HOW TO TEACH FOCUSING AND HEELING

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OK Sorry all... Didn't mean to be a wise guy. I must of had a VanCamp moment.LOL <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

maxlee,

Could you maybe elaborate a bit on your question? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Welcome aboard Maxlee and what Chuck was trying to say in his own special way was general questions are very difficult to answer on this type of forum. So let's narrow it down to teaching a dog how to focus while heeling. Which after rereading your post might have been what you were trying to ask. This is usually done through food or toys. Either placing a ball up high by your face or feeding from up high are two classic ways to teach this. Two schools of thought on this are to whether to teach the watch separate or part of the heel. I teach it separate because many of my training principles come from Tom Rose. My TD teaches it as one because he feels that if the dog is not looking at you then he is not heeling as much as if he is not lined up properly. On my top 3 list of Ed's tapes is Training A Competition Heeling Dog which goes into every detail in teaching the heel.

Can healing be taught without compulsion. Focusing on food is easy how do you correct when they walk away without using the prong collar.

Actually Vince after thinking about it, one really can't be more specific than "How do you teach focus and heeling?" maxlee should be commended for getting right to the point!LOL <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> It is my head that's a bit in the clouds on this one. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
Good advice Mr. P.

Milt,

Good question. Judging on how the last two times I commented on the use of compulsion went, I don't think I'll touch this one!LOL I guess that dosen't leave much to the imagination on what my answer WOULD be here!

Milt:

If your dog is in drive during heeling why would he walk away from you? Explain further.

Vince,

I think I gather what Milt is talking about but I'll wait and let milt speak for himself.

Vince, I taught my dog how to heel using Ed’s basic training tape. I followed Ed’s tape and really had great results. In our morning walks for the past 6 months I would give the heel command just to reinforce what was learned. Our morning walks are with a leash and collar. If she moves to far ahead of me I give the heel command and if she doesn’t listen I’ll give a correction .I’ll just spent 5 minutes on healing because morning is her time . Night time is time to stretch her legs. We go to the park and are all-alone. There is no leash or prong collar just a pocket full of treats. We do a lot of recall work down stays, and recently jumps. I haven’t spent time on off leash heeling just using treats. I tried it the other day held the treat by my chest and she looked like a competition dog following me around . The problem is when she gets the reward she starts getting ahead of me. I can stop her with my voice but the cycle keeps repeating itself. I reached the conclusion that there is no way to correct her just using positive training.

Milt