Building Focus

In Gundog Beginner, we're going to build on the focus work you started in Puppy Basics. Your dog has already learned that paying attention to you is rewarding, and now it's time to develop that focus in more challenging environments.

Using your placeboards, this lesson will show you how to strengthen your dog's engagement with you while beginning to work out in the field. The aim is for your dog to choose to focus on you, even when there are more distractions around them.

Remember that placeboard training is mentally demanding, so keep your training sessions short and end while your dog is still engaged and successful.

Continue to use your clicker and reward eye contact. However, at this stage we're asking for a little more. When your dog offers eye contact, wait an extra second or two before clicking and rewarding. As your dog becomes more confident, gradually increase the duration over several training sessions.

Don't rush this exercise. Build duration slowly and always set your dog up to succeed. Strong focus is the foundation of every aspect of gundog training, and investing time here will make all of your future training much easier.

As always, less is more. Short, positive sessions will achieve far more than long, repetitive ones.