Some of you know about the command “Look at That!”. Some of you may not. This command has changed my life with my once loud border collie that is amazingly quiet most of the time. Of course he is a border collie so barking is part of his life and yet through training he has learned to be at peace with quiet times. Read on to learn how this command easily generalizes to farm animals and other distracting stimuli!
This week my parents came from OH and we have been having a blast! We went to Wheeler Historic Farm for a few hours. Okay this place could be border collie heaven. Well what did my dog do? He walked nicely on the leash most of the time with me. To top it off he looked at donkey’s, geese, ducks and other birds without pulling on the leash! “Look at That!” did wonders! He literally looked at the animals and then on command immediately looked back to me even when we were 1-5 feet away from some of these critters 🙂 Now I like to have fun with training and not go crazy with effort. We started “Look at That!” with people and dogs. That was mainly where most of the training ended too. So what I am saying is this command is absolutely amazing. Seiki generalized this command with farm animals FAST!!
What is this wonderful command? “Look at That!” allows your dog to look at the stimulus that he wants to look at. When he does this and is quiet C/T (click and treat). Your dog will immediately look right back at you if you are the correct distance away. Do not be too close to the stimulus. You will move closer as your dog is ready. This command teaches your dog to look at distracting stimuli without barking, whining, and / or pulling on the leash. Eventually, your dog will begin to look at you more than the stimuli. This creates a dog that walks nicely on the leash without barking and without whining. Wow!! I am telling you it is the command I use the most with my dog and I highly recommend it for any high strung dog 🙂
What a life changing week! I had no clue that my dog would do so well with farm animals. I mean really it isn’t like we trained around them. This is only the 2nd time he has seen them!
Okay so I am excited and wanted to share this personal and amazing experience with you! I hope it inspires you to train “Look at That!”. If you need further clarification on how to train this please contact me.
Also if you love to read there is a book all about it: Controlled Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt
Happy Training!
Johanna Teresi, Professional Trainer and Owner of Four Legged Scholars
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