The BEST FIX for REACTIVE, Nervous & DISTRACTED Dogs! (Engage/Disengage)
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In this video I show you the engage/disengage game. This game was developed to help fearful, anxious, or reactive dogs feel more comfortable around their triggers and distractions. However, I love this game for training all dogs! It works great for teaching your dog that distractions are a cue to engage with you as the handler. Basically, your dog sees a distraction (like another dog or human) and immediately looks up, laser focused on you. And who doesn't want that?
I love this game for both pet, and service dogs to increase handler focus. I credit this game for the excellent neutrality my dogs have out in public.
Engage/Disengage Training Cheat Sheet: / engage-disengage-96731044
Offered Attention: • Get your DOG to PAY AT...
Name Game: • Teach Your Dog to List...
Clicker Training: • Clicker Training: How ...
Byxbee Unedited Engage/Disengage Training Session: / engage-disengage-96733594
#dogtraining #engagedisengage #reactivedog #reactivedogtraining #obedience #obediencetraining #servicedog #servicedogs #servicedogtraining #assistancedog #dogtrainingtips #dogtrainer #positivereinforcement
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@DoggyU would this be good to help my reactive service dog?
@@kinkscoils9636 Absolutely. Anytime you're dealing with reactivity, I would pull them from public access and work on exercises like this one specifically to help them feel more comfortable and confident.
@@DoggyU thank you so much! I have hope! 💛✨
For anyone reading this: I know that dog training can be difficult sometimes, but you're doing great. Keep up the good work, and your dog (and your own sanity) will thank you for it! ❤️💕
Thank you so much, the community can be so judgmental, I needed the support 😢
@@free2bkittenforever I know exactly what you mean. The negativity can be difficult, but keep loving and raising your pup to the best of your abilities, and don't let it get to you. You're doing great. ❤️💕
Woof
@@APittyNamedMARY Arf
How do you know that they're doing a good job training their dog.? Smh
This video is why you’re my favorite dog trainer on KZhead. So clear, concise, and thorough with your teaching!
Thanks Victoria!
I do this with my cat Timmy, at least a versions of this. I let him look at the distraction but then ask him to look at me or watch me, after a couple of seconds of looking at the distraction. Whether it's a squirrel, whether it's another cat, or whether it's a dog. Or even a person, he's done really well. And I've been training him since he was about 2 months old. Maybe about almost a year old with this tactic, it has worked really well for me. And one of the things that is really rewarding for me, is I have done this tactic in a very busy hospital. And he did perfectly, any time that he would look at a distraction whether it was someone passing by, or a kid crying. I would always ask him to watch me, and he did. It was really nice seeing my hard work being paid off with this. He is an esa, he is my PTSD cat, and it's very rewarding for me and him that he is this intuitive not only to me but to the training. If I could do this with a cat, you could do this with a dog.
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this really is going to help my servcie dog in training
I'm so glad!! It's such a useful game to play!
@@DoggyU yes I'm trying to teach him to do check ins so this is helpful!!!
Love this game. As you said it can be applied to so many situations.
SO MANY!
I’ve heard about this game before but wasn’t sure all the steps involved so thanks for explaining.
You're welcome! :)
I LOVE engage/disengage! It's helpful for so many different situations
It really is! It's like duct tape for dog training - pretty versatile and helps in so many situations LOL!
Me and my SDit have had a scary situation in the dark together (dog barking out of nowhere, agressive / guarding tone, while we were nowhere near his yard, and we didnt know if he was on the street or behind a fence) which resulted in me losing some of my confidence and her being more nervous around other dogs. Ive been looking for a solid and easy way to get back to where we were, and I think this is the method for us. Thank you for both sharing the cheatsheet and the video!
This is the perfect exercise for helping her feel more comfortable and confident around other dogs. It's all about changing her CER (conditioned emotional response) to other dogs. Good luck to you both and Happy Training!
You’re fantastic at explaining how to train systematically. This protocol is super effective-it helped repair my previous dog’s entrenched reactivity which was caused, of course, by my lack of proactivity. It’s clearly much better to start right! Whip’s neutrality is beautiful to see.
It helps that she’s a cat at heart 🤣
Great, very thorough video!
Great video Laura. And you broke down the steps really nicely. Well done. Love it!
