"The purpose of training is to build a team of dog and human.
The underlying principle of teamwork is attention to and awareness of the rest of the team."
Keep an eye on the sidewalk behind Cathy!
Step 1: Dog finds your eyes.
We wanted to give Rooster a very clear explanation of what we were after. So with the clicker in one hand, treats in the other, and all sorts of life distractions vying for Rooster's attention, Cathy clicked and rewarded whenever Rooster found her eyes.
Here the environment was more interesting to Rooster than "playing" with Cathy.....until she brought out the cheese. Cathy had never "explained" Watch to Rooster before with the clicker in one hand and the treats obviously held in the other. She wraps her leash securely around her hand....Patrick was under the car!
It took us a while, but we finally achieved success when we followed Step 1: "If you have a medium-to-large dog, sit down - on the floor or in a chair to bring your face closer to your dogs eyes."
Despite the enticing smells, Cathy's treats and the proximity to her eyes wins and Rooster is able to overcome distractions and give her 2 seconds of eye lock. (Step 2)
Adding Duration: Steps 2, 3
Patrick the orange cat is in the vicinity, so Cathy wraps the leash securely around her hand....just in case!
When you get up to 5 seconds, you can put the cue Watch on the behaviour as she's doing it.
COMEAFTER: Step 3: Get another person to re-teach the entire behaviour to your dog.
And when we get to Step 4 we change our position in relation to the dog - dog beside us.
Still lots of work to do!
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