You Don't Have to Be More Interesting... The Magic of Notice & Report

It’s an ordinary day. You’re walking with your dog and they notice something interesting. Maybe it’s a squirrel, maybe it’s garbage, maybe it’s a new best friend, maybe it’s that super scary dog from down the street. Your dog locks in on the target and begins their usual pattern of behaviour. You immediately think “oh great, here we go again” and brace yourself for another round of trying (and probably failing) to get their attention away from the distraction. You already feel discouraged and frustrated. You think that there’s no way that your dog is going to choose you over this exciting or smelly or scary thing.

However, this time, instead of staying stuck on the target, your dog turns away from the target and looks at you. You’re delighted. “Wow, my dog chose me over that thing!” You reward your dog. You are able to make your way past the target.

This is the power of the game I like to call Notice & Report. Other dog trainers I know call it Look At That or Engage/Disengage.

Libby playing Notice & Report with me when she noticed a dog at the park

I remember when I moved last year with my German Shepherd Dog Obi. We had been living in the country for 6 years and we were pretty good at ignoring country distractions like ATVs and turkeys but navigating our new city neighbourhood was a bit of a challenge. I could see and predict some distractions but others would catch me off guard, especially at night.

One of those distractions? Rabbits.

Obi caught and killed his first rabbit when he was under a year old so needless to say, he was very interested in all these city rabbits. The rabbits in our neighbourhood are used to on leash dogs and have a very short flight distance. They would stay very still and watch us go by instead of running away.

This would drive Obi bananas - we would be able to get so close, almost within lunging distance, and his emotions would build up in anticipation, and then they would dart away at the last second… which was a very exciting chase for him! Not so much for me, or my shoulder.

Luckily for me, we already knew the Notice & Report game. We had actually already been playing it with his primary trigger (other dogs).

Puppy Obi locked in on a trigger in the distance

So, we started playing Notice & Report with rabbits. He would spot the rabbit, I would mark his behaviour (“yes”), and reward him with a tiny treat.

Like I mentioned, Obi is a German Shepherd Dog, so he absolutely loves reporting on his environment. Within a few days, he was spotting the rabbit and then turning to me before I had time to mark him. Within two weeks, my main hint that there was a rabbit around was my dog walking at heel beside me looking at me with a happy face. And within a month, we were able to walk by rabbits within his previous lunge range with only the occasional glance in their direction.

Adult Obi taking a normal walk in our city neighbourhood

Now I have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy named Perry. Perry loves people and gets very excited about them. Perry also gets pretty excited about cars. So, we started playing Notice & Report. He now sits and watches cars instead of lunging towards them which is much less scary for me and the drivers.

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How Notice & Report Works

1. Your dog must notice the trigger FIRST

2. Use your marker sound (“yes” or another consistent sound) to tell them they have done something that earns a reward

3. Reward your dog

If your dog chooses to notice it again, great! Mark and reward again. The frequency of their noticing tells you how overwhelmed they are by that trigger at that moment.

Noticing a trigger can mean many different things. It can mean hearing it (ear flick, ear turned towards the source of the sound), seeing it (looking at it, turning towards it), smelling it (scenting the air, smelling the ground), or feeling it touch their body.

It is very important that your dog notice the trigger on their own. Do not point it out to your dog. Do not tell them to look. It is not your job to point out the trigger. This is important because you might put their overreaction on a cue - you don’t want to say “look”and point only to have your dog bark and lunge in the direction you’ve pointed. At most, stand still and look in the direction of the trigger.

If your dog is more comfortable, you can give them up to two seconds of noticing before you mark the behaviour. This gives them time to turn back to you on their own. If they turn back to you during that pause, mark the return of attention to you, and reward them.

It is normal for your dog’s ability to play Notice & Report to vary greatly depending on the type of trigger, the intensity of the trigger (fast, loud), how close the trigger is, how many triggers they have experienced recently, and more. Adjust your expectations based on what your dog can do at that moment.

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I found that playing Notice & Report not only changed my reactive dog's behaviour around his triggers but also changed his behaviour in general on the walk. He became more attentive to me, he started checking in with me more, and he stopped scanning his environment looking for trouble. It allowed us to go more places and have more fun together.

Same thing with my non reactive dogs. Libby started checking in with me before running off to say hi to a dog at the park. Perry has started checking in with me whenever he encounters something new and he feels a little bit unsure. It's now one of the very first things I teach dogs when they come home with me.

Adult Obi on a long line walk, checking in with me before continuing to explore

Struggling to implement Notice & Report? Tried it and you’re not getting the results you are looking for? We can help! Check out our services here.