Skill Breakdown: The Engage / Disengage Game

Benefits of playing the Engage / Disengage Game

To help your dog learn that:

1) You are the most rewarding, exciting, engaging thing in their world

2) It's rewarding and a good choice to check in with you when they are experiencing big feelings and/or need guidance

Additionally, playing games with your dog (that they find fun and rewarding,) increases their value in you. The more exciting, rewarding, and engaging we are, the easier it is for them to choose us and to want to engage with us. Similarly, the better our relationship with our dog is, generally, the easier the rest of our training becomes. Teaching our dogs that we are consistent, have consistent expectations, and will reward them when they demonstrate preferred behaviors makes it easier and more rewarding for them to make good decisions.

How to Play

the Engage / Disengage Game

1) Find a low distraction spot that you can comfortably sit with your pup for 2-20 minutes. Ideally, this spot will be somewhere that is unlikely for other dogs + their humans to approach you or that you can easily block them while you advocate for your dog's space. (Our goal is neutrality, so we do NOT want to allow greetings with others during this time as it will increase big emotions.) 

2) Give them the opportunity to sniff the area thoroughly (acclimate) before sitting down. (Want to learn more about how to acclimate and it's purpose? You can learn more here: https://www.choosetoliveengaged.com/post/acclimating-in-dog-training-what-is-it-why-is-it-important-and-how-do-we-do-it)

3) Say nothing except for:    a) Marking, Praising and Rewarding voluntarily visual check-ins, b) calling their name/ making kissy noises to interrupt and redirect them to prevent or interrupt a reaction (using this as a last resort. We would prefer to give them the opportunity to take in their environment as much as they like and wait for when they disengage and look to us to be able to Mark and Reward their behavior.)

4) Allow them the slack of their leash. Do not ask for formal behaviors. Give them the opportunity to be present and watch their surroundings. If/ when they look to you, Mark and Reward this with: "YES!" and a bit of kibble/ treat.

Look for moments when they look to a trigger/ distraction that you would like for them

to be neutral around and the moment they disengage and look towards you, Mark and Reward with "YES!" and a bit of kibble/ treat. The more often you mark the moments of disengagement from other stimuli and them choosing you OVER those stimuli, the more often they will offer this behavior. 

If/ when they struggle with big feelings, give them an opportunity to work through them. If they appear to be getting MORE animated (barking, lunging, pulling, without offering a good behavior that you can Mark, Reward, and build on to,) calmly stand up, cue them "Let's Go!" and move away from the trigger that is causing the animated behavior. You want to move as far away as it takes for your dog to disengage from the trigger/ stimuli and to be able to reengage with you. 

Return to your sitting spot for stationary work when they seem more able to be neutral there once more.  (This may require an additional intervention (depending on your dog and their level of escalation,) like the Go Find game or some simple cues to help them regulate their nervous systems a bit and return to baseline before returning to Stationary Work and the Engage / Disengage game.)

In addition to being a fun and low physical energy activity which can burn a lot of mental and emotional energy, the Engage / Disengage game helps our dogs learn that everything in their environment is no big deal and that checking in with their humans is a good choice, both because they will likely be rewarded and because their human will offer guidance and support as needed. The more frequently we practice predictable patterns, routines, and behaviors, the more

likely our dogs are able to be successful because they are able to clearly understand the expectations and rewards for making good choices.

We suggest playing the Engage / Disengage Game daily in a variety of settings to better enable your dog to generalize this skill.

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