How to get your dog to come when distracted?

Managing your dog’s threshold When dogs are around distractions, they’ll have a ‘threshold’ distance where they’ll be able to show calm behaviours, take food and respond when we interact with them. Monitoring your dog’s body language will help to understand when they are approaching their ‘threshold’. Over time, and with lots of practice, you should be able to expand your dog’s threshold and get them to remain calm in more stimulating situations. Teaching your dog a ‘watch me’ cue, as well as practicing their reflex to their name being called, will be helpful when getting your dog’s focus around distractions. While training your dog to respond to you, remember not to throw them in the deep end and expect them to respond in a park full of distractions. Instead, try to increase the level of distraction slowly during training sessions. For example, you could practice 'watch me’ in the garden before trying this out in a public area. Reward your dog for noticing a distraction To get your dog to focus on you after seeing a distraction, begin by marking with a ‘yes’ and reward whenever they notice a distraction - for example, as soon as they see a stranger. Gradually get closer to the distraction and repeat Now you can slowly get closer to the distraction, ensuring that whenever they check in with you, you mark and reward. If your dog begins to stare at the distraction, you can use another cue, like ‘watch me’ or their name, to prompt them to look back at you.