Dog Training World Forums Obedience Training Phase 2 Obedience Jacob session 9 Reply To: Jacob session 9

  • Michael D’Abruzzo

    Administrator
    January 10, 2023 at 10:05 pm
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    Art, I like to use “leave it” if a dog has already noticed a distraction and “look” to prevent a dog from seeing something in the first place.

    So, for something like “heel” where a dog does not have to stare at my face and can do a relaxed walk with my leg easily visible in peripheral vision, I may say “look” if I notice a distraction before the dog such as another dog eyeballing yhe one in my command and it prevents dealing with the adrenaline associated with the dog locking eyes first and then disengaging with “leave it”.

    Of course, “heel” is enough for majority of distractions if that is what the dog should be engaged in, but it becomes obvious when the other commands become useful. For instance, when I would train dogs in Manhatten, it was unavoidable to not have close passes with other dogs on busy streets where a “look” became very useful command even if it was for a few seconds duration on a close pass.