The Up/Down pattern game is a great way to start your walk. It helps your dog acclimate to the environment, sets the tone of focus and engagement for your walk and it's a great way to read your dog and see if they are focused and ready.

Pop a treat on the floor between their paws, they can eat this straight away. As soon as they look back up in your general direction mark YES and then pop the next treat down.

As the dog gets smoother and quicker and offering you focus you can add a little bit of duration before you mark YES. So a couple of seconds of the dog looking in your general direction then YES and the next food reward goes down.

We aren't nagging the dog or prompting them to look at us, all we are doing is capturing the attention they offer.

I start pretty much all of my group walks and group classes like this to help everyone acclimate to the environment.