Sid_Wolf Posted November 12, 2009 Report Share Posted November 12, 2009 how do i go about teaching kira to heel properly?? she walks ok on her half check, but still pulls sometimes, especially if she can see another dog, and i want to do something with her that will teach her to focus soley on me (if thats at all possible) i read one of Becs posts in an old thread which gave me this idea lol Oh and i think we are making progress with her jumping on other dogs, she still pulls desperately towards them but only jumps if they move really quickly towards her, but if they're relatively calm she just sniffs them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid_Wolf Posted November 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2009 i'v heard of heelwork to music... where the dogs dance with you... but i just want her to focus on me & only me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted November 12, 2009 Report Share Posted November 12, 2009 I'm about to head off to work, so I can come back and give you some more info later today. But for now - I start by teaching the heel position before moving on to heeling in motion. That is, teaching the dog to sit glued to my left leg. You want the dog's shoulder to be in line with your left leg. You want them as close to you as possible. Start by luring the dog in to position with some food and then treating them as soon as they are in the right position and saying 'heel'. Youtube some obedience videos (Schutzhund obedience videos will give you a great idea of what amazing heel work looks like) so you see what I mean about the dog being in the right position before you even step off. When you have them in heel position encourage them to look at you and give you eye contact; start by getting eye contact for a couple of seconds then treating; then three seconds and treating and so on until the dog gets good at sitting in heel position and looking at you. Once the dog is good at this, you can start to teach it to find heel position, by calling her over and telling her to heel. Once this is solid you can look at adding some steps, we always step off with our left leg in heel work as that signals to the dog we are going to heel (and stepping off on our right leg tells the dog to stay in position). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid_Wolf Posted November 12, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2009 ok thanks bec, i'll start on this tomorrow then i knew you'd be able to help lol the sitting and eye contact will help when we see other dogs wont it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted November 13, 2009 Report Share Posted November 13, 2009 ok thanks bec, i'll start on this tomorrow then i knew you'd be able to help lol the sitting and eye contact will help when we see other dogs wont it?? It will, but you will need to build it gradually. Start at home and get her working 100% then gradually add distractions (i.e. move to the front of the yard, etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akira26 Posted November 13, 2009 Report Share Posted November 13, 2009 Awesome info Bec - Added to rep. I did this in the puppy classes with Tala - lol I'll try to explain it as I have found it quite good! We started this at home like in the living room so there were no distractions, then garden and then finally on walks. What the trainer taught us to do was to sit the dog next to your left leg, hold the lead in your right hand and hold a treat in your left hand just above your dogs head.... you get them really focused on the treat (i.e. let them sniff it, lick it etc.) you then walk forwards whilst trying to keep the dog interested in the treat. The first few times you should expect the dog to rush off infront but we were told to either stop and re-focus them or to change dircteion suddenly. When you get the dog to walk next to you for a few seconds you say heel and give them the treat and repeat. It does take a lot of patience and you need to practice it each day. As the dog gets better you increase the time before you give a treat and then gradually start fading them out. I hope I have explained this right lol It has worked with Tala - She does actually heel when on a walk now but it has taken a lot of work - I still keep the training up all the time so I can imprint it lol. (Though she will still dart forward if there's a bird/rabbit etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted November 13, 2009 Report Share Posted November 13, 2009 I use heel on walks when I want my dog to focus 110% on me. I don't use it on the whole walk as that would be uncomfortable for the dog. I don't fade out rewards with formal obedience work as when I give the command 'ready to work' I expect my dogs to switch on straight away and give me all they've got... you don't get that without a good reward to get that drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 Here's an updated video for you, Sid&Kira. This is my beagle Daisy, her heelwork is far from perfect, but her focus is quite ok, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMX_B4VP4kY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sid_Wolf Posted November 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 wow bec she is amazing!! thats exactly what i want with kira, a loose lead! lol shes so focused! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valkyries Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 nice vid lol i'd just like mine to learn to bloody walk lol i'm sure they think i'm the rig an they gotta pull xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted November 15, 2009 Report Share Posted November 15, 2009 LOL She's pretty consistent on a loose leash, but I wouldn't ask her to heel like that for more than 5-10 minutes as it's bad for their neck to be craning up for so long. Although his heelwork is no where near as good, Micha was far easier to train because he is not as easily distracted by scents. When we are just walking I have a 6ft leash I usually use and the dogs can walk further in front of me as long as they aren't pulling. They don't have to focus on me either as long as they focus when I ask for it (like with heelwork). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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