If you incorporate eye contact in your dog’s training for attention sessions then he will always look up to you for guidance and have excellent behavior. This type of bond will ultimately bring your relationship to a higher level. You will both learn how to read each other’s body language and emotions. He will learn to respect your leadership role in the relationship. Eye contact provides a deeper level of communication than can be achieved by training simply through commands and motions. People who have practiced eye contact have really seen an amazing intensity of focused attention in their dog.

To begin the dog training for attention exercise, you need to use your dog’s name as the initial attention getter. To make him look at you each time you call for him you can display a quick movement that will immediately draw his attention. Once he comes to your call you should present a treat you had hidden. Always keep treats randomly hidden throughout the house so your dog does not grow accustomed to only following your command during the obvious “training time”. Instead he will learn will obey every time and you will be promoting a higher level of focused attention in your dog. Raise the treat to your eyes so his gaze will lock with yours. Once he does this reward him. Slowly increase the seconds of eye contact for each reward. Soon he will know exactly where to look for his prize. If he is a brand new puppy, you may try to hand feed him for the first few weeks. Use the hand fed kibble as treats during this exercise but as soon as he learns the concept, then you can wean him off the food and resort to praise when he does well. Always repeat each successful exercise 3-5 times to really embed the concept in your dog. Once you see that the focused attention in your dog has been steadily maintained then it is time to spice up the exercise with some challenging distractions. The first thing you can do is call out his name from another room. When he comes to you make sure he locks eyes before receiving any positive attention. Next grab his favorite toy and play with it. When he wants to jump in say his name to bring his stare back to your eyes before you allow him to play. Consistency is the only key that will allow him to progress to the advanced part of the exercise. The last part of the dog training for attention exercise requires your friend’s assistance. Have someone else offer your dog some food. Interject immediately on their moment by saying his name. Wait for him to make eye contact with you and then praise him greatly for doing so. Even give the offered food to him out of your own hand as a reward. If he fails to look at you after calling for him then separate yourself where he can see you pout for a few minutes. Your friend is never to give him any food during the whole exercise. Try the entire process again until your dog behaves as he should. After several successful outcomes you know you have focused attention in your dog and all of the dog training for attention methods have worked. Eye contact during training will make for a better behaved dog, a much closer bond, and will encourage a constant higher thinking from your pet. Eye contact is the most important method used in dog training for attention because he will have to lock eyes with you if he ever wants food, to be played with, or praised. This training process is actually much more humane than to be controlled by the leash because it is easier, faster, and more positive.