LIKE CLOCKWORK! A GAME OF FOCUS

This segment covers in detail a simple game I like to call 'The clockwork game.' The clockwork game is a game of pieces. It considers some of the fundamental necessities of a good heeling program: head position; eye contact (focal point); proofing of eye contact, target hands, and insight rewards; reward placement; and handler mechanics. By reducing some of these core concepts down into a simple and systematic game we can prepare ourselves and our dogs for some of the more complex material in the weeks to come.

 'TIME' to break it down... 

The clockwork game starts from the front, picking up where our 'watch me' game left off, by proofing the dog off the hands and to the eyes. The clockwork game allows the handler to approximate themselves slowly into heel position while maintaining a strong criteria of focused eye contact. It also allows the handler team to begin generalizing the concept of eye contact by allowing the handler to maintain the behavior from the front, all the way to the heel position. Okay, that was wordy.

You'll see now why we spent time proofing a bit of a sit-stay (we need it here), and why we spent so much time teaching and proofing an initial understanding of eye contact. In this segment we are going to take pieces of what we built from the front and work our way to the side. This is the first time we really start to put some work into the traditional heel position.

This first video will give you an overview of the clockwork game. You should be able to quickly see the pieces we have already created and also see why the continued work we do now supports a strong heeling foundation. Watch as I work through these steps with El.

FORREST & ELZER DEMONSTRATING THE CLOCKWORK GAME

 8 min 9 sec

The following video illustrates a dog with no prior experience with the component pieces of this game being introduced to it. Raine is a 9 year old Belgian Malinois who's had a solid agility foundation but no formal education in heeling or many of the concepts involved in it. You'll see she takes quite quickly to it.

Notice a couple things about this training session:

• I make sure Raine is solid in her sit prior to moving to the side to proof eye contact
• I bend slightly forward at the waist so I can be sure Raine is looking at my eyes and not my hand
• At this point, I’m feeding from my right hand when I terminate because Raine is a little too interested in the left
• I’m working one piece at a time, making sure Raine has mastered it, before I increase my criteria

 ULTIMATELY I want to reward from the left hand when I finally assume the heel position in the clockwork game because it is this expectation of reward from the left hand that is going to keep the dog’s head high and straight.

Think of it this way – the criteria for the behavior is that the dog watches the eyes, however, the reward comes from my left hand which is outside and above the dog’s head. The dog’s head will become ‘polarized’  between where the criteria for behavior is and where the reward is presented. They’ll ‘split the difference,’ so to speak.

RAINE WORKING THROUGH THE CLOCKWORK GAME

 2 min 15 sec

This footage was captured in Arizona, at a friend's field as I was working through the clockwork game for some students who are introducing their dogs to heeling. The first part of the video is me proofing El's sit-stay, which is a good place to start just to ensure the dog remembers it. After that, I begin approximating myself into heeling position. 

You'll notice common themes between these videos: I work a piece at a time, moving on in the process as the dog masters each step; always ensuring the sit stay is solid; always terminating behavior and releasing with movement to either my right or left hand (depending on which the dog is tracking); and keeping the session as fluid as possible.

EL CLOCKWORK GAME IN ARIZONA 

 1 min 59 sec

Here is a short explanation of why you might choose to feed from your right hand versus your left hand. We've already discussed this a bit. If a dog is really tracking the left hand, which is now the hand we are proofing in this game, feeding from the right can help them get over sign tracking (sign tracking as an inclination to follow where the reward is perceived to come from).

WHEN TO FEED FROM THE RIGHT AND WHEN TO FEED FROM THE LEFT

 1 min 45 sec

PROOFING PIECES

LET'S TAKE A MOMENT TO CLARIFY SOME STEPS (you likely already have an understanding of the pieces but it never hurts to cover it again)

It can go like this...

1. Make sure your dog can confidently focus on your eyes after you've drawn your left hand away from your nose. At first there is NO MOVEMENT in the left hand while it's extended. 

