What is a positive interrupter?
A positive interrupter is like a magic word. When your dog hears it, they know something brilliant is about to happen, so they had better stop what they are doing and focus on you pronto.
From our perspective as dog guardians, positive interrupters are a handy technique we can use on walks when we need our dogs to stop in their tracks and come back to us.
It is different from a ‘recall’ or a ‘leave’ command as it’s more about your dog feeling super excited about what’s coming next than performing a specific action. Think of your positive interrupter as a back up plan if your recall or leave commands aren’t quite landing, or if you need a kinder (and more effective) alternative to a scary sounding ‘no’. Once your dog’s focus is back on you, then you may give them a cue like wait or sit, or pop them on a lead, or it might be safe again so they can just go back to exploring.
When might a positive interrupter be useful?
Positive interrupters are useful when your dog is doing something, or about to do something, that you don’t want them to do and you need to redirect them.
Picture the scene: you and your dog are walking on the beach, and your dog starts sniffing around a dead bird. To your dog, the stinky dead thing is very enticing, but you know it might not be safe, so you need to get your dog’s attention quickly.
You have been working on ‘leave’ but you haven’t quite mastered it yet, and your dog is getting ever closer to the dead bird. Now is the time to deploy your positive interrupter.
In a clear, cheery tone, you say “bingo!” and your dog leaves the bird, comes bounding over, and you immediately redirect them towards the absolutely delicious treats that you had in reserve just for an occasion like this one. Happy dog, happy you.
How do you train it?
1 Choose a word for your positive interrupter. It should be a fun word, one that lends itself to sounding exciting, like ‘yipee!’ or ‘bingo!’ It should also be unique – if your dog hears it too much, the word will lose its special meaning.
2 Sit with your dog, say your magic word, and then give your dog a super tasty, high value treat straight away. Maybe even lots of treats – you can always break food items up so your dog feels like they are having lots more than they actually are. If they are more motivated by toys, you could give them a really fun and interesting toy that only ever comes out when they hear the positive interrupter.
Timing is key here. You need to deliver the treat within a second of saying your magic word to make sure your dog builds a nice, strong association between the two. Always deliver the treat after the word is spoken – the word predicts the reward.
3 Repeat this exercise in different locations at different times, so your dog learns to associate whatever word you have chosen with brilliant things happening.
Quick tips
Don’t wear it out
Part of what makes positive interrupters exciting is that they don’t happen all the time. You want to find a balance – they need to happen often enough so that your dog doesn’t forget the word and its special meaning, but not so often that the novelty wears off. Once trained, we suggest using your positive interrupter no more than once a day, even less if you can. For most dogs, practising once a week is enough.
Be consistent with high value rewards
Every time your dog hears that magic word, you must follow it up straight away with really yummy treats. Nothing boring like kibble, you will need food or toys that your dog loves.
