Melody Posted December 30, 2006 Report Share Posted December 30, 2006 Could I have some advise please on your techniques for heel training your pup? Mine is 10 months old and I must say has improved ALOT on the lead but there is always that full lead tug that if I were to relax a bit he'd pull me with him! I had a mouth halti at one point as I had a bad back and needed him under control...worked wonders although he hated it! But I want to train him properly without harnesses or haltis Ive tried walking in opposite direction as he gets to the tug stage or to stand still and he then sit down and we set off again. I was thinking from what Ive read that they can master this pretty quick under a week?? is this where we should be at cos its been alot longer than that! He is mainly off lead which I know wont help so now I have split the walk to off lead then we walk home roadside way on lead to try and get more practice. How did you Heel train yours and what age was is mastered? thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixie_Girl Posted December 30, 2006 Report Share Posted December 30, 2006 Jackson and Skip both had it mastered by 4mos. I started the training in the backyard. I got one of those big flexible rakes. Put the dog on the side you are comfortable with. Get the lead up as tight as possible without ANY tension on the dog. In your other hand, hold the rake. When the dog goes past your leg, put the rake in front of him, and give a verbal correction. Then say heel, and start again. It really is a fast way to do it. Your dog may dodge to the side to get away from the rake so be prepared. He will stop doing that when he realizes that the rake is not going to hit him! Start this with as few distractions as possible, then gradually add more distractions. If you take him out for a walk and he starts pulling again, immediately return to the yard and the rake, he will soon realize his pulling is to no avail! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordercentrics Posted December 30, 2006 Report Share Posted December 30, 2006 Depending on the individual dog, it could take a long time. Some are natural pullers, needing to be out front and go as fast as possible. I own one like that. Our others and the fosters I have worked with were easy, and yes, they probably all learned in less than a week! A friend of mine who is a professional trainer said she had her first Border Collie on basically a 2" lead for a YEAR before Focus would heel on her own. What is working best with our Ruby is to constantly change direction QUICKLY. And before that, do simple attention work. The most successful method for us is Pam Dennison's. She has you stand perfectly still, being calm, with you hands at your side. The dog is on a standard 6" lead. Whenever the dog looks at YOU (not your treat hand), you click and treat the dog. She does not give a verbal command to watch, as she wants the dog to watch you without being told to. She has seen many dogs who only look at their handlers when they hear the "Look" or "Watch me" command. Ruby responded extremely well to this method, after several others had failed. Things that did NOT work for Ruby: 1) Stopping and standing still when she pulled. She then just ran around me in a circle and was perfectly happy with the situation, as she wants to always be in motion, and that worked! 2) Reversing direction when she pulled. She was still happy at keeping moving. The constantly changing direction is done BEFORE the dog pulls, and the dog will look at you as if you are nuts, as you don't warn them or say anything. Then you become an interesting thing to watch! And that is what you want. The dog will be more likely to want to stay with you. All the above methods are good and work on many dogs. You just need to know that dog training is always a work in progress with any individual dog. The methods for teaching various behaviors don't work on every dog. I could not get my Border Collies to back up using the method that my Bouviers learned with easily. They think differently. I had to create two different methods for two different Border Collies, by analyzing what part of the process was ingrained already in each dog and start with that. One of my Border Collies learned to heel easily with the methods that did NOT work for the other. There are no pat answers in dog training. That is why I don't like to teach large classes but prefer one on one work. Remember - Think Outside the Box! Kathy Robbins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bordercentrics Posted December 30, 2006 Report Share Posted December 30, 2006 An addendum to my post above! The techniques I mentioned are really preliminaries to actual formal heeling. Your dog needs to master loose lead walking first, which is similar but requires no specific position in relation to you. Then teaching heeling becomes easier. Ruby already heels nicely in the yard and at training class. However, she still gets too excited in public to remember her stuff! Formal heeling is actually one of the more difficult behaviors for a dog, and I have never understood why most classes begin with it. My personal opinion regarding using props to teach a behavior, is don't do it. Most dogs will take a long time to perform the behavior without the prop, as they relate the prop to the behavior and fading the prop takes time. Better to take the time up front, then it is done. I used to use this method as well, but don't any more. As I said before, all these methods work for a lot of dogs, but not for all. If you have a "not for all" dog, you have to get creative! Kathy Robbins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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