Thanks Jose! ☺️
Excellent demonstration!
Thanks for the * click treat * @DogGonePositive :)
The infographic for this technique is great, but it helps having a video explainer and example as well. Thanks Laura!
You're welcome! Totally agree - it's always nice to be able to see real life examples/training in action for me too!
Love your videos
Thanks Beth!
Love this video. Thank you so much! This is so helpful
I'm so glad!
Excellent info and explanations!! Extremely helpful!! Would love to see more content geared towards helping easily excitable dogs stay focused and engaged and under threshold. Thanks so much!
So glad you enjoyed it! Definitely check out the eye contact and name game in the video description to get started with more enegagement!
Marley has a sweet soul! 😊❤
We were doing this a lot prior to staying home more because of the dog respiratory issues and we need to reinstate it because I definitely notice a difference. Thanks for the reminder! ❤
You're welcome! Such a great game to dust off once in a while!
good stuff
Thanks so much for this video! You rock! I can’t wait to play this with my pup.
Yay! So glad it was useful! Happy training!
This is great because the dog associates other things positively, but simultaneously practices not caring about them, and caring more about looking at "you". Great game. I used to play it by dropping a treat on my highly terrified girl's nose to build good associations, which did eventually work. We'd build distance and I'd mark and reward for eye contact. But this clicking game instead actually marks the looking at the thing, as good. Not just looking away, which forced my girl to push past fear, rather than learning it's actually a good thing that the scary trigger is around. Though, I think both games would be fine. She turned out to be able to relax and follow my lead well. Thanks for a little different perspective!
Absolutely! I like how this one tends to change the underlying feelings around the trigger very quickly! Glad your pup was able to become more comfortable around her triggers!
I am actually doing this to deal with my dogs reactiveness and it has definitely helped. Though since I am a wheelchair user it is often difficult to avoid triggers so she still ends up reacting when they come to close. What I would like to know is if it is right of me, to basically just handle her almost silently and wait it out and reward her the second she looks at me. I don't want her to think she is being rewarded for lunging or barking at another dog.
Hi there from an Irish woman in Austria! I've literally only just stumbled upon your channel as the title is this video grabbed my interest. How can you practice triggers when it's an unpredictable deer, cat or squirrel 😅? My 8 year old golden retriever, Molly, is addicted to the chase but it's always when something appears out of the bushes unexpectedly (like neighbours' cats😅) and, in forests, we can be going along really well but I know that I can't train off lead to 100% because of the unpredictable factor. How can you do this training for those sorts of triggers. She's brilliantly behaved in every other area of life but I'd love her to be able to go off leash without having a basket of chicken or sausage available🙈! Hope you can help. I've just downloaded your free course. Great to find you 😊😊
I like to start with triggers that are controllable but mimic the issue you're having. So I can use a flirt pole to mimic squirrel/small game behavior like this one: amzn.to/3OTAsnJ Then you can work on impulse control and engage/disengage around it (it's helpful to have a helper with this one). Then I would also be working hard on your recall as well.
I know this is off-topic to a degree, but could you recommend a book on how to train a guide dog? Great easy to follow video by the way. Thanks for offering tutorials for people training service animals
Not much out there in that regard. The closest you'll find on guide dogs is "forward together" by Christine Bane: amzn.to/3HIVH7x but it's not really a "how-to". Too bad it's not a few years later - hoping to do an entire series on it with my next dog.
This really helped me see how anxious my dog is. Almost 3 years old. My german shepherd can walk by other people and dogs with no problem - IF- they are not moving. ! I'd love to know what that is about. He seems to be a hard core herder.
Herding dogs can definitely be triggered by movement! The best way to work on this with the engage disengage game is to have a friend or family member help you (and get their steps in for the day) by having the friend walk slowly back and forth on a designated path while you play the game, about the width of a driveway. Then have them walk faster, then jog, then more erratic behavior. You can use a friend to start this exercise under threshold for your dog and then slowly raise the difficulty level. Happy Training!
OMGosh! Yes, of course, the movement! Thank You! That really bugged me. @@DoggyU
Leslie McDevitt pioneered this game over 15 years ago..called Look at That
Yes - Engage Disengage is a spin-off of that game. Alice Tong acknowledges that in her write up on the game.
