Hi everyone. I started training my two Cocker Spaniel puppies (11 weeks) last Saturday at Petsmart. Our week one homework was to get your puppy to look at you for 15 seconds straight. The 2 trainers said if they cant do this they are not ready to move on. I'm having trouble getting them to stare at me for that long. I can get there attention for atleast 5 seconds (sometimes longer). The point of this excercise is to get them to look at you so when we move on to other training (like sit, come, stay) I can get my puppies to pay attention to me. My question is: Isn't 5 seconds good enough for now (i'm assuming they will get better with time). I have training every week so we only have 1 week to practice each excercise, which, in my opinion, isn't long enough. Has anyone else done this training? Do you really need the full 15 seconds to move on? Thanks for any input.
Training
- Thread starter Tracy
- Start date
Paula N.
Member
- Owned by
- 1 cocker
In our 3rd puppy class we were told to have our pups look at us while we hold a treat to our foreheads. Once they've done it for as long as you want them to, they get the treat. You feel like a total idiot but I guess it is good for the dogs! We've already gone over sit, stay, come and walking on a leash so I'm not sure why your trainer said your puppy can't move on without this. With a class full of other puppies and distractions, all of the puppies were enthralled by the treats and could care less what else was going on...so, I'd try it with a treat held up to your forehead!
The way they taught us to do it is show the dog a treat, put it behind your back, say "watch me" to the dog and then wait for them to look at you for 15seconds at which point you say your "mark" word and give them the treat. They told us to work up to 15 seconds, so start by expecting 5 seconds. But I still don't understand how the dog is supposed to know to look at your eyes and they specifically told us not to hold the treat to our foreheads b/c the dog will be looking at the treat instead of me. I've been practicing a little everyday and they are responding to the mark word so I guess it working it's just the eye contact thing I'm not strong with.
- Owned by
- 1 cocker
Your puppy is kind of young so maybe that works against him at this stage. As far as not understanding why he would look at your eyes...if you want to get someone's attention, you make eye contact. I guess they expect your puppy to look at you with that give-me-a-treat face. Hoshi is 4 months and he'll look me in the face when I have a treat.
KLADCkrs
Well-Known Member
- Owned by
- 3 cockers
I teach the "watch" command like this . . .
Buy a clicker OR choose a word to use as a "marker," such as "yes" or "okay." The word or click is used to let the dog know the instant they do something you like.
Get a little bowl full of small, soft treats. Hard treats won't work, because they take too long to chew. I use Zuke's Mini Naturals, but you can use anything. Some people use Natural Balance rolls and cut them into small pieces. You want at least 30 pieces and a good chunk of time (15-20 minutes) in a quiet space without distractions.
Click (or say your marker word) and immediately give your dog a treat. Do this about 15 times in a row. Within a few repetitions, you will notice that your dog is looking expectantly at either the bowl or your hand, so this means that they know that the click/word means a treat is coming. This is called "loading the clicker."
Next, say your dog's name, and the command "watch" (or "look" or whatever you want to use). Wait for the dog to make eye contact . . . it may take a while, as the dog will probably be staring at the food. Wait them out. Don't repeat the command. When they look you in the eye, click or say the word and then feed. Repeat. It won't take long at all until the dog immediately looks at you. Then you can start asking them to hold the eye contact. Start with 3 seconds, then go to 5 seconds, and increase in small increments.
This is what I use, and it works well for me. Good luck!
Buy a clicker OR choose a word to use as a "marker," such as "yes" or "okay." The word or click is used to let the dog know the instant they do something you like.
Get a little bowl full of small, soft treats. Hard treats won't work, because they take too long to chew. I use Zuke's Mini Naturals, but you can use anything. Some people use Natural Balance rolls and cut them into small pieces. You want at least 30 pieces and a good chunk of time (15-20 minutes) in a quiet space without distractions.
Click (or say your marker word) and immediately give your dog a treat. Do this about 15 times in a row. Within a few repetitions, you will notice that your dog is looking expectantly at either the bowl or your hand, so this means that they know that the click/word means a treat is coming. This is called "loading the clicker."
Next, say your dog's name, and the command "watch" (or "look" or whatever you want to use). Wait for the dog to make eye contact . . . it may take a while, as the dog will probably be staring at the food. Wait them out. Don't repeat the command. When they look you in the eye, click or say the word and then feed. Repeat. It won't take long at all until the dog immediately looks at you. Then you can start asking them to hold the eye contact. Start with 3 seconds, then go to 5 seconds, and increase in small increments.
This is what I use, and it works well for me. Good luck!
