Autocheck and Focus

Autocheck is a behavior that will help your dog understand who he can defer to for leadership. Once the dog understands this, the realization that he doesn’t have to control and protect everything around can help a dog learn to relax and not be bothered by anxiety or other behavioral factors. To teach “autocheck”...keep an eye on your dog and reward/praise every time your dog chooses to look your way. The more your dog learns to check in with you, the more she will learn that you are the one in control and are the protector so your dog doesn’t have to be. 

Autocheck, while being a great relationship builder, also helps in the early stages of training for the Focus cue.

Teaching a Strong Focus

This will allow you to work through distractions, making training more positive and effective. To begin, make sure your dog is comfortable either in front of you or at your side.

With treats ready, let your dog sniff your baited hand. Once the dog is focused on your hand, lure her gaze up toward your face and eyes (be quick so the dog doesn’t lose interest). The goal is to have your dog follow the food and then make direct eye contact. The instant eye contact is made, say “good” and give the treat. (Be careful to only reinforce for making eye contact...we want to be sure the dog recognizes that he gets the treat for looking at you, not your hand.) Once the dog understands “looking into your eyes” consistently, you can add the cue.

Adding the Focus cue

  1. Bait your hand and keep it behind your back 
  2. Say your dog’s name and the word that you will use for the cue, “Watch Me”. The dog should offer one of the following responses:
    1. The dog immediately looks into your face and makes eye contact. If this happens, say “Good” then give a Release Cue* and follow with treats from behind your back.
    2. The dog does not immediately look into your face. In this case, wait. Do not repeat the word. Instead, wait one long moment to give him a second chance to respond. If that doesn’t happen, use the treat to lure her into the focus behavior. Now, try it again. If the does still doesn’t respond, continue to practice without the word until your dog is more consistent and clearly understands what you want.

*The Release Cue is very important in training as it marks the end of a behavior for both the dog and the trainer. By marking the end of a behavior with a specific word (“free”, “release”, “all done”, etc) the dog will learn a clear understanding of the exact cue she is waiting to hear before breaking a position.