Chapter 3
Building Focus with Food Luring 🎯
🌿 Start in a Low-Distraction Environment
In this step, we move to a low-distraction environment, such as a training field or your garden. This is where we build the foundation for everything that follows.
Our goal is a highly focused dog 🧠🐕 and the first focus bubble 🎯 – just you, your dog, and the work.
The food can be in your hand or in your pocket 🍪. Jumping, moving, or sitting in front of you is completely fine at this stage and will not be corrected.
🔗 The Working Ritual Begins
Now we put on the chain collar. The moment it goes over the ears, the work begins.
This is part of our working ritual, and work should always be fun.
Food luring is fun 🐶🍪👉.
We teach the dog to dock onto our left hand, which becomes a power magnet 🧲. The dog learns that this hand will guide them in every direction.
At this stage, this is not formal heelwork and not about precision – it is purely about engagement and motivation.
🧲 The Left Hand Becomes the Focus
Key points in this phase:
Follow the hand in any direction 🔄
The dog may push, nibble, and fully commit 🐾🔥
Food comes only from the left hand 🍪
⏱️ Keep the Sessions Short
We train this step in several short sessions, each lasting one to two minutes. After that, we clearly end the work and take a break.
Only once the dog fully understands that the left hand equals focus and motivation, we move on to the next step.