The Importance of “Watch Me”
One of the first cues I usually teach is a “watch me” cue. I find this to be one of the most important things that you can teach your dog. When done right and practiced to proficiency, this simple cue is all you need to be able to redirect your dog off of whatever they are focused on and back to you- this is beneficial for reactive dogs, anxious dogs, hyperactive dogs, really any and all dogs!
Imagine you are walking your dog down a busy street and you suddenly see your dog spot a squirrel on the other side of the street and you know that he is going to take off through the traffic to try to get to that squirrel. What do you do? If you have practiced and trained a “watch me” cue, then at the first sign that your dog is showing interest in that squirrel, you can give the cue to redirect his attention back to you so that you can safely continue your walk.
Let’s look at another scenario: you have a dog who is very nervous around children. You go for a walk at the park and a young couple walks by with their child and can see/feel your dog stiffen from anxiety. You use your “watch me” cue to bring your dog’s attention back to you, who he is comfortable with, while the couple and their child walk by. You have minimized the anxiety your dog would have otherwise felt, ensuring that your dog stays happy and content and can enjoy his walk.
So how do you teach a “watch me” cue? I’m going to include the steps for that here as well so that you can start teaching this very important skill to your dogs.
Before you begin, put some small training treats in a baggie or treat pouch and have them easily assessable so that you can reward your dog for the behavior you are asking of them.
When your dog is calm, sit (or stand depending on your dog) in front of him and hold one treat between your eyes. As soon as your dog makes eye contact with you, no matter how brief, mark the behavior and then give him the treat. You can mark the behavior verbally or with a clicker- I will do a blog on this soon! Timing is very important; you want to mark the second your dog makes that eye contact so he knows exactly what it is that you liked.
Repeat this a few times and then simply point between your eyes and wait for the eye contact. Mark and reward as soon as you get it. If your dog does not make eye contact, get a treat and place it in your hand while you point.
Repeat this step until your dog is looking right away every time you point between your eyes.
Point between your eyes and say “watch me” as soon as your dog looks at you, and then mark and reward for eye contact. Do this 5-8 times, giving the cue as your dog looks at you instead of before.
Now point between your eyes and say “watch me” at the same time and then mark and reward for eye contact. Go back a step if you do not get it. If your dog does not make eye contact, don’t say the cue again, just wait a few seconds, toss a treat away from you to reset your dog, and then try again.
Test your dog by giving the cue without pointing to see if your dog understands the cue yet. You should be able to use the cue only without the pointing to get your dog’s attention.
Practice this all over the house, several repetitions at a time, throughout the day.
In the above video, I state that Bronx gets anxious during training, but that is not true so I need to correct myself here. Bronx loves training- he gets very excited when he sees my treat bag come out. However, what does make him anxious is a disruption to his routine when inside the home. We never train in this room because its simply not big enough. He is used to laying on the dog bed behind my office chair while I work and nothing more when in this room. He is not used to me calling him in, closing the door, fumbling with my phone while I try to find the best angle and way to prop it up, moving my desk chair out and then expecting things of him. This put him a little bit on edge and that’s why you see some of his anxiety start to creep in towards the middle of this video.
If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask!
