What does training "Attention" really mean?

My last blog post was about paying attention to your dog. Now let's look at the other side of the coin: your dog paying attention to you when asked. It's one of the first skills dogs learn. Normally—at least the way I’ve always taught it—a dog is expected to give eye contact when hearing their name. Then, once you have their attention, other cues can be given. I’ve come across trainers who use the dog’s name to mean “come to me and give eye contact,” but I don’t recommend it. Imagine your dog has gotten loose and has run across a busy street. You wouldn’t want calling him to mean, “Run back to me across this busy street!” In that scenario, I’d rather have the dog look at me, then give a cue to stay and cross over to him.

We’ve all seen dogs who haven’t had enough attention training. Maybe the dog is on leash, sniffing intently, and when his name is called it looks as though he’s hearing the “wah-wah-WAH-wah” of the Peanuts’ cartoons. Or he’s off-leash at the park having a great time, and his owner could call his name until the cows come home, but cows are more likely to show up than the dog. And yet, too many people expect that once a dog knows their name, they’ll respond to it no matter what.

My husky mix Sage (pictured above) has come a long way with attention training. In her case, I want her not only to look at me when I call her name, but to know that turning her attention to me will get her things she wants, even when I haven’t called her. For example, every morning, my husband takes her for a run. Here's our routine: he puts the harness on her (I must pause here to share that I originally worded that “he puts the harness on”…and then got a really strange visual.); then, she must sit and stay on the rug by the front door while I attach her leash. I open the door. Here’s where it gets tricky. There will inevitably be a parade of squirrels in front of the house, tap dancing and singing show tunes. Okay, maybe not so much the show tunes, but they’re out there for sure, trying to get whatever leftover seed falls from the bird feeders. And they might as well be dancing and singing, judging by how entranced Sage is with them. Still, I expect her to look to me before I release her to go out the door. At first, I can’t tell you how many flies got in the house as I stood there with the door open, waiting for her to look at me as she stared at those feisty little suckers. Nowadays when I open the door, she glances out and then quickly looks to me for permission to go outside.

Of course, like anything else, the whole trick with teaching attention is to start off practicing with no distractions and making it easy for the dog. That’s followed by gradually making things more difficult by adding in small distractions and then bigger ones, and by practicing in more and more challenging environments. Contrary to what many owners believe, it is possible to get a dog’s attention when they’re in mid-flight going after another dog or even a squirrel, whether the distraction is just outside the house or across a busy street. It takes time and perseverance, but it's worth putting in the work. One day it might even save your dog’s life.

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You can find my books and streaming seminars at www.nicolewilde.com and follow me on Facebook @NicoleWildeauthor. My mentoring service can be found at Dog Trainer's Friend. And if wildlife photos are your thing, check out my Instagram at nicolewildeart.