2. When your dog is 100% proficient at this, begin adding a little distracting movement to your extended left hand. If your dog breaks eye contact do not stop or change the movement in your left hand, and use your eye contact cue to encourage the dog to continue eye contact. When your dog's eyes re-find yours, mark with your terminal bridge.

3. While still in the front position, increase the level of distraction in the left (and even right) hand until your dog no longer falls for the distraction. NOW WE'RE REALLY PROOFING FOCUS!

THIS ALSO GIVES YOU A CHANCE TO INSERT YOUR FOCUS CUE WHEN YOUR DOG BREAKS EYE CONTACT - MAKING THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE CUE STRONGER

4. When your dog is nearly perfect at ignoring distraction from both hands and focusing on your eyes from the front, take your first 'clockwork step' toward the dog so that you are now getting closer to heel position. Repeat the hand proofing exercises to ensure your dog still focuses confidently and clearly on your eyes. 

5. REPEAT - As your dog shows proficiency with each step, advance the process by moving another step closer to true heel position (as demonstrated in the videos within this segment).

Other helpful tips:

*It's best to introduce all of the hard hand-proofing from the front because it will be easier for the handler to recognize thedog's choices to maintain or re-find eye contact, and easier for dog to stay focused on the eyes - as the distance between your eyes and the temptation hands will be greatest. 

*As you begin getting closer to true heel with your 'clockwork steps' we want to begin always feeding from the left hand. By this time the dog should no longer need the help of feeding from varying hands as they should be solid in the criteria of staying on the eyes. Feeding from the left hand alone is actually a very important piece of this exercise as we approach heel position. The expectation of reward from the left hand, delivered above the dog's head, will greatly support an upright and straight head position. 

*When you finally reach 'heel position' through your 'clockwork steps' your dog should be well proofed off of heavy distraction from your left and right hand and should fully expect reward to be delivered from the left hand, above the dog's head, after use of the terminal marker.

*Consider allowing the dog to release up slightly to the hand target (popping up onto back legs to meet the left hand with food in it) after use of your terminal bridge as it will encourage the dog to put their energy up instead of forward, and because the slight surge of energy up can be motivating. 

 BACK TO VIDEO ILLUSTRATIONS

I pulled this video from next week's section, because it does a nice job of illustrating the introduction of proofing while your dog is in the heel position. This work moves beyond the clockwork game, and gives us training steps we can take once we've made it to heel position. You can ignore the first part of the video if you'd like, the training I'm referring to is covered next week, but the later half has good information to progress your training.

RAINE, PROOFING FOCUS FROM THE SIDE HEEL POSITION

4 min 55 sec 

Lori and Baxter are at it again... working the pieces of the clockwork game. It's another video example for you to observe, with the intent of taking information and adding it to your own learning. Here's an observation for you to take - notice how Lori starts from the front, takes one step to her left (moving her closer to heel position) and then extends her arm so that she can proof focus. This makes her signals very clear. She waits until she's reached her next 'hour' before she introduces the challenge of the extended arm. This minimizes the amount of stimulation that Bow is feeling at one time, allowing him to be more successful in the beginning stages of this game.

LORI & BAXTER, CLOCKING IN

2 min 36 sec 

Like our other segments, it's a great training benefit to watch other teams work through this material. The following 2 clips illustrate different teams working through the initial pieces of this game. Each team has their own strengths and opportunities, see if you can pick up on the the training pieces. If you've got the idea by now, feel free to move on with your own training and not view the videos.

These teams are at different stages of understanding in the training process, thus the sessions will reflect the particular place in the learning where the handler and canine lie. Remember, as trainers, we are always training the particular dog in front us, paying attention to who they actually are and what they need; not who we think they are or what we think they need.

ANN & NORMAN, PUTTING TOGETHER THE PIECES

1 min 24 sec 

And we can't forget about our small dogs!

LITTLE MAN YORK, LEARNING HOW TO PLAY THE CLOCKWORK GAME

1 min 10 sec