Boot camp.... funny..... That's what it feels like needs to happen NOW! hahahahaha...... get this train rollin in the right direction so I can quit being the laughing stock of the neighborhood.

Question, how do you all teach a really good heel. We are quite weak, and it's a zoo too. Originally at SchH club they had me doing it with my right arm baiting him with treats... That was all great and dandy, but he gets in the way all the time and gets stepped on! Then the scene goes something like this, dog starts yelping and jumping around, and american trips and falls on her face....... It's happened multiple times.... just bam... on the face, dog yelping in pain.
Yoshi's lookin at me like "hell no I am not going to heel!" bahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahha

How long do you have them hold the heel before you reward them? (like how far?) When do you start pushing for eye contact instead of eye-treat contact......? Ohhhh I crack me up... I wish you all could see some of the crazy stuff I do not knowing what I'm doing .It's got to be hilarious... learning from books and youtube videos..... hahahahahah.... But, he is pretty well behaved for the most part, so I can't be doing too bad.... hahahahahahhhahhahaha

If you've stepped on him/fallen a few times, you've got some negative associations going on with "heel" now. So it's going to take some extra time to correct this. Not a huge issue in the long run, but will require extra work to get where you want to be.

I'd start by luring him to a heel position, marking and rewarding without giving any commands. Once he is pretty solid on this you can start asking for duration, but in baby steps. I'd be doing all of this in your back yard or living room to cut down on the distractions.

You should also be teaching a "look" command or just teaching him give you eye contact for things that he want. For instance my dogs need to give eye contact before going outside, coming out of their crate, getting their food, etc.

Once he is solid on "look" or giving eye contact, and going into the heel position you can start asking for them both at the same time.

ETA - have you watched the Michael Ellis youtube videos that leerburg has done? Lots of great basic information there. And even more in the dvds sold here!

Danielle,
I am getting such a kick out of your thorough descriptions. How wonderful!

One thing that may be helpful is to maintain a criteria in your head. We humans have the need to "walk" our dogs....have the route in mind and after all, the dog must get exercised. There's also usually some sort of timeframe, ie: okay, I have half an hour, so let's go for our "walk".

The dog can't pull you over if he has no momentum, and you maintain control from the moment that leash gets snapped on.

What does this mean? Well, it very well could mean 10 minutes just to get out the door. It may mean you travel all of 20 feet in half an hour. Have the end-product criteria in your mind, and you wait and work until you get it, with every step. It's extremely inconvenient, but will set a foundation for the dog that he KNOWS what to do, and that you are going to be absolutely consistent in enforcing/reinforcing it.

There are tools that will help you, ie: a well-fitted prong collar. The trick is to prevent the dog from doing what you don't want him to do in the first place, and reinforcing the correct behavior....whether that be with a cookie, or some amount of forward progression.

Start at the end result, I guess that's what I am saying, and be 100% consistent.

Tracy

While walking keep changing directions frequently. As soon as the dog gets to the end of the leash, you turn and head in the opposite direction. Walk 6 paces, or until the dog catches up and starts leading, and then turn again.

I've done many a walk with a pup where we covered the same 20 feet of sidewalk for the entire "walk." Yes, the neighbors will think you're crazy and so will the dog. But the dog will eventually realize that he'd better pay attention because the crazy person on the other end of the leash is liable to do random things at any moment.

 Quote: Tracy Collins

But the dog will eventually realize that he'd better pay attention because the crazy person on the other end of the leash is liable to do random things at any moment.

Thumbs up!!

T

I'm thinking "Achtung!" would be good here

Something my trainer "suggested" (we're using that term loosely here!) is to get your dog's focus/attention and eye contact first. Once you have that move forward at a decent pace to keep him engaged. When he loses that eye contact come to a stop and don't move forward again until he gives you eye contact again. Each time he gives you eye contact reward him. With JD he gets a resounding "YES" and treat. Sort of like this:

Me: "Watch me"
JD: Eye contact/focus
Me: "YES!" treat, move forward.

Loss of eye contact/focus - Stop.

Me: "Watch me"
JD: Eye contact/focus
Me: "YES!" treat, move forward.

