How to Teach your Dog the Look Command

The most important ingredient in training a dog is the ability to attract and hold their attention. If they are not focused on you, they cannot learn. Using his name as a way to grab his attention can work but names are associated with all sorts of commands and are not as effective as they could be. What if you had a command that made him look you in the face when you wanted his attention? Wouldn’t you then have his attention and be able to ask something else of him without distraction?

The ‘Look’ command is just that – a command that makes him look you in the face. This is especially effective with shy dogs that will not willingly make eye contact or high-energy dogs that never sit still long enough to do more then glance in your general direction.

To begin, pick a quiet room with few distractions. And make sure he is hungry as his food drive must be high for this to work and use a treat that is especially yummy. Have him sit in front of you (you can be standing or sitting in a chair – whatever is most comfortable).

Take a piece of treat and, while he watches, put it up to the bridge of your nose (right between the eyes!) and say ‘Fido, Look!’ in an excited voice. When he makes eye contact, mark his response with a ‘Yes!’ or ‘Good boy!’ and give him the morsel of food. Do it again. Do it a bunch more times, taking a little longer each time to give him the treat and always with a excited ‘Yes!’ or ‘Good boy!’ when he makes eye contact.

Once he has that part solid, its time to make it a bit more difficult. Instead of holding the food between your eyes, now hold the food at arms length from your face. This time when you give the ‘Fido, Look!’ command, as soon as he even glances your way, mark the behavior with a ‘Yes!’ or ‘Good boy!’ and give him the treat. Keep at this step for a while until he knows that he must look you in the eye to earn the reward. Begin delaying the treat so he holds your gaze.

Repeat these steps several times a day for a week or two for him to really have the command down solid and then begin using it at other times of the day. While playing, pause the game for a second and say ‘Fido, Look!’. As soon as he looks at you, throw his ball or toy. When you give him his dinner dish, say ‘Fido, Look!’ and when he does, place his dish in front of you. While out for a leash walk, say ‘Fido, Look!’ and when he does, give him a treat.

Next try it with a few distractions such as a busy room or yard or when he is full of energy and running around like a crazy dog!

When fully trained, the Look command can have a million uses, all based on gaining his attention – not a bad command to have in his repertoire!

Question:

My adopted rescue dog, a Kangal a large powerful dog, is uncontrollable when he sees other dogs. I got him when he was about 9 months old and I believe while he was not overtly mistreated he was chained 24/7 and largely ignored. He is now nearly 3 and a lovable dog showing no aggression to humans. He has little concept of play with humans though and does not seem to understand treats. He is submissive to my other dog, a female around the same age but who I had from 12 weeks old and was here first. On a leash he will walk quite calmly with little pulling after the initial excitement but as soon as he sees a dog or cat he will bolt and I have to release him or he will pull me to the ground. Often he will just want to play but has attacked another dog which is allowed to roam free and is also very aggressive towards him. When free in the yard he is well behaved until another dog or cat comes into view when he goes berserk and if not restrained will destroy the fence in order to escape.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

ANSWER:

Hi,

The first thing to do is make sure that you have control of Kangal, in the sense that he can’t attack another dog or a cat. Right now, he’s pulling the leash out of your hand, so you need some kind of harness or head collar that makes it so that he doesn’t have so much momentum. Furthermore, you need to learn how to prepare for the jolt of the leash and to not let go.

That’s the Quick Fix side of things. We definitely also need training and behavior modification to teach Kangal not to pull on the leash or lunge toward other dogs and cats.

For the Quick Fix, I recommend either a head collar or a front-attachment harness. Or both. A head collar looks like the halter on a horse, and the leash either clips under the dog’s chin, to turn his head, or on the back of his head. Some brands I like: Comfort Trainer, NewTrix, and Canny Collar. The mainstream brands are also ok: Gentle Leader and Halti. With front-attachment harnesses, the leash clips at the dog’s chest, so that if he starts to pull, he gets thrown a little off-balance and pivots toward you, instead.

Given the amount of power your dog is pulling with when he lunges, I’d do both. Get a small coupler (a little leash with clips at both ends) and clip one to the head collar and the other to the harness. Clip your leash on the ring between them.

