FF100: Fully Focused

 

Fully focused pre-class lecture:

 

Welcome to our Fully Focused class!  This pre-class lecture is designed to help you visualize and understand our approach to focus work with our dogs.  We have been developing our focus training approaches for almost 30 years, and have been very successful using them.  Now we want to pass that information on to you so that you and your dog can form a mutually satisfying working partnership.

 

Back in the “old days” our ideas about focus were fairly simplistic.  Either our dogs were focused on us (desired outcome) or they were distracted (undesired outcome).  This binary approach led to the development of trainer focused techniques and exercises.  While these worked, they still left out a huge number of variables that affect focus.  They also didn’t take full advantage of the dog as a thinking partner in the process.  

 

As time has gone on we’ve learned that focus is a much larger cognitive process than we first imagined.  The dog giving the trainer eye contact and attention is only one small aspect of the bigger picture.  Our dogs are always focusing on something; we need to help them learn how to shift their focus as appropriate to the situation.  This is a much more complex and subtle approach.  

 

Four focus types:

 

In addition to trainer focus we can also identify external focus (on the environment), self focus (on the dog’s direct internal & external states), and task focus (on an action or behavior).  Rather than saying “my dog is not focused” we now would consider where the dog’s focus is at the moment, and determine how we can help the dog shift to the desired focal point.  

 

You might think that trainer focus is always the goal.  You would be wrong!  There are definitely situations where we want a strong focus on the trainer, but that’s not the only type of focus necessary for success in dog training.  While it may seem like we spend an enormous amount of time trying to build and strengthen trainer focus we don’t want to neglect the other focal points.  Working with them will actually help us reach our focus training goals.  

 

External focus is often considered problematic during training sessions. We often refer to distractions as the undesired focal point.  When our dog is focused on something in the environment then they are not focused on us or on the work. That’s true, but it’s still important and needs to be thoughtfully considered.  What, exactly, is our dog focusing on?  Is it something that is common or uncommon in the environment?  Do we need to add another layer to our work, possibly as simple as acclimation, or maybe even some desensitization?  

 

For our dogs external focus can often lead to self focus.  What are they doing and how are they feeling?  It might be something like sniffing in response to a stressor.  The sniffing is an observable behavior, and it may be simply recreational, or it might be an anxiety reliever.  We can see the behavior but we have to make some educated guesses about the internal emotional state.  If our dogs are overwhelmed due to an external focus then training is literally falling on deaf ears, and eyes.  We are fighting to get them to break focus on both the external event or object as well as on their own emotional state.  This tends to be a losing battle if we approach it as such.  

 

On the other hand external focus can at times lead to task focus.  Imagine a herding dog noticing sheep in an adjoining field or an agility dog who hears the bang of the teeter.  These external events can lead to a strong push to perform a desired behavior or behavior chain.  In both herding and agility we have a number of focus shifts happening.  We have external focus that hopefully turns into task focus, and we also need trainer focus to listen to cues, and self focus to pay attention to what they are physically doing.  That’s incredibly demanding!  Even more so when we haven’t properly prepared our dogs for these high focus expectations.  

 

In the real world it’s pretty rare for there to only be one focal point at any given time.  There are multiple factors pulling at focus.  They often overlap and require quick focus shifts.  In this course we are going to work towards identifying different focal points and help our dogs navigate them with more ease and comfort.  

 

Five interaction categories:

 

The way that we will accomplish our focus goals is through the use of a variety of types of interactions with our dogs.  These interactions will help us to direct our dog’s focus in desired ways.  The more types of interactions we develop with our dogs, the larger our repertoire of tools that allow us to direct and shift our dog’s focus quickly and easily.  Let’s take a quick look at each of the five categories.

 

Food

 

Most positive reinforcement trainers rely strongly on food as their main training tool.  A food motivated dog is a great thing; but relying too strongly on any one reinforcement tool greatly limits our options.  If food is the only thing keeping your dog connected to you during training then you are going to have issues when environmental factors draw focus their way (and you don’t have the option of using food or your food isn’t compelling enough).  

 

The value of food, beyond basic reinforcement, is that you can use it thoughtfully to raise or lower arousal levels.  There are times when I want my dog to feel more enthusiasm or excitement in training, and times when I want him to be more calm and relaxed.  We can adjust not only food value and amount, but also the manner in which food is provided.  Sometimes randomly tossing a handful of cookies is the right thing to do while other times we want to be much more controlled and precise in food placement and delivery.  

 

Food can be a very compelling focal point for dogs.  We want to be sure to use it to its best effect in any particular training scenario.  We also want to balance food interactions with all the other interaction options so we don’t create a cookie monster!

