Here is one version of the leave-it exercise. This exercise can also be applied to going through doors so your dog doesn’t bolt past you.

How Dogs Learn: the basics of operant and classical conditioning

Here is a video demonstrating that it is possible to get your dog to focus on you around even the highest of distractions

Here is a video of teaching a come when called. Our goal is to make this racing after the owner and sitting swiftly in front as fun as chasing after a squirrel or fence fighting with the neighbor dog since these are common cases where the come when called will come in handy.

This clip shows some common targeting mistakes and breaks the technique down into steps so that everyone can learn to target like a professional.

In our class, we use all of the attention exercises—various sit exercises, come when called, and a variety of focused walking games, and apply them to everyday situations.