It seemed like we were stopping every 3 steps in the beginning, but he caught on very quickly and now rarely do I have to come to a stop. I can simply ask for the "watch me" and reward with a "YES! Good Boy!" and no more treats.

Seriously, this worked in a matter of just a few hours (moving between stores like PetsNotSoSmart, The Gift Horse, and Home Depot". The sessions in each store were very short and he got his break inbetween when I drove from location to location. By the time we got to Home Depot his focus had gone from fleeting to the length of about 1/2 of the store.

Hope this helps

 Quote: tracy collins

While walking keep changing directions frequently. As soon as the dog gets to the end of the leash, you turn and head in the opposite direction. Walk 6 paces, or until the dog catches up and starts leading, and then turn again.

I've done many a walk with a pup where we covered the same 20 feet of sidewalk for the entire "walk." Yes, the neighbors will think you're crazy and so will the dog. But the dog will eventually realize that he'd better pay attention because the crazy person on the other end of the leash is liable to do random things at any moment.

 Quote: dana martin

I'm thinking "Achtung!" would be good here

Something my trainer "suggested" (we're using that term loosely here!) is to get your dog's focus/attention and eye contact first. Once you have that move forward at a decent pace to keep him engaged. When he loses that eye contact come to a stop and don't move forward again until he gives you eye contact again. Each time he gives you eye contact reward him. With JD he gets a resounding "YES" and treat. Sort of like this:

Me: "Watch me"
JD: Eye contact/focus
Me: "YES!" treat, move forward.

Loss of eye contact/focus - Stop.

Me: "Watch me"
JD: Eye contact/focus
Me: "YES!" treat, move forward.

It seemed like we were stopping every 3 steps in the beginning, but he caught on very quickly and now rarely do I have to come to a stop. I can simply ask for the "watch me" and reward with a "YES! Good Boy!" and no more treats.

Seriously, this worked in a matter of just a few hours (moving between stores like PetsNotSoSmart, The Gift Horse, and Home Depot". The sessions in each store were very short and he got his break inbetween when I drove from location to location. By the time we got to Home Depot his focus had gone from fleeting to the length of about 1/2 of the store.

Hope this helps

YES!

This post is great! It think it will really help me. We have good leash walking down but are working on focus skills.

I'm going to do this in front of my house today.

Cool!

Thanks for the AWESOME ADVICE!!!!!!!! I think I will go make a fool of myself for awhile today! hahahahhahahahaa......I can definitely see that we need the achtung/focus command now.........Will the clicker work as a marker in the beginning? He has seemed to respond very quickly to that, better than my voice for the most part in the beginning of training different things......?

Yeah, he definitely has a negative association with heel as do I.... I know it is a vital command that needs to start being trained well NOW, (probably a lot sooner), but it nearly always ends up in someone tripping hahahhahaha... The other day, I tripped myself in the field and went face first into a pile of grass. Good things he's a patient dog... he just looks at me like "what an A$$ hole!hahahhahahhaahahahahha

 Quote: danielle keith

Thanks for the AWESOME ADVICE!!!!!!!! I think I will go make a fool of myself for awhile today! hahahahhahahahaa......I can definitely see that we need the achtung/focus command now.........Will the clicker work as a marker in the beginning? He has seemed to respond very quickly to that, better than my voice for the most part in the beginning of training different things......?

Yeah, he definitely has a negative association with heel as do I.... I know it is a vital command that needs to start being trained well NOW, (probably a lot sooner), but it nearly always ends up in someone tripping hahahhahaha... The other day, I tripped myself in the field and went face first into a pile of grass. Good things he's a patient dog... he just looks at me like "what an A$$ hole!hahahhahahhaahahahahha

Danielle, you are too damn funny! I just love your descriptions

A clicker would work. That's what I started with for JD and then slowly changed to "YES!"

Try thinking of your focus/heel sessions as just a "walk". Don't focus on "omg heel, omg don't pull me, omg, don't want to trip". He can pick up on your anxiety. Think to yourself "goin for a walk, how fun!"

I know when I changed what I was concentrating on it made a big difference in how JD was reacting to me. When it became fun for me it became fun for him.