I’m now going to tell you about one of the most magical dog training methods in the world. It’s magical because it doesn’t seem possible that it would work so well, but if you try it, you’ll see that it does.

Let’s say the dog has a favorite article that she is just crazy about. You have no problem with her enjoying it, but she ignores you when you try to you call her away from it. The article might be an inanimate object, such as a bumper, or a bird from the freezer. It might be food. It might be children. It might be other dogs or other animals. It might be several of these things or other things if I’ve somehow left anything out. For Lightning, it’s all of the items I mentioned except food.

I need to fix all of them for Lightning eventually. That’s the whole point of recall. But let’s start with the bumper, since I have an immediate need to fix that now that Lightning and I have begun working on the Walking Fetch drill (see next post). 

There are two versions of this method. First, the version I was taught years ago:

1. Place the article on the ground in an area free of distractions.
2. Take the dog off-lead to a position some distance away, where the dog can easily see the article but because of the distance from the article is focusing on you instead. That could be 100’away or 20′, or any other distance, depending on the dog and the article.
3. Stand sideways to the article and toss a high-value treat a few feet in front of you.
4. Watch the dog run to get the treat and then use your recall cue to call the dog back to you. For an American field retriever, the recall cue is Here.
5. If the dog glanced at the article either running to the treat or coming back to you, you’re too close. This is the “no-glance” rule and is the key to the magic. If the dog did glance, take a side-step away from the article.
6. If the dog did not glance at the article, take a side-step toward the article.
7. Continue in that way over and over, gradually moving closer to the article, until you can toss the treat over the article. My Lumi-girl was fanatical about her volleyball when she was a young dog. When I used this method to proof her, she actually tripped on the volleyball, so intent was she not to glance at it as she ran to her treat and then ran back to me. I couldn’t believe it.
8. Although we usually train in short sessions, take as long as you need to complete the training for one article, assuming the dog stays engaged. If you need to start pretty far away, it can take a while to get all the way to the article.
9. Over time, proof for other directions at the same location, and other locations, retraining as needed. 

Here’s an alternate version:

1. It’s the same as the first version, except that instead of tossing the treat, you heel the dog back and forth with the article to your side. As you walk one direction, the dog is on your left and the article is some distance away on your left. As you walk the opposite direction, the dog and article are now on your right.
2. The sequence is: Cue Here, then walk a few paces, then turn 180 degrees facing the dog as you turn. The dog wiil naturally turn toward you at the same time, that doesn’t need to be trained. When you’re facing the way you came, cue Heel if necessary to bring the dog to heel position, then cue Sit. Give the dog a taste of a high-value treat. You can use the same kind of treats as for the first version, but you can also use non-throwable treats like a taste of PB, cream cheese, or cat food. 
3. As before, walk closer the next time if the dog did not glance at the article, but follow the no-glance rule and move further away if the dog did glance at the article.

The advantage of the second version for field retrievers is that you get to practice, and build reinforcement history, for heeling on both sides as well as the formal obedience cues Heel, Here, and Sit.

But in terms of distraction proofing, both versions are wonderfully, indeed magically, effective.