This is a really helpful and well explained tutorial on how to teach this. Wondering if it's appropriate for teaching my Westie not to bark at dogs walking past our home🤔?
You could definitely use a version of this for barking in the home. To be successful, you'd likely need to limit your visual access when you're not available to supervise/play the game. You'd also probably need to enlist a friend or family member to start practicing with a distraction dog that you can walk back and forth, or even start by just having them hang out in the same spot outside your house to get started.
This is an amazing and very helpful video! Thank you! So, to be clear, i can use "yes" as my marker rather than a clicker? And.....it's they look at trigger "Yes" treat. Level 1 They look at trigger, as soon as they disengage "yes" treat level 2 Moving closer to trigger was level 3? Does this work for a dog that is nervous or fearful rather than reactive? Example: my dog is kind of like this looking at cars or lifts inside costco or home depot? Tail tucked sometimes shaking and won't want to take treats.
Hey Candace! Definitely download the cheat sheet in the description to take with you while you practice. It will be very helpful in clarifying. The game can help address triggers for nervous and fearful dogs as well, with the ultimate goal of changing their CER, conditioned emotional response to the trigger. However, it sounds like your dog is very much over threshold if they are already shaking and not taking food. I would pull them from public access while you're addressing their confidence. You would need to create a scenario where they were under threshold and could move very far away from triggers to start, for instance, with an elevator that is in a public parking garage, or cars on a highway, very far away. Hope that helps!
Thank you for this info! Idk if it will help my certain situation though which is I have a LOT of allergies, many things like perfumes, etc. are a big problem for me and my 1 1/2 old GSD lab mix picked up on this very quickly and will sit and not let me approach an allergen. The issue is, if someone continues to approach me, he'll drag me by the leash away in a panic which usually hurts my shoulder. I really don't want to have to explain to everyone this happens to what the issue is and it really makes him look like a bad service dog. It is one thing preventing me from doing more training out in public. Is it best to give up on him/us being able to be out in public together and try with my other GSD who doesn't alert me to allergens but is much more confident in public or maybe a service dog is not the best option then? Thank you for any input anyone can give!
Hi EC! I can't give you any advice on the nuance of your particular situation. However, I can tell you that training a different response to odor is definitely possible. So you could train a nose boop alert instead of running away. I'd probably want to get professional eyes on the situation though. The response you're describing sounds like it could be a fear response and having a professional take a look in person would likely be a good course of action.
Great video! Thank you for making it (and for fielding the troll comments with such deft humor). I'm working on this training game with my intact male Anatolian, who is 9mo old and really not food or toy motivated. He likes treats, and praise, but they're not very high value for him when instinct-triggering distractions are around (like a noise in the forest that might be a predator). I do feel like I'm really fighting his instincts here, which are telling him that watching for threats is more important than literally anything else, including food and human interaction. Do you know of any modification of this game where I can provide a reward that would work within his instincts? Movement definitely exacerbates the issue; if we move away from the perceived threat, he feels it's a punishment, but moving towards it increases his excitement and readiness to engage with the threat; he is barely capable of basic commands like sit or down when his brain is in guardian mode. No toy can get his attention, nor even a fresh, juicy bone. The distance of the perceived threat doesn't seem to matter; it can be half a mile across the valley and still consume his brain until he identifies the source and determines if it's not a threat (squirrel or deer, for example) or actually is a threat (wolf; must seek and destroy! Lunge lunge lunge at the end of the leash). I've been doing the "look at it" and attention games, name games, e.t.c since he was 2 months old, and this remains an issue. I am glad, for my flock's sake, that he is a good guardian, but I would love for him to learn other skills as well, since we have other livestock guardians to take care of the critters and this dog is so smart, very socialized and human-friendly. He's otherwise very trainable, and working his way through the AKC certifications. I just need to find a reward mechanism that he would value over perceived-threat-assessment.
First, it sounds like you're doing an amazing job with a very challenging LGB in the most challenging stage of life (adolescence). If you're struggling with finding a reward that outpaces criters and you've been playing this game since 2 months, it may be time to change tactics. As you've mentioned, your dog has been bred for hundreds of year to pay attention to these "distractions". I think I'd advise you to check out "Predator Substitution Training." I have not personally used this method, but have a few friends that have found it incredibly useful with their sighthounds and other prey-triggered dogs. Hope that gives you another path to explore!
