nope. fruit is okay with my dogs.

Hot dogs, smoked sausage or smoked jerky treats are BAD jou jou at my house

Norman

I was re-reading your reply and am a bit confused on a comment. Perhaps you can clarify your suggestion that I do not represent a "present experience *in that situation*. Is this to say that there are too many distractions short circuiting the dog's attention, and they are all greater than the "hand that feeds"?

Clearly this situation needs immediate resolution.

I'd say that our dog has a pretty high prey drive, and food is a key motivator. I am guilty of allowing these distractions to replace his focus on me. Now, after seeing your video with Dap, I am determined to work those distractions to the background.

Would starting inside the house be a good idea, building back that attention to me before going outside where the situation is pretty chronic?

Thanks

David

David *in that situation* suggests that the dog is not that way in other situations. That is I got from your post. Some dogs when they see a leash it means good times but if that dog has had some bad experiences with that training tool it might mean something different. In most instances the clanging of a food bowl means for the dog, food however if a dog that has been undergoing food aggression issues with its owner that clanging can evidence quite another response from the dog. I don't know what your dog has experienced but thought you might consider how you have been training and what has your dogs response been to that training. If that is not an issue, then your focus training will be a walk in the park for you and your dog. I would begin where the dog has as few distractions as possible and it might be best if it is not a formalized obedience session but and off leash fun exercise for you and your dog. In this way if there has been any unpleasantness, *as perceived by the dog*, that prior experience will not hinder what you are tying to accomplish. Just a note food drive and or hunger, is what is being used, not prey drive. Again I'm not saying what has been because I don't know, just wanted to cover as many bases as possible. Norman Epstein

thanks again, Norman. It's a big help. I must have confused my dog's willingness to chase things and his willingness to eat things as the same drive. the intensity of the former is pretty acute, even at a very young age. the latter just means we probably don't feed him enough.

DF

 Quote: David N. Fisher

I'm envious. My 7 month old GSD is nose to the ground for our entire walks. He will heal, but under duress. And I'm constant with the corrections.

I'd like to refocus him to me and get that tight heal with intensity your dog shows.

Maybe I'm not understanding this correctly - are you saying you want a formal type heel during walks? If you're taking your pup for walks, it's not a walk if the dog is heeling in that manner. It wouldn't be right to expect that type of formal heel from your pup (or adult dog) for an entire walk.

Hey Norman, great videos! I really like what your doing with those young dogs.

I agree with Sandy on the heeling. IMO, that is probably one of the the hardest exercises your dog can learn and to expect it to heel for a full walk is pretty unreasonable.

Alex and Sandy that is a good observation and I missed the "entire walk" part. You are both correct in that expecting a young or and age dog for that matter to remain focused for many blocks in unfair. It may be that David is walking to slowly. In any event with my adult Boerboel I have a "stay close" command. When I give it I expect the dog to be at my side but in a casual position, however He can't relieve himself except when I tell him to. This stops the stopping at every bush that some other dog has, to mark. Thank you both for that. Norman Epstein

The smaller treat was my problem. THANK YOU Carol and Norman.

Now I have to get less clutzy at the hand off. Yesterday and this morning we had two good sessions. We are not in Dep's league but maybe coming up on his shadow.

It sure is fun when it works.

Hey folks,

My mistake in not being clear. I guess I need to break down the issue into a little more detail.

First, I was very inspired by Norman's video. It's my goal to cultivate the level of attention Norman's dog exhibits toward Norman. The video shows a series of obediance routines where the dog heals remarkably well. Since I only watched the video once, and didn't look for editing jumps or cuts, the seven minute +/- time frame seemed an appropriate length to shoot for with my dog.

That being said, I don't expect my dog, particularily at this stage of his life (7 months) and my mistakes (too numerous to list here) to date, to heal that well for any more than a one or two minutes.

My walks with Dutch (his name) are the primary time the two of us spend together. He's crate (cage to some) trained so I can well understand the reason why he's "nose to the ground" most of the time we are outside. After seeing the video I became determined to increase the bond my dog and I currently have. Obedience training is one path to that end. I spend a small segment of my walk with him on obedience. Not the entire time, never have, never will. Sandy is correct, it wouldn't be fair

I must mention that he heals OK for short durations, just not with the rapt attention as demonstrated by Dap.

Sorry for the confusion if you thought I wanted him to stay in heal for the entire time. Heck, that would wear me out.

Sounds great Michelle. And yes, when it works it is very uplifting.

When I hand off a treat I hold it with my pointer finger and thumb and kind of "cup" my hand. This works well (for me) as it helps with dogs who have a tendency to be "grabby" and also, I do not let go too early and cause the treat to drop.