 

Toys

 

Toy play is meant to be a self-reinforcing activity.  You don’t get paid to play; you play for the enjoyment of the activity.  In fact, getting paid to play can be problematic (but that leads us into a whole other discussion).  Our goal is to keep play as pure and fun as we possibly can.  

 

Most trainers play with their puppies in a variety of ways.  We can incorporate a huge variety of objects into our play sessions or we can play with our movement or our physical interaction as the main driver (those each have their own categories that we will address shortly).  

 

Toy play introduces an external object as a focal point for the interaction.  Even so, truly interactive play means that there must be mutual interest in the game.  If one partner guards the object from the other; or if the time spent interacting with the object strongly favors one partner over the other; then the game is unbalanced and may be causing more conflict than cooperation.

 

Developing and nurturing interactive toy play takes some forethought and consideration.  We want to keep our canine companions interested in the interaction, but we don’t want them to feel pressured or uncertain.  This leads either to disengagement or frustration.  We want to hit a fine balance where there’s mutual give and take.  

 

Most dogs come hard wired with preferred play styles and that’s fine. Those play styles often integrate with specific types of toys as well. Our job as trainers is to explore all the possibilities and to compromise on the type of play and type of toy that meets the needs of both parties.  

 

Movement

 

Many dogs enjoy either moving themselves as well as moving with others.  You can think of agility as a movement game interrupted by tasks.  Competition obedience and rally are also movement based, but in a much more precise and controlled manner, which many dogs and humans actually find more challenging.  

 

There are lots of running games that we can play with our dogs.  Some of these may incorporate food or toys as a goal of the movement.  It’s also good to have moving games where the movement is self-reinforcing rather than the goal of an external reinforcer.  

 

Games like chase have a number of possible variations that dogs and their people can enjoy together.  You can take turns being the chaser and the chasee (I don’t think that’s a real word but you know what I mean, right?)  You can add hiding so your dog needs to find you to your chase game.  

 

Movement can also involve distance work where your dog moves away from you and performs a behavior or task independently.  This is typically seen in more advanced work but you can start the basics by playing simple movement games with puppies.  

 

Control

 

Control games are actually one of my favorite ways to interact with my dogs.  Control isn’t all about denial and inhibition.  It’s about teaching our dogs how to make choices that lead to the best possible outcomes for them.  It encourages them to become equal partners in the learning process and, if done properly, leads them confident and eager for more.  

 

Control work helps our dogs learn how to manage and shift their external focus to a self, trainer, or task based one instead.  This is a HUGE boon for learning to “shut off” the environment and focus on learning or performing skills.  

 

The key to control work is that it needs to be presented in a way that always sets the dog up for easy success.  If they are struggling then you are not doing your part of the job correctly.  Easy success, especially early in the process, leads to more persistence and commitment when things get more challenging later on.  

 

The control aspect of focus helps our dogs learn to pause and think, rather than simply mindlessly react.  This is something that needs to be built over time by adding difficulty to the exercises as they become easy for our dogs.  Eventually, that pause to think becomes habitual, and that leads to our dogs making good decisions on their own.  

 

Tactile

 

Touch is often an integral part of our day to day lives with our dogs, but not often used to its best advantage for training.  Much of the time it comes in the form of petting; which both dogs and owners love.  That actual physical connection seems very calming and comforting for both parties.

 

Touch can come in 2 basic forms.  We can initiate the touch with our dogs or they can initiate touch either with us or with an external object in the environment.  As I stated above touch can be calming, but it can also be arousing.  We can rough house with our dogs to bring up their excitement and energy levels.  For some dogs this is incredibly easy, in fact they often get overly aroused quickly.  For other dogs too much intense touch can be unpleasant and they become avoidant.  The key is finding the right amount and type of touch that leads to a positive response from your dog.  The goal is to create and sustain both physical and mental connection using physical touch as one of our tools.  

 

We can also teach our dogs to initiate touch, and this can actually become a very powerful behavior.  They can learn to move away from us to touch external objects, which increases confidence performing distance work (even if we are starting at a very short distance) and leads to independent task focus (which is a very good thing!)  

 

Our dogs can learn to use touch as a communication tool, as we often do with a chin rest for cooperative care work.  Maintaining the touch gives us permission to continue our physical work and moving away means they want to take a break.  By creating and responding to their voluntary touch we are building trust and tolerance for physical procedures.

 

Pre-class preparation:

 

Test out and gather 3 of your dog’s favorite treats.  One treat needs to be tiny and soft (could even be baby food consistency).  One should be small and round (to roll well when tossed).  And one should be the highest value you can find.  

 

Also test out and gather 3 of your dog’s favorite toys.  One toy should be something your dog can tug; one should be something round and easily rolled for chase, and one should make an appealing noise (for your dog).  

 

Have these treats & toys readily available for your class work.