It would be so grand if dogs were as attentive out in the real world as they are at home with few distractions. But, out in the real world, leaves blow in the wind, dogs pass us on the sidewalk, kids squeal, and the smell of food tempts most dogs.
We want him to be able to walk past the distraction without lunging or pulling on the leash.
Ideally he is checking in with us periodically and looking to us for direction.
It's ok for Ubu to look at the distraction. Dogs need to be able to see what is going on around them in their environment.
But he does need to respond if you say his name or give him a command.
Because he's a baby and still just learning, you may have to get farther away from the distraction in order to get his attention. Distance is your friend when it comes to distractions.
When there are distractions present, I'm going to reward more frequently for eye contact and talk to him more to help keep him engaged with me.
It really helps that he is already so keyed into people but distractions are still something we want to work on now so he doesn't get in the habit of sloppy leash skills and inappropriate behavior in public.
It's a good thing we have a lot of dogs to practice our distractions with.
Working on this a little bit throughout the day and wherever you go with him will go a long ways towards having a really responsive adult dog.
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