@@DoggyU That's very helpful! Thank you
I was able to keep my dogs under control, but they'd still get excited when other dogs were present. I struggled to figure out what I was doing wrong. I'm looking forward to trying this with my next puppy. Question. My first dog, I took to Puppy Play groups for early, positive interactions with other dogs. When he got excited, I wondered if that might have something to do with it. So, I skipped puppy play groups and took my next puppy to Star Puppy classes instead. In hindsight, that may not have been the best idea because she, too, was excited around other dogs. The only difference was the additional training during those periods. Puppy play was an important part of the structure of the class. But my dogs are Service Dogs. They have to be able to focus on me while working. So would you recommend ditching both next puppy, or do you think they'll be able to learn better with this game while still being able to enjoy important puppy socialization periods? 🤔
I think having time to play with their own species is vitally important to a dog's overall wellbeing, especially in puppyhood (excluding dogs that actually don't like playing with other dogs). The important part is balancing playtime with work on settling around other dogs, along with clearly defined expectations about what is happening when. Ie. you're on a leash and I"m engaging with you means we pass other dogs. Off-leash with your "go play" cue? Time to play. Within play I also do a lot of calling the dogs back, treating for returning, playing for 3 minutes, coming back, doing some behaviors, then returning to play.
Is this similar to CAT or BAT Training? I’m trying to learn more about counter conditioning techniques and desensitization stuff.. thx
While they all have similar goals, engage/disengage is inspired by the "Look at That" game.
I can’t find any of the links you refer to in the video, such as the step by step instructions pdf/sheet
Hey Snikermom! If you click on the description for the video, all the links are always down there. But here's the direct patreon link to the pdf: kzhead.info?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbGV1aGZmTnBEQU9QRDEyMVhPRjNzaW9TQkJ0d3xBQ3Jtc0ttWkZuVU4xbXF6VUd0Z3NCZkdVaHpER1NrTGZfTjhQOGFyNGh1dnhFYjRiMnVsWGU4SDQwZjdEZy14aFBkdzFoOG83QXlOQUFKVzhNTmJxVVJPQlcyVndHaVVtZzFlMlBiZVotTHBDTWtZZHJrc2lHNA&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.patreon.com%2Fposts%2Fengage-disengage-96731044&v=M5OANGG342Y
Pro Tip for all the clickers within the community: A sound/word you can speak/do can't be lost (easily) as a clicker =) Stay crunchy.
I like to have both a verbal marker (in my dog's case it's "yes") and a clicker. But for this particular exercise, I highly recommend using a clicker. The verbal marker is the butter knife to the clicker's scalpel. When we're working with dogs that are potentially reactive or nervous, the clicker seems to cut through the surrounding noise more easily vs. the dog having to pick out the verbal from all the other words we humans tend to say. Plus, our verbals carry emotional weight. We say them differently depending on how we feel (excited yes vs. monotone yes). The clicker sounds the same whether I click it or you click it.
I don’t see any link to the tip sheet.
Hi Maureen - if you go to the description (you might have to click *more*) you'll find all the links mentioned.
How could I possibly do this to my dog? We got the dog from a friend who had him for 5 years from being a pup, when my friends missus seen how big he grew, he ended up mainly caged away from the family. He wasn't used to going out daily and he pulls towards random people all the time. To train him this, would I need to have a total stranger to stand there as that is the trigger.
Great question - I get this question about dogs as well! So for dogs, I go to dog parks because that is a captive audience. For people, find a bike trail where people walk by frequently. You can step off the trail and practice at a distance that works for your dog. A busy store and a parking lot also works too. Hope that helps!
@@DoggyU Yes that does help, thank you very much.
What is the suggestion for a 3 year old dog that is not very treat motivated?
I actually have a video coming out at the beginning of next month on increasing food motivation so stay tuned!
How do koolies compare to border collies?
It's hard to make sweeping generalizations since there's a lot of variation between both. But in my experience, Koolies are significantly more independent, with many of them needing to know "what's in it for them" before deciding on an activity. That being said, they are also less neurotic and less sound sensitive than many BCs I've met. They also work livestock very differently. They have less eye. But they're both smart herding breeds. You probably need more patience and more sense of humor for a Koolie.
