“My dog just doesn’t listen!” If you find yourself saying that often, this episode’s for you. I’ll explain how you can teach your dog to look at you instantly when you ask – and to check in with you often, just because, without your telling him to.

Teaching Your Dog to Look at You

First, let’s teach Zippy to look at you on cue. To do this, we set up a pattern that gets him to turn his attention away from you, then turn back. You’ll mark the moment when he turns back to you and immediately reward it. The mark isn’t a command or a cue – think of it as a little flag you plant to tell your dog what he’s done right.

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Of course, Zippy won’t start out knowing what the mark means, but after a few reps he’ll learn to associate it with the reward you immediately give him. For your mark, you can use a clicker or a short word. A clicker is usually better, for reasons I explained in my earlier episodes on clicker training. It would be a good idea to read or listen to those, because they’ll help you use this method more effectively. If you decide to use a word as your marker, pick a short one that you can say the same way every time. Use a pleasant tone.

Here’s what you do:

1. Assemble a stash of 10 or 20 tasty, fingernail-size treats. Bring Zippy to a quiet spot in your home and make yourself comfortable. Without saying anything, show Zippy a tiny treat and then toss it gently on the floor right behind him or to his side. After he eats it he may spend a few moments looking for more. That’s fine – keep quiet and just wait. Sooner or later, he’ll look at you. As soon as you see him turn toward you, mark it with a click or word! Immediately feed him a treat.

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2. Again toss a treat behind Zippy, wait for him to eat it and get around to looking back at you. As soon as he turns to you, mark that movement, and feed him a treat.

Repeat this pattern 5-10 times. By then, your dog will probably orient to you quickly after he eats the treat. Your mileage may vary, though, depending on how hungry or tired your dog is, how fast-moving he is in general, and how good the treats are. Chicken will almost always get better results than, say, carrot sticks.

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The post How to Train a Dog to Pay Attention first appeared on Puppy Blog.

Recognizing that the following behaviors are symptoms is a start. They are as wide ranging as they are distressing for the dog, but by treating them you are not treating the cause of the problem. First ask yourself the question; does the behavior stop when you return? If so then I suggest that you’re being away is actually connected to the cause. Lets take a look at a few of the key symptoms.

Chewing –releases an endorphin similar to the one released when a human is chewing gum in an attempt to stay calm.

Barking, whining – this is a call for the owners to return to the pack, similar to if you were to call your children when you can’t find them

Escaping when you are not there – often very destructive, extreme and sometimes dangerous. Your dog is looking for you. So many people are told to try and exercise the problem out of their dog but it will not solve the problem

Digging, destruction – this is all connected to stressful and anxious behavior.

Self-mutilation – excessive, licking and chewing oneself. Excessive drooling is also a sign of stress. These are signs that are often mistaken for being medical conditions but are all stress related

Toileting – if your dog is toilet trained but starts going toilet inside and you think that it is behavioral then it could well be. If it is only occurring when your dog is away from you then it is very likely connected to your dog having separation anxiety

Whilst there are lots of places that you can find advice on how to treat all these symptoms there is only one way to treat the cause of the problem. If you are serious about how to stop separation anxiety then you must become the pack leader.

Separation anxiety is a very straight forward problem that occurs when your dog believes they are the pack leader and your are their puppy or member of their pack. In the wild dogs do not wander off out the den on their own and your dogs separation anxiety will continue until you return to him. Once you show your dog that you are the pack leader your dog will be fine with you coming and going as you please.

One of the best places to understand more about establishing yourself as the pack leader is the video based web site The Online Dog Trainer run by professional dog trainer Doggy Dan. Understanding the real cause of the problem is the first step, becoming the pack leader is the solution.