Look At That (LAT)

“Look at That” teaches your dog to notice a trigger, like another dog or a loud vehicle, without reacting. It’s a powerful tool for managing reactivity and gradually desensitizing your dog to fears. For instance, during walks, you can use LAT to help your dog observe another dog calmly rather than barking or lunging. Over time, this cue encourages your dog to view triggers with curiosity rather than fear.

The key to any training, but especially while working on this is to keeping the dog “under threshold”, which means always working at a distance where the dog sees things and still remains calm. Once they are “over threshold”, lunging, barking, growling, or even an unbreakable stare, they are no longer able to learn and the levels of distraction, or distance must be increased in order to proceed and learn.

It’s also important to note that the creator of LAT, Leslie McDevitt has made it clear that the dog simply needs to notice the object, not necessarily “LOOK AT” it. They may notice by an ear twitch, body stiffening, whisker movement, nose twitch or sniff, or tail position change. This is where knowing your dog is so important, because you’ll be able to read her cues better than anyone. 

Click here for a PDF on Look At That from East Bay SPCA.