His practice, of course, could not have arrived at a better time. has become a go-to for the Hollywood elite (including, notably, Lena Dunham), and earlier this year, he opened a second location in his new home of Austin. Over the last 14 years, his facility in L.A. Not the introduction you’d expect from one of America’s most renowned dog trainers, but that’s exactly how Matt Beisner - founder of The Zen Dog and host of Nat Geo’s Dog Impossible,which wrapped its second season last week - recently described himself on a phone call with InsideHook.īeisner, like so many celebrity dog trainers before him, specializes in taking aggressive and problematic dogs under his wing and nursing them back to a happier, healthier place. You only want to add one step at a time so you don’t go too fast and overwhelm your dog.“I started out as an adult who was afraid of dogs.” Do not ask for both a longer look AND move the treat further away from your face. If your dog is successful at looking away from the treat 4 out of 5 times or more, you are ready to make it more difficult by either waiting for a longer look or moving the treat slightly further away.
Each time you present the treat to the side of your face is a “trial”. You will continue to make this more difficult over time until your dog can make prolonged eye contact the second he sees the treat or anything else he wants. In the beginning, reward any movement your dog makes away from the treat, even if it’s just an eye flicker away. If your dog turns to your face, or just moves their eyes to the side towards your face, Mark and Reward with the treat in your hand. If your dog jumps up, moves toward the treat, or in any other way tries to “help themselves” to the treat, put it behind your back and begin again. Hold a treat about 6 inches directly to the SIDE of your face, and wait for your dog to look away from the treat toward your face. Stand, with your dog seated in front of you. The more we reward our dogs being calm (or even just looking calm), the more they will BE calm! Rewarding for not only eye contact, but eye contact with sleepy, droopy eyes will create a more zen-like state. For dogs that are excitable, you can also incorporate biofeedback to create a calmer dog. This is a great warm-up activity before training, walking, or playing with your dog. It teaches your dog eye contact while also teaching them self-control. Eye contact will become a default behavior that your dog offers spontaneously.ĭoggie Zen is a two-for-the-price-of-one exercise.
One thing that you will find different is that we will NOT be putting this “on cue” (meaning, we will not attach a command to this behavior). Doggie Zen teaches our dogs to look away from treats (or toys, later) and make eye contact with us. Doggie Zen is a simple game to get our dog focused, even in the face of treats! Many people have experience with some form of this game, so this may be familiar.
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