22/06/2026
🐶✨ SHAPING YOUR PUPPY'S ATTENTION, THE SECRET TO FOCUS! ✨🐶
By Donna Williams, Emerald Park Border Collies
Want a puppy who naturally checks in with you, even when the world is full of exciting distractions?
One of the most valuable skills you can teach is that choosing to look at you is always worthwhile.
This isn't about telling your puppy to "look". It's about shaping offered attention, so your puppy voluntarily chooses you. That becomes the foundation for everything that follows.
🎯 WHAT YOU NEED
• A clicker (or a verbal marker if you prefer)
• 20 to 30 tiny, high value treats (cheese, chicken, steak etc.)
• A puppy that's ready to work, not one who's just eaten a big meal.
👉 Don't add a cue like "look". At this stage we're capturing and reinforcing a behaviour your puppy offers naturally.
🔁 HOW TO DO IT (just 1 minute!)
Sit with your puppy in front of you.
Keep the clicker in one hand and treats in the other, with both hands behind your back.
The instant your puppy looks towards your face...
CLICK, then reward.
Repeat.
Very quickly your puppy will realise that paying attention to you makes good things happen.
⏱️ Once your puppy understands the game, begin building duration.
• 1 second, click and reward.
• Then 2 seconds.
• Then 3, 4 and 5 seconds.
Once they're successful, vary the duration randomly (1, 3, 5, 2, 4, 1 seconds).
This teaches your puppy not only to orient towards you, but to maintain attention.
🐾 LEVEL UP, ADD DISTRACTIONS
Ask a helper to kneel quietly beside your puppy.
Reward your puppy for continuing to focus on you.
Then have your helper make a very small movement, perhaps lifting a hand or wiggling a finger.
Your puppy will probably glance at the movement.
That's perfectly normal.
Simply wait.
The moment your puppy chooses to look back at you...
CLICK and reward.
Gradually increase the level of distraction over several sessions.
The goal isn't for your puppy to ignore the world. It's for them to notice it, then choose to reconnect with you.
🧠 This simple exercise builds attention, engagement and self control, skills that make every aspect of future training easier.
The early months are a wonderful opportunity to develop these habits, but it's never too late to start.
Keep sessions short, fun and positive. Finish while your puppy still wants more.
If you're a discerning owner who wants to raise a confident, thoughtful puppy into the dog of your dreams, this is the place for you. 👇
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www.emeraldparkbc.com
