Some of you know that my background is a patrol/SWAT officer as well as a Combat Skills Instructor for the DOD. A foundational component of teaching interpersonal combat is Boyd’s OODA Loop. The OODA (observe-orient-decide-act) is something that all of us use to survive every day. A simple example is that you are behind the wheel of your vehicle and the car in front of you slams on its brakes. Even before you even begin to process this information you have to Observe it. Then in a split second you make numerous calculations in relation to your speed, distance, from the care, road conditions, and other vehicles on the road as you Decide, then you Act. Like I said, this all happens in a split second. The more experience you get as a driver the better you get and develop a flow because there is no time to concentrate on one thing…. unless you’re a dog. Let me explain.
Dogs communicate with eye contact (knowing where the pack using forward and peripheral vision), movement (which draws attention), and touch (teeth, body, and paws on each other). This creates its own loop that never ceases. The whole idea behind Focus Based Canine Training is to condition your dog that you are part of that loop and any decision-making process. A dog that does not focus on the handler when guests arrive at the house can certainly not be expected to recall when chasing a squirrel.
We use the Immediate Correction Lead along with the Silent Loose Lead Walk and Focus Drill to hardwire the handler into the dog’s OODA Loop by removing variables. Knowing that the easiest way to distract a dog is movement we present them with increased distractions on a loose lead. As soon as they place any amount of attention on the lead in reaction to the stimulus, we correct them with one of two nonverbal corrections that are later coupled with two other nonverbal corrections that promote the same physical reaction of taking the dogs eyes off the stimulus and onto the handler, thus relaxing the lead. Over time with consistency when they observe that stimulus, they will simply look at you and not respond to it if you are not responding to it. Their Loop becomes Observe-focus on handler-decide-act. This is how they learn self-control. When you have a dog that is constantly observing you before responding to distractions in the environment you have a dog that responds, not one that listens. Either your dog is responding to you, or you are responding to your dog. The one responding is always at a disadvantage for control. When the dog is constantly rewarded for their focus the need for correction dissipates and bond of oneness occurs. They cannot follow if you don’t lead.