Give Me A Break is a game you play with your dog where you purposely disengage from them and wait for your dog to find you and reengage. How they reengage may look different with different dogs, but basically you are looking for your dog to be searching for your face and orienting to you. This is a great game to play in a safe off leash place to work on natural check-ins.
How to Teach:
- If you are in a place that is safe to let your dog off leash play that way. If you need a leash that is fine too, you just want to make sure you move slow enough to ensure the leash stays loose the entire time.
- Start by placing a treat on the ground for your dog.
- While your dog eats the treat, turn your back to your dog and move away from them.
- Wait for them to engage with you by orienting towards your front and searching for your face.
- Once they engage, click, place a treat on the ground, and disengage again by turning your back and walking away.
- Keep moving with your back to your dog until they are able to catch up and engage with you from your front.
- Your dog doesn’t have to be 100% in front of you, but you want your dog seeking engagement.
- Once you and your dog are familiar with the game you can add distractions. As long as your dog is successfully trying to engage with you keep going. If your dog’s engagement stops or becomes significantly slower than it was before your dog is letting you know the environment, or distraction you put out, is too hard and you’ll want to make it easier for them.