# Attention Span- easily distracted



## charliecoyot (Nov 26, 2012)

I'm new to the forum - just got my first pure Vizsla 10 days ago (she's 9 weeks old now).

I've field (not trials) trained (with reasonable success) a golden retriever, then a lab/vizsla cross (rescue) - both as pups to adults and beyond. Each of those dogs when pups had solid attention span at this age working on just simple 'basic training' (come, stay, etc...) - but this one - my first pure bred V - is wildly different. Thinking it's just her and she'll get better with patience from me.

Right now, I'm lucky to get 2 minutes of training (sometimes 30 seconds) at a time (not the usual 5 or 10 minutes of 'focus' I was used to). She's learning and recall is good. She LOVES to play and is quite a girl.

Any insight to help/tips with the lack of attention span is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance and by the way - GREAT forum - have read a bunch and learned on here already.

I'm in South Dakota and really look forward to seeing her in the field on pheasants this next fall.

Thank you.


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## Kay92 (Oct 19, 2012)

Riley was the same way as a puppy. He didn't want to pay much attention to anything we tried to teach him. If you are trying to train with treats I recommend trying green beans instead, dogs love them (and it's easy on their waistline). Also if she isn't responding well to the treats or if she stops wanting treats, find her favorite toy. This also worked with Riley. I'm not at all familiar with field training, but I hope this helps with all other training. Good luck!


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## SkyyMax (Apr 5, 2012)

charliecoyot - welcome to the forum!

Puppies have a short attention span, but vizslas are super fast learners!
Our 3 V boys and Skyy (she was 1 year old when we started training) responded very well to boiled chicken.

I used boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into a _tiny_ pieces. The training sessions were limited to 5 minutes long, I think we went up to 10 min training after 3 months.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2010/10/final-post-about-sd-written-on-way-back.html

Charlie, for me it was all about treats and a lot of them. 1/4 inch cooked liver and 30 second training sessions. Never too much or too long but end in a win each time. Very little wins build on each other. No serious training for months ahead. Something I learned from reading Ian Dunbar was use treats never predictably. Sometimes one treat, sometimes none, sometimes five pieces one after another with "good boy!" If the tail ain't wagging, too much pressure.

Have fun and good luck. Must say I loved fall in South Dakota. But in Isabel, SD, a local saw our California plates on the truck and said "Long way to hunt birds." There was a lot of truth in that short statement. But what a great time we had.

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2010/10/south-dakota-and-our-vizslas-learning.html

RBD


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## charliecoyot (Nov 26, 2012)

Thanks everyone - greatly appreciate your insight and ideas.

Finally found a treat she actually gets 'goofy' about - liver! I've always hated liver. Just cooked up a 1/2 lb of it though - hopefully that'll get us by for a week or so.

And - just got back from first 'puppy' training - more for me to remember and learn the basics again (been 12 years since I've gone through this). Darn funny seeing 6 different breeds of puppies all playing together. Of course Roothee was the socialite of the class!

@Red Bird Dog - thanks for visiting SD glad you enjoyed it! I grew up in eastern SD walking railroad tracks many fall days after high school chasing pheasants. Now live in western SD - 20 miles from Mt. Rushmore. Have to drive 90 minutes for good birds now when they used to be in our yard!


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## VictoriaW (Mar 16, 2011)

We had a trainer when Gracie was a pup who taught us how to play a game she calls "it's your choice". It is essentially an attention span/self-control game.

Have a handful of very yummy small treats. Hold your open hand in front of pup's nose, but when she tries to get them, close your fist. Keep it closed while she sniffs and whines and paws at your hand. When she backs off, say, "yes!" and give her a small treat. 

Work up to having her back off & make eye contact before you offer the treat. Then have her hold the eye contact for longer and longer. 

Soon you can drop the treats on the floor (step on them quick if she goes for them...pick up and give them to her if she instead looks at you).

You can go through a whole little handful of treats in this fashion in 5-10 minutes, with pup learning nothing except how to control herself and how to pay attention to you.

I'll have to say that when we had this lesson in my house, I was so not impressed. I had a list of stuff that I wanted to learn, and this was not on it! But it quickly yielded awesome results, and Gracie's attention span grew and she learned to make eye contact for long stretches of time and to resist temptation around food very well.

Now if we put her into a down position, we can line her paws with chicken meat and she will wait until we tell her to take it. The other day I put an exceptionally yummy treat out then got distracted by the kids...when I came back, she was still there, staring at me, with a puddle of drool on the floor. 

This might not be the type for answer you were going for but maybe it could help?


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