Hi! I was wondering how you could do this without the clicker? I have a deaf dog who wouldn’t be able to respond. I give her a thumbs up as a substitute for a clicker, but that’s not useful if she isn’t looking at me already. Just wondering if there’s a deaf version, or if this isn’t possible for her
Great question! I would imagine you could do something similar with a different style of marker, like a touch on the shoulder, a flashlight (not shone in their eyes obviously) or a vibrating collar if you condition the vibrate as a marker that predicts food, but I don't have a lot of experience with deaf dogs so this question would be a great for a group that specializes in that. I believe there are a few on facebook.
What if my fog fors not care about food?
If your dog is alive, it likes food to some degree as it has to eat to maintain life. So, when dogs aren't interested in food as reinforcement, I recommend you work on the skill of eating first, before embarking on training. You might need to experiment with different reinforcers to find what works for your dog, or train eating. You can do things like reinforcing eating a piece of kibble with a higher value reward which creates value for the kibble, you can also experiment with tossing food so they can chase it and activate their play drive. But if the dog doesn't care about food, I focus on that first.
My puppy is having these issues right now and since she's an Akita I don't want the excitement of seeing new people/dogs and nervousness of the environment to become something worse 😖
This is a great exercise to work on with her!
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Where can I get the “please don’t pet” vest please?
I get my custom vests from Patience and Love. You can check out all my favorite gear with links on this video: kzhead.info/sun/dK2cl8htqZF_dZ8/bejne.html
@@DoggyU thank you sm! 🥰
You're welcome!@@GigiandCibo
omg for my 4 month old gsd the "safe" distance is like 1 mile away. this is super useless
Then… don’t do this
Skip the waffle and get to well into 3mins before anything useful.
I would argue that understanding what the game is, what foundational skills you'll need to train before you can start playing, where to get the cheat sheet so you can practice at home, and then how to actually train the exercise are also kind of important, but hey, I'm just the trainer 🤷♀
Theres so many dog trainers on KZhead, im glad theres a small introductionat the start so i know if im going to waste my time on an uneducated trainer or a technique i have already in my repetoire or interfere with tasks my dog is trained with. Im glad she did that intro! edit: i dig the video, its a different perspective on a method im familiar with.
choose even a calmer puppy. What a joke. It shows you have never ever worked with a reactive dog. Treats? Reactive dog? Sure... Just approach a random reactive dog, record a video how you fix that with cookies. WAITING
If you're looking for "The Dog Daddy" you've come to the wrong channel. I don't put dogs over threshold just so I can make more "entertaining" content. Good training is boring. The GSD in the video was very reactive. In fact, it was given to me to evaluate the reactivity level. I was showing an apprentice how to work with a reactive dog and keep them under threshold so we could build on their success and change their overarching feelings about other dogs. The golden puppy is not reactive. It's a service dog candidate that we were working on excitability around other dogs. I was showing the handler how we can build neutrality, even for a tiny, excited puppy. This video is all about building neutrality and helping change how a dog feels about their triggers. You don't do that by putting them in situations they are unequipped to handle.
@@DoggyU I am looking for a trainer who uses methods that are effective. Bringing up dog daddy proves you just work with a selected group of easy going dogs. But enough talking. Approach a random dog on a walk and record it. Waiting!
@@DoggyUyour video was great and effective. It’s such a shame when the average Joe (with entitlement issues) say otherwise.
@@alishacuarenta5443 thank you so much Alisha! I appreciate the positive feedback
Your Voice is hard to listen to. Slow down pls.
I highly recommend you use the settings function at the bottom of the video to put the video at .75. Here's an explanation of why I talk like I do and what you can do to help process it: kzhead.infoO8JEBUdh5bI
Too much talk, not enough info. Couldn't get through it as I became bored long before she got to the point.
I'm so sorry that you're struggling with a short attention span! But, good news! I made a 60 second version that might be right up your alley! kzhead.infoRXvEL6r4dek?feature=share
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The passive-aggressiveness in the response 😂 i love it
@@LittleBarracuda 🙃🤷♀😂