Look Into My Eyes… Is That a Camera You Got There?
Formal Attention – Do I Have To? Quick, Mom’s Coming, Behave!
formal Attention – handler cues/signals Eye Contact and/or dog releases the cookie for attention – is one of the most important skills in dog training, but if it is the only version of the Attention you’re doing. you’re likely in trouble.
Formal Attention, Eye Contact obtained through a verbal or physical cue, is how we teach the skill here. It is also how we reset the dog sometimes or set the tone for a particular training situation. We tend to use Formal Attention for initial teaching and impulse control work.
It’s a very easily gamed skill by the dog. It’s quite predictable and likely to get boring both of which lead to scalloping (taking the cookie and leaving) and other engagement issues. One of my favorite uses is as a,”C’mon, dude, get with the program…” kind of response. I use a couple of those and then Dismiss or we get with the program.
In the image here you can see Emma is workin’ it REALLY hard; the Focus! Yoshi is just chillin like a villain watching what’s going on.
Ambient Attention – Oh, Hey, What’s Up? ‘sUp?
Ambient Attention is the most common kind of Attention if it is cultivated. if it is not cultivated it isn’t going to be in the dog’s behavioral repertoire. be on the look out to capture honest, Ambient Attention and reinforce it to your Team’s needs.
Your dog should watch you like they watch TV, my old buddy Craig Rogers used to say. If your dog is watching you like TV then they should be zoning out on you at times. Or checking in, not to watch the show, but to just get an idea of what’s going on – hate to miss something…
Like Yoshi here. We happened to catch eye contact right before I snapped this photo. It was epic. We both will remember it even though no cookies were given other than the recognition that we hooked up and did the thing. “‘sUp, Ron?”
Capture and mark these happenstance glances, reward them with cookies and honest attention, and create bombsquad Attention.
Situational Attention – Oh, You’re Taking Pictures, Hang On a Sec…
situation Attention is driven by context and the environment. “Oooo! it’s this situation, I give Attention. Situational Attention is a slippery, quirky little critter. it can fool you into thinking Dog | Handler | Team really know the thing…
Situation Attention is like Eye Contact at the door. “I get to the door, I give Eye Contact…” or Attention before dinner. Something like that. Any situation that reliably predicts Attention either being sought by the Handler as a target criteria or a behavior that works for the Dog.
Situational Attention can be leveraged as well. Trigger the situation, get Attention. That’s nice. It’s also nice to have Automagic Attention in particular situations.
Make sure that Dog | Handler | Team all understand these forms of Attention and have history performing them.