Engagement Training

Simple Version

Mark and reward your dog whenever they look at you. Increase distractions and duration of engagement.

Fall back on building engagement if you’re having any other problems with training.

Importance of Engagement Training

Learn why it’s so important to have a dog that engages with you and understands their markers.

Overview

Having a dog that gives you automatic attention or sustained engagement is the key to successful dog training. It is one of the first things you should be teaching your dog.

Lack of attention tends to be the reason many owners give up on their “impossible dogs”. Training a dog to have attention is no different than training any other behavior.

If they are with you they should be paying attention, you can give them a release like “OK” to let them know they are off-duty and you can use their name to bring them back into engagement.

You will build this characteristic by Free Shaping the behavior once your dog is conditioned to the markers.

Dopamine

Creating a relationship with your dog where you are the best thing in the world is the most important part of getting your dog to be motivated and want to listen to you. You do this through being consistent and removing any ambiguity (don’t repeat yourself, follow through). You will help create the motivation through engagement exercises.

It’s all based on releasing dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that motivates us to do certain things. It motivates us to pursue a reward. It’s not about the reward, it’s about the pursuit of the reward, for example, food. Your focus is on how you make your dog pursue the food/reward. That part has to be addicting. Once you get that down, everything else becomes easier. This is a new way of engaging and interacting with your dog. You don’t want to rely on food or obedience, you want to rely on the relationship you have with your dog.

Step One

Free Shape Sustained Eye Contact

Observe and Reward
Go about your normal activities while being extra aware of your dog’s behavior. Mark and reward every time they look at you, even a small glance.

Increase Duration
Gradually work up to longer staring periods. Instead of marking immediately, wait one second, then two, and so on.

Consistency
Repeat for 3 days to build undivided engagement and reinforce marker sounds.

Step Two

Proof with Distractions

  • Controlled Setup
    Start in a calm environment like the kitchen or living room to test your dog’s attention. Pick a distraction and reward your dog for maintaining eye contact with you.

    No Reaction to Distractions
    If your dog loses attention or breaks position, do not react. This teaches them that engagement with you earns rewards, and everything else doesn’t.

    Adding Distractions
    Gradually introduce distractions in small increments, such as:

    • A helper making noise in another room

    • A helper walking into the room

    • A helper walking closer to the dog

    • A helper standing next to the dog

    • A helper leaning over the dog

    • A helper touching the dog’s shoulder

    Increase Criteria Slowly
    Slowly raise the level of distractions, rewarding small increments of progress. For example, don’t go from a noise to a helper touching the dog immediately. Gradually build up to complex distractions, like dancing or eating next to the dog, while maintaining focus.

    End Goal
    The goal is to have the dog engage with you despite weird or unexpected distractions.

Step Three

Outside with Low Distractions

  • Backyard Setup
    Head into your backyard with your dog either on a long 10-15ft leash or off-leash if fenced.

    Mark and Reward Attention
    Walk around and go about your activities, marking and rewarding whenever your dog looks at you.

    Creating a Cue
    Over time, being in the yard will become a cue for your dog to look at you.

    Free Shaping
    If your dog runs off or does other things, that’s okay. They will only get rewarded for looking at you, reinforcing the behavior.

Step Four

Outside in New Areas

  • Neutral Area Setup
    Start in a neutral area like the sidewalk in front of your house. Use a long leash if possible and let your dog wander.

    Mark and Reward Eye Contact
    Mark and reward any eye contact, gradually building on the duration, as you've done previously.

    Gradual Progression
    Move to more exciting areas only when your dog is consistently giving good attention in the less distracting setting.

Engagement Games

Activate - Deactivate Game

  1. Activate and Reward
    Get your dog to look at you. Mark with “Free,” then move backwards, creating a reward event with praise, pets, movement, and treats.

  2. Deactivate and Wait for Calm Behavior
    Remain still, or wait for a "bad" behavior like jumping to deactivate. Wait for your dog to auto-sit or make eye contact, then immediately activate with “Free” and reward.

  3. Teach Calm Check-ins
    Your dog will learn to offer auto-sits or calm eye contact to activate you. You can also deactivate by turning your back, teaching them to seek you out and check in more often.

Up Down Pattern Game

Pattern game for attention and to work on your marker timing:

  1. Start with Treat Toss
    Toss a treat on the ground near your feet. When the dog lifts their head after eating it, mark “Free” and toss another treat at their feet.

  2. Mark Eye Contact
    Slowly start marking “Free” when the dog makes eye contact with you instead of just lifting their head.

  3. Vary Treat Placement
    Once the dog understands the game, toss treats in different directions and vary the duration of eye contact before marking.

  4. Add Distractions
    Play the game with a distraction in the distance. Over time, the dog will learn that the best response to a trigger is to play the pattern game: look at you, then the trigger, then back to you.

Stop & Go

  1. Stand Still and Wait for Check-In
    While outside on a leash, stand still and wait for your dog to check in with you. Mark and feed immediately when they look at you. You can either toss a treat or hand feed.

  2. Build Sustained Engagement
    Repeat this process until you get sustained engagement, then give a release cue like “OK” or “Go Sniff” to let them carry on. Follow them for a bit.

  3. Encourage Check-Ins with Prompts
    After a minute or so, use prompts like their name or a kissy noise to encourage check-ins. If they don’t respond, plant your feet and wait until they look at you, then repeat the steps.

Attention Trilogy Game

This game get’s it’s own page: Attention Trilogy Game

It combines their name, recall and building on eye contact, as well as chaining other behaviors together.

Focus on making sure your markers are conditioned and your dog enjoys engaging with you before trying this out.