Training reactive dogs can feel complex and confusing. There are so many games already, why do we need another one? This game is the number one thing I do with reactive dogs adn it grew from a host of other games that may all have been great, but didn't quite accomplish my goal.
I'm sorry, this is a long one! Sit back with a cup of tea, read and think =)
Relaxation
My goal for our reactive dogs is for them to RELAX near the trigger, whether that's another dog, wildlife, a man in a hat, kids, things with wheels, etc.
The Glance & Go game, along with some foundation skills, accomplishes that. Not sure you believe me? Check out the very happy and relaxed Bayler below =)
Here's one of Finn, a reactive older dog learning to relax around his new puppy. Even thought it is a hot and muggy day, doesn't he look relaxed? This was early on in his training and with each walk, his confidence jumped in leaps and bounds!
Use food as an Interrupter
Staring at people or other dogs is rude. I wrote a post on this called Bus Stop Manners if you want to dig deeper into this.
If your dog fixates, stares, or freezes while watching a strange dog or person, we interrupt that and help them watch while being less intense and more polite. The important piece is to do this while creating more relaxation, never using pain, fear, threats, or anything that can create a negative emotional reaction.
If you know your dog has a habit of fixating or staring, start early. As soon as your dog even glances at or flicks an ear at the trigger, interrupt them.
But How??
Lot's of dogs won't eat when they are stressed, worried, or excited. That's fair. But we can use food in play as well, and with play, we can help even less food motivated dogs play our games! There are many ways to use food, and below are two of my most popular methods.
We aren't rewarding our dog with the food, we are using the food to interrupt them.
"Catch!"
My very favourite way to deliver food to a reactive dog is to toss it at them. Yup, really. Say "Catch!" as a cue that food will fall from the sky and toss a single treat at your dog. I usually aim for a shoulder. Of course, if this will scare your pup, don't choose this option!
This game has a few BIG benefits:
- It stimulates your dog's prey drive. This makes the food MORE valuable and the game more fun for your dog. Many dogs will chase or sniff food, even if they don't want to eat it.
- The tactile cue of the treat bouncing off of their shoulder can often be 'heard' by them even when they can't respond to your voice. Especially if you can remember to say "Catch!" first, it classically conditions "Catch!" as a positive interrupter. That's a bit geeky, sorry!
- When your dog drops their head to find the treat that just bounced off of their shoulder, they start sniffing, with engages their seeking system. When we engage their seeking system, we help them become more motivated and more optimistic! A huge challenge for reactive dogs is they tend to be pessimistic about the things that upset them.
- We are not asking our dogs to look at us. If you are asking your dog to look at you, you're just managing the problem. We need our dogs to be able to look at things in the world and not lose their marbles. More on this below when I talk about the difference between this and a couple of other popular and similar games.
Hand Delivered
Hand delivering a treat is a great way to go if your dog can't play the catch game or if you need them to stay in a sit or a down. This delivery option is for more advanced dogs and you can play on narrow trails or other areas where you don't have space for your dog to move around a bit.
The key is though, that we feed the treat off to the side or with your dogs head tilted down a little, not while they are still looking at the trigger.
It is ok to use the treat to lure your dog's gaze away from the trigger, but keep in mind that this means you are on the verge of being too close to train.
Allow your dog to be a good dog!
If you can successfully interrupt your dog 4 or 5 times in a row, you can let them look a little longer, now waiting to see if they fixate or just watch softly. If your dog watches softly, without fixating, freezing, or giving other stress signals, let them be.
Now that you practiced and feel secure that you can use food to interrupt your dog, wait and watch for them to tense or to fixate OR, count to three Mississippis and then interrupt your dog using the treat.
If you feel secure that you can interrupt your dog after 3 Mississippis, you can now go to 5. Or, if you feel super secure, just let your dog be a good dog and only interrupt them if they start to fixate and need your help.
Mistakes Happen
While you are learning to read your dog, you might make some mistakes and have an odd reaction. It's ok. I promise =) Making an occasional mistake is a part of learning and you will get better at reading your dog, and your dog will get better at playing your training games.
Working Under Threshold
But Christina! If your dog needs you to throw food at them, if your dog has an occasional reaction, aren't you working them over threshold? Don't we need to keep them under threshold?
No. No we don't.
Ok, so ideally, yes.
However, the world is not perfectly orchestrated so that reactive dogs can be walked and kept under threshold. It just isn't.
Maybe we are working near a dog and suddenly that dog shakes or scratches its feet - and now our dog is over threshold. Maybe we are working near a human and that person trips or sneezes.. now our dog is over threshold. A skateboard comes around the corner, the neighbour moves in with 7 dogs, 3 teenage sons, and 4 kids under five. You get the idea =)
It benefits us and our dogs to learn how to work when things are a little more exciting. Plus, I find that people are often so worried about going over threshold that they don't push the limits. If you always stay in your comfort zone, you risk getting stuck there!
Progress means taking some risks. Taking risks means sometimes we get in over our heads. Have a damage control plan in place so you know what to do, and your dog knows what to expect if we get in trouble.
Doesn't this game seem like some of the already popular games?
How is this different from Look-At-That and Engage/Disengage?
I started with Leslie McDevitt's Look-At-That Game (LAT) and up until recently, called my game LAT but always specified that I play it differently. In fact, the entire goal of Glance & Go is different than the goal of LAT.
The goal of LAT is for your dog to have a conversation with you when they see a trigger. In the end, once trained, your dog should see a trigger and turn to look at you. The goal of Glance and Go is for your dog to learn to sniff or just relax when they see a trigger - I specifically do not want my dog to look at me. LAT is not intended to be used if your dog is allowed to meet the trigger. Glance & Go can be used when we are working up to greetings.
Engage/Disengage has two stages. Stage 1 is very similar to LAT where you click or mark when your dog looks at the trigger, but are playing far enough away that when your dog hears the marker, they turn to you for the treat. In stage 2, you wait 3-5 seconds and expect your dog to automatically turn to you for the treat. This game is intended for use when you might want to let your dog meet the trigger, whether dog or human. Like LAT, this game really focuses on the dog learning to look at you.
Why Don't I Want Eye Contact?
Eye contact or attention on us certainly has a place in dog training. If I want to walk my dog through a busy area where there might be too much going on for their comfort level or training level, then I will ask for attention on me to walk through. There are many other times that I want attention on me as well.
This is management. If your dog is focusing in you, they aren't learning to just be relaxed in the world.
If your dog is focusing on you, we can get "out of nowhere" reactions where our dog seemed fine, but was simply ignoring the trigger until they couldn't hold it in anymore, then BAM! Big reaction.
Summary
Glance & Go isn't the only game I play, but it is a part of training reactivity for most of the dogs I see. It works for excited dogs and for fearful dogs. The goal is for our dogs to relax around things that previously excited or worried them, going about their doggy business, and not focusing their attention on us.
If you are looking for more training games and ideas, check out the 50+ free lessons in my Free Reactivity Course and Support Group on Facebook.
