May 17, 2011
I have a Rott in patrol dog class that has had so much bad training on heeling that we can’t seem to get him to heel. Can you help me?
Full Question:
Mr. Frawley, my name is Richard. I have a two year old rottweiler who is being considered for police work. Myself and my K-9 have been through a patrol course and a narcotics course. My K-9 Rocco has done rather well for a rottweiler, from what I hear.The problem I have is with off lead obedience. I can recall, have him sit and down voice and hand signals, and put him in a stay. He does these commands quite well, however when I try to get him to heel he shuts down. He'll just stay there.
This all started over his aggression towards me when I had him on lead, during correction with the pinch collar he would growl. I was instructed to muzzle him and alpha roll him if need be, or if he would not do as commanded off lead. I was supposed to show him who's the boss. After repeated attempts off lead, I muzzled him and alpha rolled him. I don't know if I traumatized him, over loaded him (due to his age and immaturity), or should I have tried another method. I have even tried food to entice him to heal, with little improvement.
Rocco is a good K-9 and I believe will make a very good candidate for police work. I would however like to master the off lead obedience. Any thoughts, articles or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanking you in advance for your time and consideration.
P.S. I thought your tape on tracking RCMP #1 was fantastic, a world of information.
Sincerely,
Richard
Ed's Answer:
This is one of those questions that is always better to see the problem before commenting, but I will take a shot with a few options.
Some dogs can be more stubborn than others, but they all have to go through the same 3 phases of dog training:
If he does and refuses like you say, and food and prong collars have no effect I would go to LOW LEVEL electric collar work. For all those that read this that have never experienced LOW LEVEL electric collar training, do not turn up your noses. It is wonderful in many training situations.
The best collars on the market are the Tri Tronic's collars. Their 500 series is the best that you can get, if you can not afford this then you should consider the Companion model.
Let me start by explaining that the training on my current stud dog was done with HIGH LEVEL collar work. To get him to OUT they tried 2 collars at level 5. This only pissed the dog off and sent him into fight drive. He would not OUT - he just fought harder - because he was pissed about being hurt. I currently work him with one collar on "Level 2."
The concept is to put one of these collars on and find the level of stimulation that just causes the dog to turn his head. If he yelps or growls you are way too high. That s why you always start on level one. When you find the head turn, that’s the level to start training.
Put your dog on leash, take him for a walk, when he is walking along, you do an about turn and stimulate the dog (Shock him - although its not really a shock at this level - it just tingles a little) and say HEEL. When the dog comes near your side - you release the stimulation.
This work is done 2 or 3 times a day for several weeks. The dog basically learns how to turn the collar off by getting by your side. Initially we don't expect precision, but as time goes by we will expect tighter and tighter about turns (after several weeks).
This work is all done on a long line or a leash. Also, when you get to the point of reinforcing a tighter turn, you don't give continuous stimulation, you just bump the button. With experience you will find that the "BUMP" is a great little training tool to show the dog that you can still reach out and touch him.
My Otis was so crazy for a tug toy that I had to physically choke him with his collar to get him to release the tug toy. Now after 2 months of low level collar work (used in conjunction with the 2 toy retrieval game) he will return a tossed toy to the heel position and release it like a damned black lab hunting dog (puts a tear in my eye to see him do this - it’s so pretty!!!)
If you can not find these collars locally, we just started to sell them. They are great.
Some dogs can be more stubborn than others, but they all have to go through the same 3 phases of dog training:
- The Learning Phase
- The Correction Phase
- The Distraction Phase
If he does and refuses like you say, and food and prong collars have no effect I would go to LOW LEVEL electric collar work. For all those that read this that have never experienced LOW LEVEL electric collar training, do not turn up your noses. It is wonderful in many training situations.
The best collars on the market are the Tri Tronic's collars. Their 500 series is the best that you can get, if you can not afford this then you should consider the Companion model.
Let me start by explaining that the training on my current stud dog was done with HIGH LEVEL collar work. To get him to OUT they tried 2 collars at level 5. This only pissed the dog off and sent him into fight drive. He would not OUT - he just fought harder - because he was pissed about being hurt. I currently work him with one collar on "Level 2."
The concept is to put one of these collars on and find the level of stimulation that just causes the dog to turn his head. If he yelps or growls you are way too high. That s why you always start on level one. When you find the head turn, that’s the level to start training.
Put your dog on leash, take him for a walk, when he is walking along, you do an about turn and stimulate the dog (Shock him - although its not really a shock at this level - it just tingles a little) and say HEEL. When the dog comes near your side - you release the stimulation.
This work is done 2 or 3 times a day for several weeks. The dog basically learns how to turn the collar off by getting by your side. Initially we don't expect precision, but as time goes by we will expect tighter and tighter about turns (after several weeks).
This work is all done on a long line or a leash. Also, when you get to the point of reinforcing a tighter turn, you don't give continuous stimulation, you just bump the button. With experience you will find that the "BUMP" is a great little training tool to show the dog that you can still reach out and touch him.
My Otis was so crazy for a tug toy that I had to physically choke him with his collar to get him to release the tug toy. Now after 2 months of low level collar work (used in conjunction with the 2 toy retrieval game) he will return a tossed toy to the heel position and release it like a damned black lab hunting dog (puts a tear in my eye to see him do this - it’s so pretty!!!)
If you can not find these collars locally, we just started to sell them. They are great.
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