Day 6
Up & Down
Scentventure Compass Point: Partnership
In the face of Growlfang’s devious distractions, mastering the art of letting a distraction pass while your dog engages with you calmly is a valuable skill in your arsenal.
Using Up & Down avoids abrupt movements or tension on the lead that exacerbate your dog’s interest in the tempting stimuli or cause stress or physical discomfort. You and your dog will develop a remarkable ability to navigate Growlfang’s tricks with grace and resilience. Let this skill serve as a shield against the allure of temptation and a testament to the unbreakable bond between you and your canine adventure companion.
Civilian Use
- Handy when you’re taken by surprise and don’t have space to move away.
- While you’re waiting outside a shop or at the vets.
- When you stop to chat to someone.
- At the cafe or pub to help your dog ignore distractions – do it with your dog lying down on a mat between your feet.
Method
- Drop a treat between your feet
- Your dog will put their nose down to find and eat it.
- Wait until your dog looks back up at you for another treat. Use your marker word e.g. ‘yes’/’good’ and drop a second treat.
- Repeat, repeat, repeat.
- After a few repetitions your dog will get into the rhythm of looking up at you then down for the treat.
Meanwhile, the distraction passes on by and your dog is focused on you and cool as a cucumber.
What to do next
- Have a go with your own dog and film it if you can
- Share your answers in the private Facebook Group with the hashtags #day6 #AdventureQuest
- If you don’t use Facebook, send your training via email. Please note that we can’t reply to emails but we will log your evidence towards your badge.
The Adventure Quest gives you a toolkit of techniques to engage your dog and keep/regain their focus around distractions. These skills are the foundation for loose lead walking and recall training, because all good behaviours rely on your dog being able to pay attention to you instead of the many distractions out there.
Full programmes are available if you want to go deeper into skills such as loose lead walking, recall, reactivity, scentwork and adventure. And if you need intensive personalised guidance, our trainers and behaviourists also offer 1-1 support.
Email hello@dogwoodadventureplay.com for details.