So, now you have enough control for regular walks, but how do you fix the lunging? I recommend you contact a behaviorist in your area who does Counter-conditioning and Desensitization or perhaps Constructional Aggression Treatment. Here’s a short version of CC/DS.

Start at a distance, and every time he sees a dog or a cat, he gets a super-tasty treat, like a piece of steak. The treat should be a special treat that he doesn’t usually get, a surprise that happens just AFTER he sees the other dog. Ideally, feed before any lunging, so you can reach his mouth easily. If your dog lunges, it means you’ve messed up and gotten way too close, so feed your dog anyway and try to do better next time. Don’t worry about rewarding your dog for the lunge. Dogs are lazy and will do the least amount of work necessary for that treat. So you may train a bark, but probably not a full-on lunge. Especially since your dog can just get the treats for free by just looking at the other dog or the cat.

That should last you a little while until you get to a trainer or behaviorist in person, but it’s easy to mess up your timing and other things. Save yourself a lot of time and effort and meet with a professional.

No behaviorist near you? Feisty Fido by Patricia McConnell is a great book. I also do dog training by Skype for people with no local resources, so you could contact me.

Grisha

Grisha Stewart, MA, CPDT, CTP

Voted as Seattle’s Top Dog Trainer by the readers of CityDog Magazine, Grisha Stewart is the owner and founder of Ahimsa Dog Training in Seattle, WA. Grisha is a Certified Training Partner from the Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training & Behavior, a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and since 2002, an active member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. She attends several training and behavior workshops each year and is a certified Pet First Aid attendant and evaluator for the Canine Good Citizen program.

For more information on Grisha and Ahimsa Dog Training in the Seattle, Washington area, visitwww.ahimsadogtraining.com.

Question:

I have a 4ish-year-old rescue mutt who I adopted a little over a year ago. She was rescued as a stray and we know nothing of her history with people (or dogs). She is extremely dog-friendly and gets along with nearly every dog she meets, even those that usually don’t like other dogs. Humans, on the other hand, are a problem. When we first got her she would bark at roughly 70% of the people we passed on the street and was supremely shy with new people. We completed obedience classes and have continued daily obedience exercises. I have also tried to introduce her to as many new people as possible under very happy circumstances (doggy daycare and the dog park have been great for this).

Now she wants to bark at only about 10% of the people we pass on the street, but it still very very shy, even with folks we see nearly every day, whose dogs she is friends with. Once she trusts someone she will adore them, and once in a great while she will trust someone automatically. The vast majority of new people, though, she automatically mistrusts, and they have to work pretty hard to change that. I can’t figure out a pattern of who she’ll be outright afraid of (that 10%), who she will be wary of and who she will like. I feel like we’ve really hit a wall with her training, and I can’t get her over this last hump. Any suggestions for turning her into a full-time friendly, confident dog?

ANSWER:

First congratulations on adopting a four year old with some issues. Sounds like you have done a lot of work with him. If he is only barking at 10% of strangers rather than 70% you are doing really well.

When walking and encountering strangers that you want your dog to be friendly to give the person a treat to give to your dog. First have him sit and then let the person offer the treat. This should work. Note, some dogs are naturally shy of strangers. Its okay if he isn’t affectionate or even friendly to everyone.

I gather, what you are more concerned about is barking at strangers. The barking part when encountering someone new, have your dog sit, continiously treat him while talking to the stranger. This serves a dual purpose. He cannot bark with a full mouth. More important it shows him that meeting new people is a positve thing.

Hope this helps
Nancy

Outside of the dog world, Nancy has both a Bachelor of Social Work and Masters degree in Criminology, which led her to become a correctional social worker. For over 30 years, she has been a practicing social worker, working in Children’s Services and Corrections.

“In 2004, I decided to go to the IPDTA conference just to see what it was about. It was amazing, all these dog trainers talking about using operant conditioning,” exclaims Nancy. “I decided that I wanted to be part of that world. The amazing journey of becoming a positive dog trainer had begun. I am still on this new adventure and learning more every day. I did not realize there was so much information and theory to learn about canine behavior and emotions. My social work background has helped immensely as much of the theory I learned at university about human emotions applies aptly to dogs.”

