I ran past a woman and her dog this morning. The woman was happily stopped to let her dog sniff and explore and completely check out from her. I watched as the dog saw a bunny. He went from casual sniffing to stiff, ears back, getting into a pouncing position. Mom was still blissfully unaware. And then the dog lunged at the bunny and took mom with on a journey to hunt him down. Thankfully she held onto the leash and regained control, but her dog was a mess after that and kept lunging, whining, barking, all to get that bunny that was now long gone.
Where your dog’s attention is will determine their next move. Because the dog was allowed to stare at that bunny, he got himself more and more aroused until he lunged. If she had kept him moving, and had kept his attention on her, he never would have had the opportunity to load into that aroused state of mind, and he never would have yanked her through the lawn on a chase.
Attention = intention. Help your dog make the right choices by showing them where their attention should be: on you.