, or even on his paw, forever until he got the OK to have at it.. now he looks up right away.

[Ros]

I'm going to try this one as Jake's totally rubbish at eye contact. I'm definitely not the centre of his universe- rabbits are! After our walk today we need to go back to basics!! Big time!
I didn't know whether to cry or jump for joy when he finally came back! If it wasn't for everyone else there I would have really panicked.
Is there anywhere else on the forum that has handy hints for recall? How long do you think it will take a rescue/ stray dog to learn this? I feel I am failing him!

[Magz]

ros don't beat yourself up, I ranked with you tonight too, I would invest in a long line and just keep practicing
plus when he comes back lots of praise and excitement.

[Lindy]

oki just done this with both Dora and Lizzy and they both got it so I'll keep at it they made loads of nosie though

[Ros]

Thank you, Margaret. Although Sheila does have a valid reason for not coming back when you call her! My darling would win first prize for pretending he can't hear me. I'm obviously too boring in his eyes. Maybe I should put on a rabbit suit and run away from him!
First thing tomorrow morning on our walk I'm going to try the eye contact!

[Phoebe]

Ros,
we did it with a 15 meter lead. Sony learned it really quickly (2 weeks) and she is a rescue as well, as you know. I think it´s because she´s so greedy So just give him time and I think, if he realizes no walk without lead, as long as he runs away, he will start to think in another way.
What us helped really much was a (don´t know the correct translation) battle cry?, it´s a "go go go!!!". It´s a funny game for her to come back as quick as possible, but it works just if she doesn´t saw the squirrel before. If she is after something, it´s to late and we´ve got to wait. But your doggy loves you and therefore I´m sure he will come back!

The eye contact is good (greedy again ), BUT she doesn´t want to look at me if I got a stick in my hand! I tried for 5 minutes or so and she always focused the stick. Even if I talk to her! Is that normal? Should we work on that?

[kendal]

that happens with Inca only her thing is birds if we are on open ground she cant loos sight of it and will chase it for ever. but if we are at the glen and it fly's through a bush then we can get her attention back.
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microchiping and grooming www.chipnclip.co.uk

[Nicola]

I do "look" with my two.

I started off putting a treat to my nose and telling them to "look". Then, after time, I put the treat to my nose, told them to "look", and then while they were still "looking" I moved the treat away ever so slowly in the hope they were still looking at me. Roxy has this down to a fine art, she does it perfectly.

Now, Molly.....She has mastered it a different way. When I do "look" with her, she does it when the treat is at my nose, however, when I move it to the side away from my face, her eyes follow the treat but her head stays in the same position! She thinks I don't know what she's up to!

[Ros]

This game is great. Jake is so stubborn but he's learning!!

[Gaelle]

Is this game the same idea as I use at meal times? I put his food out in front of him and he sits and watches me until I give the command to go, today even Martin couldn't distract him. Also , normally he wears his prong collar when we are out for a walk, but because he has been so good the last few days without it, I did the same again today, bad idea, he met some other dogs that we know and pulled like a steam engine the whole walk! OUCH!! Does this mean prongs to be available at all times? He's pretty good now a lot of the time on his flat collar but when he isn't he is very strong.
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Happiness is watching my dog chase leaves dancing in the breeze.

[Ashley]

[geri carroll]

when i put orlas bowl down at mealtime ,she doesn't take her eyes off me until i give the command to have it
when i call her outside when she sees another dog, she TOTALLY ignores me
does this mean i should take her food bowl out on walks with me
confused from cumbernauld ......

[John Thomson]

Try the watch command Geri............with no distractions at first............
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John Thomson
www.cumbernaulddogtraining.co.uk