When we walk, we use a prong, which keeps (Count) Basie pretty much in the heel position, unless we go to a new area in the dark...then he seems on alert and pulls ahead. What we are wondering is which video should we get (we are thinking "Focused heeling" to get him to not jump when company comes (we have 4 small grandchildren), and do what we ask in the house when we ask it...Suggestions are appreciated.

Focused heeling is more for a competition style of heeling. As far as jumping on people, you can teach him an off command. Its for anything. Furniture, counters, people, whatever he may want to jump on.

You can also teach him a place command when people come over, which is basicaly having him lay in a spot and not get up until you allow him to. I generally just use a command, "settle" for lay down right there, wherever I tell you. I also just put the dogs away when people come over. It would depend on what you want with your dog.

Do you have the marker training video? With markers, you can do/train ANYTHING!
http://leerburg.com/219.htm

Training dogs with food goes hand in hand with marker training.... http://leerburg.com/220.htm

my other suggestion would be Basic Dog Obedience
http://leerburg.com/302.htm

The focused heeling video (to my knowledge, I don't actually have that one) builds off of the Marker, and training with food videos, and is geared towards heeling in a sport setting (Schutzhund, French Ring, etc)

Hi Michele. A couple things you haven't mentioned which might help us to steer you in the right direction. How long have you had your dog? What type of training have you been using up to now? What, specifically, are you doing to teach him not to jump on the grandkids? What are your future plans for this dog?

A couple months ago, I ordered "The Power of Training Dogs With Markers" and "The Power of Training Dogs With Food." My two Dobermans are a little older than yours, and I had been using marker training and food rewards all along, but I found both of these DVDs to be a wonderful training resource. They would be a great place to start if you are not familiar with marker training, and a great refresher course if you are.

I agree that "Focused Heeling" would be geared more toward competition-type heeling and may not be what you need at this point. And while I don't own "Basic Dog Obedience," I'm sure it's full of good information that we could all stand to brush up on once in a while.

Good luck and let us know how it's going.

Hi Michele,

We had similar issues with our Dobie to begin with. Turns out it wasn't really her, it was us. Our pack structure wasn't strong enough, she didn't have the confidence and trust in us when meeting new situations so 'misbehaved'. Leerburg really helped with this.

You haven't given us much background on your situation, but I'd suggest going back to basics first. Bsaic OB and Pack Structure DVDs are both excellent, and would be a great place to start.

thank you...I will get the DVD's asap....I understand and like the concept very much....