Field Guide · Glossary
LAT
Methods and protocolsLeslie McDevitt's Look At That game, in which a dog is marked and reinforced for looking at a trigger and then back at their handler.
How it works
It reframes the trigger as something to be noticed and reported rather than something to be dealt with. The dog looks, the handler marks, the dog turns back for food, and over repetitions the sight of the trigger begins to prompt the turn toward the handler on its own. It is run below threshold, at a distance where the dog can look without reacting, and it gives an anxious dog something specific and achievable to do at the moment they see something worrying.
What it looks like
A dog notices another dog two hundred and fifty feet away. The handler marks the instant the dog looks, and the dog turns back for a treat. After a dozen repetitions the dog is glancing at the other dog and immediately turning back without being marked.
Commonly confused with
- BAT
- LAT pays with food for looking and turning back. BAT pays with distance and lets the dog choose to move away. Both work below threshold, and they use different currencies.
Related terms
Where this comes up