Dr. Dunbar’s 28-Day Good Dog Challenge

Sit-Stay & Watch Me

Day 23 · If your dog is watching you, they’re not watching the squirrel.

Watch Ian

Why Watch Me?

Today is all about attention. A dog who will sit and watch you can be taken anywhere: past other dogs, past squirrels, through the front door, and into a busy street.

And by now, you know that for Ian, Sit means sit, stay, and watch me until I say otherwise. Today, we work on the “watch me” part. (Need a refresher on Stays? See Day 10: Stay-Delays.)

Step by step

1. Ask for a Sit-Stay, and keep your dog’s eyes focused on yours.
2. Praise softly, and lots. Count the time in Good Dogs: “Good Dog One, Good Dog Two, Good Dog Three…”
3. Very occasionally, offer a food reward from your pocket. No food in your hand!
4. Eyes flicker away? Immediately say “Watch!”
5. Looks like they’re about to break the Stay? Immediately say “Sit!”

Watch closely. Most dogs give plenty of warning: a twitch of the nose, a flicker of the eyes. And remember, if a dog looks away or sniffs away, they’ll soon go away. So catch it early!

Level up: Meet the Beast

Is your dog more interested in food than in you? This is Ian’s favorite way to teach a dog to pay attention, with no food on you at all. It uses the food itself as the distraction.

1. Let your dog watch you measure out a meal’s worth of kibble into a bowl, and put it on a table or countertop, too high to reach.
2. Take two steps back, behind your dog, and wait. Your dog will be riveted on that bowl. But usually within 15 seconds, they’ll glance back at you, as if to ask, “Food too high, me too short. Any suggestions?”
3. The instant your dog glances at you, praise, step forward, give a piece of kibble from the bowl, and step back again.
4. Next time, wait for a half-second glance. Then a full second. Then two, three, five, eight, ten seconds of looking at you.
5. Then step a little farther away, so your dog has to come to you to look at your face. Soon, your dog will come and sit right in front of you and gaze up at you. That’s a Come-Sit-Stay-Watch!

Now walk around the room, with lots of turns and changes of speed. You’ll find you have company! Whenever you stop, your dog sits and gazes into your eyes. Praise lots, and every now and then, “Hey, good dog, that’s worth a piece of kibble,” and walk back to the bowl together.

Come-Sit-Stay-Watch.

Use it everywhere

• At the front door. Ask for a Sit-Stay-Watch as you open the door, and again the moment you step outside, while you check you have your keys.
• At the end of the driveway, before you step onto the sidewalk.
• When people pass. Each time someone walks toward you, or overtakes you, ask for a Sit-Stay-Watch.
• When dogs pass. Ask your dog to Sit-Stay-Watch and let the other dog walk by.

Ian’s three names for Omaha

At home, Ian called his dog Omaha “Ohm.” “Ohm, settle down” was just a friendly suggestion. But “Omaha, Sit” meant: stop whatever you’re doing, and Sit-Stay-Watch, right now. And in the competition ring, Ian used his showtime name, “Wahoo”: Pizzazz and precision required!

Special tips

What’s next

• Tomorrow, Day 24, it’s Jazz-up & Settle Down.
• Use it every day. A Sit-Stay-Watch at every door, and whenever people or dogs pass by.

Filming tips and prizes: Videos and Prizes.