FOCUS COMMAND

[Richard Crowe]

The other evening at training, I noticed a poodle that had been taught the "Focus!" command. When that command was given, the poodle would stop what he was doing and look directly into his owner's eyes. This was a neat command that would distract the poodle from any unwanted activity and would also serve as a prelude to any other command because the owner had the dog's complete attention, no matter what was distracting the poodle.

I am now working with Holly on the "Focus!" command. I feed Holly Nature's Variety raw food which comes in a patty like a big hamburger. Holly does extremely well on this food and has never had the runs or an upset stomach. The two patties per day diet (although fairly expensive) also keeps her weight at the optimum level.

I am teaching Holly the "Focus!" command when I feed her. I hold the patty in one hand with a piece broken off the patty in the other hand. Naturally Holly is interested in the big patty but, I give the command "Focus!" and hold the piece of food directly in front of my eyes. I wait until she has looked at the small piece of food and thus established eye contact with me before I give her the piece to eat. Sometimes if she is distracted by something like neighbor dogs barking (eating is not an extremely high priority with holly and she can get distracted easily) I move the food in front of her face, give the "Focus!" command and then move the piece in front of my face. This works very well.

This routine seems like it is working quite well and this is the first time I have ever tried a training routine that I have not learned from a book or form a training course. I am going to feed her this way for a couple of weeks and then will try the "Focus!" command when we are in other venues.

[Kyoko]

We did something similar to this too. The difference was that we put the dog in sit position, and everytime when the dog gave an eye contact voluntearily, we gave it a piece of treat.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

We use "WATCH ME"...start by saying "Peri" and as soon as she looks at us, we say "WATCH ME". We are working up to 30 seconds where her eyes lock ours. Then click, treat. It is the same thing as Focus and is a great command.

[Phoebe's Mom]

Wow! This is a wonderful command and one I wished had been taught to us during Phoebe's training. I am going to work on this right away with her. Thanks!

[Libby & Bentley]

We learned this the first week in puppy kindergarden...as watch me or watch.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Richard. A version of the "Focus" called "Look at Me" is the very first command that they taught us for Lucy and Sophie when we started beginner obedience. We just used our finger from in front of them to point to our eyes. They said if we can't get their attention then nothing else is going to work. I still use this "Look at me" all the time particularly right now as I'm trying to teach Sophie to not be so excited by other dogs when we are walking, so as soon as I see a dog I start in with getting her to Look At Me! I do however jokingly use the FOCUS word with them many times when we are outside doing the potty thing and they are just messing around instead of doing their thing. I'm like "Come on Girls, FOCUS"!. We were taught not to hold the Look at me (Focus) for more than 7 seconds as that is a "challenge" in dog world. Sounds like Holly is doing great and loving her Therapy Training!