Field Guide · Glossary
The check-in
Skills and cuesA dog noticing something that concerns them and then choosing, without being asked, to look back at their handler.
How it works
It matters because of who initiates it. A dog who looks back on cue is responding to a handler; a dog who looks back on their own has processed the trigger and decided the handler is the more useful thing to attend to. That is the behavior most reactivity protocols are ultimately building toward, which is why it is treated as a milestone rather than as one skill among many. It usually appears before any visible reduction in barking, so it is often the first evidence that training is working.
What it looks like
A dog sees another dog at a hundred and thirty feet, stiffens for a moment, then turns their head back toward their handler with no prompt. The handler pays that immediately. Three weeks earlier, the same dog would have been barking by this point.
Commonly confused with
- Engagement
- Engagement is a dog choosing their handler over the environment generally, including when nothing is wrong. A check-in is that choice made specifically after noticing something difficult.
Related terms
Where this comes up
In the reading list