The Engage-Disengage Game for Dogs

The Engage-Disengage Game is a very powerful tool for dogs displaying leash reactivity. It teaches the dog to self-interrupt before becoming over-aroused in a certain situation or when in the presence of a specific trigger.
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References:
Reducing Leash Reactivity: The Engage-Disengage Game
By: Alice Tong
www.clickertra...
The Practice of Self-Interruption: The Engage-Disengage Game
By: Alice Tong
www.chooseposi...
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[@isauragomes1635]

Great video as always

[@TrainMePlease]

Thank you very much.

[@kadenceporter9001]

This is a great video. Very informative and easy to follow along with and jot down notes. Thank you for uploading!

[@TrainMePlease]

Thanks so much for your comment. Super happy that you found it helpful. =)

[@amandahoyle7213]

V clear and helpful

[@TrainMePlease]

Thank you very much. I'm very glad to see that you took value from this video.

[@allthingsblue6990]

Thank you! Clarified a question about when to use a bridging marker in our grooming desensitization protocol. Much appreciated.

[@TrainMePlease]

Thanks for your comment and glad to see that you found the video helpful.

[@terialdersey906]

I have a couple of questions please!
1. Is 'Look at That' a form of engage/disengage? If not, how are they different? I'm struggling to understand the differences between training elements for my reactive dog.
2. I've just also watched your video on counter conditioning and desensitisation. What would you suggest when the trigger is a noise rather than a visual? Our situation is this. Our pup can't see things coming to our house, as he's too short to see out of the windows. He no longer reacts to the noise of vehicles driving up our drive, but will go nuts when someone knocks at the door, especially if they didn't drive up first (the post man walks the streets rather than drives)! He will stop barking if we ask him to (we've taught him how to speak/be quiet) but I don't want him to get upset in the first place if we can help him not to. He's also started to shred anything that comes through the post box if he gets to it first (but will leave it if we ask him to). What would you suggest?

[@TrainMePlease]

Thanks for your comment.
1. The two procedures are incredibly similar.
2. You can apply the same principles to sound, from less intense (softer) with a recording for examples to more realistic using a demo person.
Have you watched my most recent videos from 2022 on the engage disengage and disensitisation and counterconditioning? You might get some good ideas there.
Additionally, the best recommendation I can give you is to try to find a modern behaviour professional to help you one on one.

[@terialdersey906]

@@TrainMePlease thank you. I'm not sure if I have watched the more recent videos, didn't realise these weren't! lol! Do you have a link please?

[@TrainMePlease]

@@terialdersey906 No problem at all.
This one th-cam.com/video/4-IujdJyyI4/w-d-xo.html
And this one th-cam.com/video/Vza6suguWaA/w-d-xo.html

[@savvycanineequinetraining4475]

This is a great video. Thank you, I will be sharing with clients.

[@TrainMePlease]

Thank you so much for your kind feedback. =)

[@jackiehubert]

Great for my clients!

[@TrainMePlease]

That makes me so happy. Thanks Jacqueline.

[@leilasesmero5910]

Well done!

[@TrainMePlease]

Thanks Leila. Appreciate the feedback.

[@nynneaimeerosenkilde]

Thank you so much for this video! I would like to try this with my own dogs, but there's something I'm confused about. Both my dogs get very happy seeing other dogs and immediately want to engage with them! If the trigger (other dogs) gets too close, they start to pull and bark, and sometimes they whine too because they want to engage with the other dogs so much and get so excited!
Here's what I'm confused about: You're talking about doing few reputations and then you're ready for the next level, but does this mean few reputations in the same training session or is it a few reputations in a couple of days? Let's say I try this with my dogs and he succeeds one time by looking at me after I've clicked and I reward and give a treat to him. Should I then wait for him to look at the dog one more time and click again, and then do this a couple of times and move to level 2, or should I walk away the first time he succeeds and try again another time? This is what confuses me, cause I want to do it right and I want to make sure that I understand it correctly :)
Again, thank you for the video. I've also read the article, before seeing this video, but couldn't find answers to my questions. I hope you can help me.

[@TrainMePlease]

Thanks so much for your kind feedback. The escalation in criteria can happen within the same training session. If you have a few successful repetitions without hesitation you can move to the next level. If you see hesitation or an unsuccessful repetition stay at the same level. If you have a few unsuccessful repetitions in a row go to the previous / easier level. I hope this helps. 👍👍

[@nynneaimeerosenkilde]

@@TrainMePlease Thank you so much for taking your time to answer me! I appreciate that. It makes more sense to me now, but does that mean that you’ll have to go through level 1 and 2 at the same spot and succeed before getting closer to the trigger? 😀

[@TrainMePlease]

@@nynneaimeerosenkilde that depends on the specific situation. This is an oversimplification, but I think that I would probably start at level 1 again the second time I recreate the scenario on a different day. If I see no hesitation again and the dog totally smashes all repetitions with an A+, I would probably feel confident to start at a more challenging level the next time around.