Keeping the attention of your dog while training is not always easy. Dogs can be easily distracted, and it is important to not allow the dog training sessions to be sabotaged by boredom. Making dog training fun for the dog and the human alike is essential to creating a happy, well adjusted and well trained dog.
Providing random positive stimuli during the day is a great way to keep the interest of the dog. Doing things the dog enjoys, like walking in the park, riding in the car, and playing with other dogs, are good ways to keep the dog’s attention, but you must reward him for small successes.
For instance, in order to reward the dog for coming to you when you call him, ask the dog to come to you, without giving any clues about a walk, a car ride, or other treats.
After the dog has come to you and obediently sat down, attach the lead and begin the reward. This can be either the afore-mentioned walk in the park, ride in the car, or anything else the dog likes to do.
Providing some kind of reward, whether a treat, a special outing, or just a scratch behind the ears, every time the dog does something you want, is a good method to maintain your dog’s motivation while you are dog training.
If your dog knows something good is going to occur every time he follows your commands, he will be more motivated to do want you tell him every time.
Distraction training.
When training a dog, it is vital to not allow distractions ruin the training. The dog must be trained to ignore distractions, such as other people, other dogs, other animals and loud noises, and concentrate on what is being taught These kinds of distractions can also be used as rewards when training your dog to come when told.
For example, if your dog like romping with other dogs, whether it be in a park or with the neighbour’s dogs, let him play with those other dogs. Then go into the park or yard and call your dog.
When he comes to you, provide lots of praise, treats and other rewards, then immediately let the dog to go back to playing with his friends. Repeat this several times and praise the dog each time he comes over to you.
The dog will quickly learn that coming to you means good things (treats and praise) and not bad ones (being taken away from the park).
This so-called distraction training is one of the most difficult things for your dog to learn, because dogs are social animals by nature, and leaving the pack is one of the hardest things you can ask your dog to do. Most dogs will be understandably reluctant to leave their doggy companions, but it is vital to persist in dog training.
Training the dog to come to you when you call may require some creativity on your behalf at first. For example, waving one of his favourite toys, or a lure, is a good way to get your dog’s attention and put the focus back on you. If your dog has been clicker trained, a quick click can be a good motivator as well in dog training.
Once the dog begins to become used to coming when called, you can begin to reduce and then stop the visual cues and focus on getting the dog to respond to your voice alone. It is vital that the dog responds to voice commands alone, since you will not always have a toy or other lure to hand.
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