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Helpful Hints, if the dog is distracted wait until he regains your eye contact and give him special praise and reward for doing so. The timing is important, the reward is given for regaining eye contact, the message is eye contact has a reward greater than any distraction. .The dog should see resisting distractions is an opportunity to be rewarded and not an occasion for punishment.

Petting. Many of us have the habit of petting a dog on top of his head, but we really should be scratching it's chin and/or neck. Why? Well, we know how important eye contact is for us. Ever notice how a dog accustomed to head petting comes up to humans with his head down, gaze to the floor hoping to be petted! By scratching the chin and petting the area from chin to brisket (between front legs) the dog tends to look up and look at the person doing the scratching.

Umbilical Chord Method. Put your dog on a medium-to-short leash and tie it to your belt. Now, go about the house on your ordinary business. Do not pay attention to the dog. It will quickly learn to pay attention to you to determine when you are going to get up and walk around, or where you are going. This is an especially effective exercise with puppies and also lays a good foundation for learning to heel later. Start with short periods of time, say 15 minutes, and work up as your puppy gets older and more familiar with this exercise. If you catch your dog watching you, praise it.

Food from the Mouth Method. Place titbits (say dried liver) in your mouth or between your lips and spit it out to your dog so that he can catch it. Some handlers will be put off by this method but it is an excellent exercise for teaching attention. It gets the dog to concentrate directly on your face, not your hands or pocket. Do this as a separate exercise, until your dog understands that it must watch your face for rewards. Also, if he doesn't catch it, don't let them pick up the food from the floor or ground. If you do, they will learn that they don't have to catch the treat. They can just wait and pick it up.

Talking Softly to the Dog. To hear your commands (and be rewarded) it will have to pay close attention to you. This is especially effective when the dog is young, and is a good habit to get into for all your training. There is never a good case for shouting at your dog.

Motivational Word. A dog will learn to associate a word with a pleasant experience if that word is used with that experience. An obsessive retriever may associate the fun of retrieving with the name of a squeaky toy, a stick or ball 'Squeaky', 'Bouncy', etc. A food motivated dog may associate a treat with the name given to his favourite food 'Biscuits', 'Teddies', 'Liver', etc. A dog that is motivated or 'turned on' by walking or a trip in the car may associate that pleasant experience with 'Going', 'Walkies', etc. An observant handler will notice the dog's eyes tight up, his ears prick, his head placed on one side making eye contact with the handler, excited jumping or pacing, tail wagging, rear end swivelling. begging, paw lifted, etc when the motivational word is used. if the motivational words are used with caution, these words can be used to get the dog's attention and motivate the dog in training and in the trial ring. The word should not be used without the pleasant experience associated with it being given soon afterwards; otherwise, the association will soon be extinguished. If one of my dogs is working a little flat in the ring, I will change the Heel command, Recall command, etc to one of the dog's motivational words. it never ceases to surprise me how much difference the word makes to the dog's performance and his attention on me.

Eyes. 'Soft focus' means focussing on the horizon (in the distance) and not giving direct eye contact. 'Keen focus' means focussing on a spot or object or giving eye contact. Keen focus (or eye contact) gets the dog's attention usually in anticipation of a command, or when correcting the dog, soft focus relaxes the dog. A correction command 'Ah~' can be hardened or softened appropriately by either using keen eye contact or avoiding eye contact by focussing elsewhere. Prolonged eye contact or glaring intimidates the dog. Throughout training and during a trial the handler should be changing from soft to keen focus according to the needs of the situation.