This segment closely resembles the previous. We are going to take a systematic approach to proofing our dog's understanding of eye contact from the middle (between the legs) position. Because we've already spent a significant amount of time on focus, this training should go quite fast. 

The progress that we do push here, which we didn't do in the last segment, is that we will begin adding movement to the middle position - thus further complicating the heeling work. This will be the first place the dog is asked to ignore distractions from the hands while maintaining eye contact and moving. It's easier for us to introduce all of these pieces here, because it's not true heel position and we don't have to worry about creating an inappropriate understanding of that position. We can cleanly work on proofing eye contact and adding movement while not having to stress about body position in heel. 

The following video is actually a bit messy - meaning some of my training steps are out of order. However, we can still use it to gain understanding (else it wouldn't be here). The first step we should be taking at this point is to simply encourage the dog to go between our legs. We can accomplish this by luring them there or by stepping over them. Once they are between the legs, we want to feed them to get them comfortable being there. Some dogs will naturally be comfortable in this position and others may need a little more encouragement. In the first part of this video, all I am doing is luring my dog to the middle position and feeding the dog for being there. That's your first step and the main message I want you to get out of this clip. We spend plenty of time next week acclimating and building our dog's muscle memory head position from this middle position.

LURING EL BETWEEN THE LEGS AND PAYING HIM FOR BEING THERE

 2 min 12 sec

No Movement, Just Eye Contact

Movement, by nature, adds complexity to a process. You've probably realized by now that most of the pieces we build we build from static positions first - ensuring that we can be most accountable for the information our dog receives. Same goes when building focus from the middle. We want our dogs to be successful, so it's best not to complicate the process too much in the beginning. Once the dog is proofed on eye contact without movement, we may consider adding it. Next week's curriculum covers adding movement in the middle position extensively.

EL, FURTHER PROOFING WORK

 1 min 50 sec

Another great example of where to start with your dog. Raine has never done this before but she makes it look easy.

RAINE, FIRST TRAINING PIECES OF MIDDLE POSITION AND FOCUS

 3 min 5 sec

This video is more of the same, but also demonstrates some more advanced proofing pieces. This should help you get an idea of where you should be, or are going, with your own proofing training. 

EL, ADVANCED PROOFING FROM MIDDLE POSITION

 2 min 50 sec

This will be the first time we add movement in this position, so let's take a look at what this process should look like. Remember to take it slow and use stay present and encouraging with your dog. This can be a sticky spot for some teams so let's be sure to take it to the discussion sessions if we need to work out some of the kinks in this.

EL, ADDING MOVEMENT AND MAINTAINING FOCUS

 2 min 47 sec

This clip does a cleaner job illustrating the addition of movement to our work. It repeats the information in the previous clip, but in a more timely and neat fashion.

ELZER, ADDING MOVEMENT... AGAIN

 1 min 18 sec

BLEND SESSION!!!! CHECK IT OUT GANG - THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHEN YOU START MIXING A BUNCH OF OUR TRAINING PIECES TOGETHER.

GO AHEAD AND GIVE IT A TRY WITH YOUR DOG!

1 min 16 sec