I have a 14 month female boxer that i have obedience trained using ed's videos. Her sit, down, come, off, out, crate....etc commands are really impregnated into her skull. I use a prong and e-collar for corrections (the e-collar method i was using was the escape training method but i am beginning to switch over to the ed's method (cumpulsion i think)).

I have also taught her to sort of "Heel"....it just walking closely to me with a loose lead (off-lead as well). I use the command "Slow" for this....she use to try and walk faster than i did and naturally i would tell her "slow".

Well, now i would like to teach her the "Heel" command, With her driving into my leg and focusing on me. Since she had the basic foundation for this from the slow command, I have been able to get her to focus on me (holding one of her favorite toys under my neck) and sit once we stop (albeit slowly). She doesn't really drive into my leg and will look away once in a while but i figured that could be corrected a little bit later on once she will focus without the reward visable and understands the command a little bit better.

So i guess my question is....Should i be teaching to drive into my leg from the start? she sort of does when she is looking at her toy but not to the extent that i see in shcutzhund/obedience videos.

I am also having trouble teaching her the starting position and coming into that position. she understands when i tell her to heel that she needs to sit and be prepared to walk but she'll come towards me and just sit anywhere (in front mostly, looking up at me, probably a little confused as to the correct position). I do guide her into the correct position once she sits in the wrong postion, sometimes i try to guide her with a treat, but i am not really sure on how to get her to understand where the starting position is.

This is my first dog that i have trained, she picked up all the other commands realatively easily....this one seems a little more difficult for her. Any tips on teaching the heel, maybe the way some of you go about teaching it. i have tried reading up on some techniques and the only one that makes sense is by using the ball on string method hanging from the neck (i don't have bernard's video, so i am sort of improvising how i think it should be done, can someone clarify?).

Hi:
I think the problem is that your criteria are a bit vague to her. There is loose leash walking, and there is attention for competition, or drive heel training, two VERY different things. To get what you see in training videos, you need to have two different commands for two different things. Pick word that will work as your cue for attention/competition heeling, and use it for only that. If you plan to walk her on a leash, loosely, then use another word. Never the twain (words) shall meet. When I trained my Boxer in attention for competition (taught by a SchH trainer), I used a very loose leash (so that he didn't feel any drag). I first taught him to "watch me", which he got rather quickly. He is not a food hound, but he really liked they eye contact with me. Once I knew he would watch me through distraction, I then proceeded with heel. Heel first against a wall to keep his rear from sliding out. Then I slowly had him do SHORT drills. We would literally go 10 feet, with excellent attention, and then release and reward with big praise. He really loved this. He got it because I was very clear exactly what position I wanted. If your dog is in drive, he will sit faster because he is jazzed just to work with you. Important to note, incorporate sits and downs, and do them fast (release into heal) so that they dog doesn't think the game is over, merely, for a bit on hold- but very fast you will start again. Do short routines, varied, and reward the heck out of her. If she is looking away, or sitting slow, it could be that you are working too long sessions, she isn't in drive, she isn't really interested in working with you. Could be a myriad of things, but to be succesful in that awesome heeling you see on videos, you need a dog that is ON, and the ONLY thing she wants at that moment is to work for that reward. You need to make her reward something she only gets what she is doing that work for you. You also need to be jazzed up when training her- walk FAST! Walking slow gives the dog's minds time to think about what else they could be doing <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> My Boxer had AWESOME attention for heeling, I mean, no matter what I did his head was up, glued on me, and FOCUSED. THere are lots of books on this, and I would also ask those folks who do so well with this what they do to train this, and remember you have a Boxer, not a GSD or Mal.

Julie

i do have the loose leash walking command..."Slow" which she understands....

I will use the "Heel" command for heeling...

During the Heel training i am getting her to watch me by using her toy held up near my face. while walking with her she will keep her attention on the toy (near face and eventually wean her off having the toy visible)...not sure if this is correct but it was the plan i was going to follow, kind of made sense.

Her drive is up when training, but a good point you made was that i should walk FAST...i've been walking slowly and like you said...her attention will wander after a while (might be expecting too much at this point). a little more excitement on my end might help.

How did you go about teaching your dog the watch me command. I don't plan on using her for schutzhund or any competitions so i haven't demanded her to focus on me while in sits and downs (she'll stay until released even around distractions but i do allow her to look around)...should i demand focus while in commands....maybe switch to german commands for those and english commands for a bit more lieniency?

any books suggested for heeling? which folks do well with this so i can ask them?

i found this thread "Heel Position" http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=22&Number=4143920&page=1&fpart=all after asking the question. (it took forever to find it though) i have noticed a marked improvement by teaching her the starting position first! She can already walk at heel position with her eyes focused on a toy around my neck so i figured i can teach her the start position as we went on. By backing up to the beginning and getting her to understand where to sit i see the progress that i was hoping for. with only 2 days training on the start position she already has picked up on it by using treats to lure her into position. she is already starting to come to the heel position from 10-20 feet away. i am excited.

Sound like you're doing really well with her. I'm just beginning this part of training with my dog and I have got the 'Training a Competition Heeling Dog' DVD and it's fantastic at teaching you how to get your dog to watch and focus on you and heeling etc. You can find it here.

Leerburg

I've also read a lot of good comments about the 'Teaching Drive and Focus' DVD but other members who have it will be able to tell you about it.
Good Luck <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hi Phillip,
I was experiencing similar heeling problems with my two female German Shepherd puppies about three or four weeks ago. You said you've been using Ed's training DVDs but it doesn't sound like you have his DVD titled, "Training the Competition Heeling Dog". If your pocketbook allows it, pick one up. The trainer on the DVD is a guy named Tom Rose. The transformation in my dogs was nothing less than miraculous. The trick is to teach the dog to focus, not heel. Teach her to focus by feeding her from your mouth. Then start the heeling training, slowly. VERY SLOWLY. Start off with only one or two very slow steps at first, then drop a food reward from your mouth and release the dog from the exercise with a "free" command. Gradually, increase steps and speed as her performance improves. My problem was that I thought I was going slow, but apparently not slow enough. I thought I was only taking a few steps, but apparently still too many steps. Anyway, the results were remarkable. Good luck.