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The 5 Minute Dog by Personable Pets Dog Training
Quick, practical dog training tips in under 5 minutes—because training your dog shouldn’t take all day.
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With over 20 years of family dog training experience, this podcast delivers real-life advice you can actually use. From simple tips and clear explanations to common behavior scenarios, we’ll help you understand why your dog does what he does—and what to do about it.
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The 5 Minute Dog by Personable Pets Dog Training
#168 Breaking Your Dog's Fixation: Pattern Interrupters That Work
Ever watched your dog get completely stuck, fixated on something in the distance? The barking, staring, and occasional lunging that just won't stop, even after you've given the "leave it" command? You're not alone, and there's a simple solution that works like magic.
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Hey there and welcome back to the 5-Minute Dog. Today we're talking about pattern interrupters, quick and effective ways to snap your dog out of a middle loop and get their brain back on track. So let's say that your dog's fixated on something in the distance. He's barking intently, staring, maybe even lunging a little bit, but not a full-on reactivity. Lunge, uq, leave it, and they do, but a few seconds later they're back to barking, lunging and staring. They just can't let it go or focus on anything else. That's when pattern interrupters come in handy. They're like rebooting your dog's brain without the drama. Here are some interrupters you can use after your dog responds to leave it. Maybe do some puppy push-ups, ask for a sit, then a down, then back to sit, reward and repeat. It gets your dog back in rhythm and shifts their brain from reaction to engagement. Maybe try the touch cue Train your dog to boop your hand with their nose. It's fast, it's fun and super effective for snapping their focus back to you. Maybe cheerfully say this way and turn and start moving in a different direction. Once your dog follows, you have successfully broken the stair and moved on. Or try a mini obedience game Spin, sit, touch, turn, treat and repeat. This taps into novelty and brain power, which helps it burn off overstimulation.
Speaker 1:If your dog is toy motivated, whip out a ball or a tug and have a quick game. A little play goes a long way in snapping them out of obsession mode. Make a noise, maybe a smooch sound or a silly word or whistle or some other novel sound, something lighthearted and engaging, not scary. Sounds usually penetrate our dog's brains faster than words. So this should bring his attention back to you pretty quickly. And my favorite, play a little bit of up and off. If you see a bench or curb or retaining wall, ask your dog to hop up and then off and then up and then off. It's like a mini reset button using movement to get them to disengage, and the further apart the objects are, the better. The key is to interrupt their thoughts, getting them to think about something else and move on. So the next time you're out and about and your dog just cannot stop looking for that squirrel, try one of the interrupters we mentioned earlier to see if you can get his mind off the squirrel and back to the walk.