Put Attention into your game as a criteria and as a Cookie. Create a fast and functional wait through Attention | Bite | Cued Drop.

Attention – What are WE Gonna Do?

Eppie is looking at me asking,”What are we gonna do?”, literally. using Attention as a criteria creates a Wait, but more importantly it creates an understanding that watching the handler is key to knowing what we’re doing and when we’re doing it.

Attention placed between any skill and another creates a pause and a Wait situation. This is, of course obvious, but not so obvious that all handlers use it to their advantage. Guilty there, I can forget this in 10 minutes and will learn it again tomorrow.

Within Bitework, or during high intensity play, Attention is critical to putting some brakes on the runaway train and getting some throttle discipline on behalf of the drivers – dog and handler – lest the car (Team) crash. Heh mixed metaphors but hopefully it makes the point.

You want to put Attention in the Cookie slot, after a marked Cued Drop. Attention leads to the Bite, so it will become a secondary reinforcer rather quickly. Done well, Attention | Bite | Cued Drop creates a dog who wants to Wait.

Bite – Removal From the Hand

marking “teeth on” for the Bite leads to an immediate spit of the disc for the next cookie which quickly degrades into a perforating bite or even a nose touch. the criteria for Bite is removal from the hand, aka: Take it.

The criteria for a Bite is the removal from the hand. This is clear criteria that the handler can easily gradate to any dog’s skill level. Dog noses it, I drop it and say yes. Criteria met. Dog bites softly and it’s an improvement, I let it go, mark it and reinforce with jam. This is 90% of the problem with dogs who don’t like to bite toys in the hand.

The criteria is key, but in addition to the criteria the marking of that criteria is key. When teaching the dog to bite and bite well, you will be marking the removal from the hand. This will lead to an immediate drop, similar to the poor Bite criteria. Once your dog is smashing the Bite, stop marking it. Let it happen and get to the Drop cue. Mark, Attention, repeat…

Do employ a Regrab. Just let the dog take the toy with some resistance, mark it or not, and then reach right out and grab the disc again, setting up a Re-Bite with the same criteria of removal from the hand. The Regrab can be considered a Re-Bite.

Cued Drop – Drop as a Cookie

if you’re marking the Bite and have time to cue the Drop, give that Drop cue as a cookie. just throw it out there with fun and gusto, just like you would a cookie. respond to that marker with a pregnant pause: Cue Attention…

Placing the Drop in the cookie slot after the successful Bite is awesome! It so super cool. Dog | Handler | Team all love it, all are successful and it happens so smoothly and effortlessly. Everybody wants to do it.

This is a vibe or intent kind of thing. The dog knows it when they see it. Just respond to the removal from the hand as if it was a bad ass success. Mark it (or not) and give the Drop cue as if it were a cookie.

When the teeth come off, mark that, and now your cookie is a pregnant pause and the opportunity to give Attention.

So… What Are WE Gonna Do?