The Good Dog Blog welcomes Nancy and her background in both dog-training as well canine nutrition. To learn more about Nancy, visit her website, Devoted to Dogs and her Devoted to Dogs Blog.

Our database of doggy professionals is building! We have recommendations of vets to trainers to groomers to companies that produce to dog specific items from all over North America. Wonderful job!

But we need more!! Before we build this out into a referral website, we need to have a few thousand recommendations of doggy professionals from every corner of this continent and even beyond our shores. We are about a third of the way along in our collecting process so keep them coming in please! Vets, trainers, behaviorists, groomers, dog walkers, kennels, doggy day care, dog parks – whatever you can think of, send it my email at ann@ohmydogsupplies.com.

Thank you!

Starting next week, we are going to have a new format for our Friday post on the Good Dog Blog. Starting with ‘sit’, each week we are going to feature a new training command and how to teach it to your dog in a positive and exciting way for both your and your dog! Once we get through the three basics – sit, down, and stay – we will progress through some more interesting commands such as look, touch, and leave it. These are all wonderful commands that help build a true working bond with your beloved pet and we will make sure to give examples of where these words can be used. You will be surprised how often you end up using the ‘Look!’ command, for example, while walking your dog, playing at the dog park, or hanging out at the local coffee shop!

Look for next weeks post ‘Dog Training 101: Teaching your Dog to Sit’!

Hello everyone!

Our database of doggy professionals is building! We have recommendations of vets to trainers to groomers to companies that produce to dog specific items from all over North America. Wonderful job!

But we need more!! Before we build this out into a referral website, we need to have a few thousand recommendations of doggy professionals from every corner of this continent and even beyond our shores. We are about a third of the way along in our collecting process so keep them coming in please! Vets, trainers, behaviorists, groomers, dog walkers, kennels, doggy day care, dog parks – whatever you can think of, send it my email at ann@ohmydogsupplies.com.

Thank you!

Question:

Awhile back I submitted a behavior problem we have with our golden retriever when we take her in a car or truck.

ANSWER:

Hi Laurinda,

Hello everyone!

Our database of doggy professionals is building! We have recommendations of vets to trainers to groomers to companies that produce to dog specific items from all over North America. Wonderful job!

But we need more!! Before we build this out into a referral website, we need to have a few thousand recommendations of doggy professionals from every corner of this continent and even beyond our shores. We are about a third of the way along in our collecting process so keep them coming in please! Vets, trainers, behaviorists, groomers, dog walkers, kennels, doggy day care, dog parks – whatever you can think of, send it my email at ann@ohmydogsupplies.com.

Thank you!

In honour (spelled with a ‘u’ of course) of Canada Day tomorrow, I want to welcome a fellow Canadian to the Good Dog Blog! Nancy Tobis is a registered professional dog trainer from Toronto, Ontario who not only brings her canine know-how to the GDB but also a background in canine nutrition. An expert of natural and homemade diets for our four-legged friends, Nancy makes diet recommendations for your dog based on their age, medical conditions, breed, and body weight. Starting tomorrow, she will be taking over the Wednesday spot, answering your questions on canine training and nutrition. For more information on Nancy, visit her website at http://www.devotedtodogs.ca/ or through the Good Dog Blog.

Welcome, Nancy, to the Good Dog Blog!

Because of all our amazing readers and their experience with our favorite four-legged friends, the GDB is going to build a referral system for trainers, behaviorists, vets, groomers, shelters, kennels and who knows what else! What I want is your stories, referrals, situations and information about experts you have had experience with and found them to be professional, helpful and knowledgeable. We are going to start small at first – send me the location, the name and contact info of the person, a brief explanation of why you recommend this professional and any other bits someone may need to know about them. Eventually, we will turn this into a database of some sort where everyone can go to hire a doggy professional with confidence that this person is recommended by one of our amazing readers!

Are you the professional? Send me your info please! Although you will not come with a recommendation from one of our readers, I am happy to forward your information to readers in your area location looking for your particular expertise.

So please, send me your story and your doggy pro’s information to ann@ohmydogsupplies.com – the more professionals on the list the better and we want them from all parts of the continent! Even if you live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, if you think your trainer or your veterinarian is the tops, I want to know about it!

Thank you for your time and hopefully we can make this into a real useful tool for all dog owners!

Ann