It is impossible to learn, communicate effectively or understand if one doesn’t pay attention. 

That is why I think the single most important behavior you can teach your dog is to give you their attention. If that behavior is on cue (i.e. “Look”, “Watch me” with eye contact) and solid, you have a much better chance of communicating and teaching your dog what they need to know, and they have a much better chance of understanding. Having only this behavior, well taught, can solve a lot of problems on its own and is also a great foundation behavior on which to build.

 Their understanding could mean the difference between losing them in a dangerous situation, keeping them from injury, or just keeping them calm in a potentially stressful situation. For best results, you should get your dog’s attention FIRST, then ask them to do what you want or give them reassurance.  If your dog runs out the door, and you have taught them to pay attention to you on cue, you could ask for that behavior and when they turn around to look at you, then ask them to come back to you as opposed to yelling “get back here” or “come” while they have their back to you and are running away and have their attention anywhere but on you.

Teaching and regularly using this behavior also teaches your dog to check in with you when they are unsure of things. Giving you eye contact and paying attention to you will give your dog the opportunity to get information from you rather than trying to figure things out on their own. If you regularly ask for their attention and then give them information or a request, they will learn to look to you first, and it will build their trust in you. If you don’t offer any response when they look to you, they will lose trust in you much more quickly than you can gain it back. 

 This is especially helpful for fearful dogs or dogs who react easily to other dogs, people, sounds, etc. When you are on a walk, and you see something ahead that could be a potential trigger for your dog, you can stop and ask them for their attention until the scary thing passes or just ask for their attention and have a conversation to keep their attention while walking past the scary thing. 

It is extremely easy to teach and there are tons of opportunities throughout every day to practice and reinforce it. Like, sitting watching TV or reading, while working in the yard, anywhere the dog is around you, just asking for the behavior and rewarding it is reinforcing AND practicing in different situations.

The reason we don’t just use the dog’s name is that we tend to use their name for a LOT of things. So it is better to have a separate cue for paying attention. As with any behavior, don’t expect compliance in new places or for long periods, or with distractions until you have built up to those.

Does your dog pay attention to you when you ask?