Week 3 Lured Heeling Step 1

Heeling is teaching your dog to walk in a certain position while you are walking and to sit when you stop.  The position you want is your dog's shoulder with your leg, their head should be visible to you, but if you can see their shoulders and back, then they are forging.  If you can not see their head from the side of your eye, then they are lagging.

While you may not walk your dog in a heel everywhere you go in the future, this is a good starting point to teach the "loose leash" when walking.  You can always loosen the command up for that later on.  Also, you can release them from the command with the marker word "yes" if you want them to have a less formal walk.

STEP 1:   Lure your puppy into a sit in heel position (puppy's shoulder should line up with your leg) on the side of you and facing in the same direction as you.  

STEP 2:  The leash will be held in your right hand, and the food reward will be in your left hand.

STEP 3:  In the beginning, if you have a short dog or puppy, you will hold the treat to your puppy's nose and will be hunched over a little to bring the puppy into the heel position with your hand and food reward.

STEP 4:  Say "heel" and step forward with your left foot.  Your treat hand should be held right in front of your puppy's nose.  Ideally, you want to feel your puppy's nose in your hand.

STEP 5:  Go about 5 or more steps forward.  Remember, your job is to lure your puppy into the right position.  If they lag, you can jolly them forward by enthusiastically saying their name or patting your leg encouragingly.

STEP 6A:  Come to a stop if your puppy has been practicing the auto sit, give them a second (a 1 Mississippi second) to sit.

STEP 6B:  If your puppy does not auto sit, you can say "sit" after waiting for that second.  If they are really out of position, you can lure them back around into the correct position.

STEP 7:  Repeat.  In the beginning, don't worry so much about a goal, but eventually you will want to be able to do three sets of four in a row.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 5 Notes, Homework, and Videos

Image
  NOTE 1:  WITH LOOSE LEASH WALKING INSIDE AROUND PLANTED DISTRACTIONS, HOLD THE LEASH. DO NOT HAVE THE LEASH DRAGGING. NOTE 2: WITH LURED HEEL STEP 2 INSIDE AROUND PLANTED DISTRACTIONS DO NOT HAVE THE LEASH DRAGGING. NOTE 3:  SINCE THERE IS AN INCREASING AMOUNT TO DO, I HAVE ADVISED ROTATING SOME EXERCISES OR PRACTICING THEM FOR LESS DAYS. NOTE 4:  THIS IS A REALLY GOOD TIME TO FOCUS ON HIS WALKING OUTSIDE.  SO I AM PUTTING EMPHASIS ON THAT FOR THE TIME BEING.  IN OTHER WORDS, SOME OF THE EXERCISES WE HAVE BEEN DOING WILL BE DONE OUTSIDE WHILE WALKING (ASSUMING THE WEATHER COOPERATES). Relax and Calm Exercises: These are the same, unless you have an opportunity (better weather) to practice outside or have a good inside distraction to work with. Sit on The Dog for 30 minutes . Practice this 3 times a week when you are not practicing Long Place. Long Place for 30 minutes . Practice this 3 times a week when you are not practicing Sit on the Dog NOTE:  ...
Read more

Week 1 Intro to Place, Send to Place, Circle Place and Long Place

Image
Practice times: Limit to 5 to 10 minutes tops.  Each step, starting with the "send to place" should be practiced individually.  INTRO TO PLACE ONLY HAS TO BE DONE FOR A NEW PLACE OBJECT AND LATER ON, PERHAPS ENVIRONMENT. INTO TO PLACE (STEP 1): Use this procedure if you are introducing your dog to a new place object. STEP 1:   Position your place equipment in the middle of the room. STEP 2:  Start walking your dog around the room. STEP 3:   Walk with your dog over the place area.   When all four paws are in place, say "place". STEP 4:   Repeat step three from every angle of the place mat or bed (remember, dogs can totally interpret something as "just from this direction", so help them to learn to generalize the command by doing this). STEP 5:  After several (15 or so) repeats of this, stop short of the mat, and see if the dog is ready to step on themselves.   SEND TO PLACE (STEP 2): STEP 1: ...
Read more

Week 1 Sit On The Dog

Image
Exercise: Sit on The Dog (do not confuse with the down exercise later on) Equipment needed: Metal Training Collar (for puppies a flat collar will due but be sure they can't slip their head out if it's too loose), 6' leather lead (for puppies inexpensive lead or clothes line lead), chair for handler to sit on that they aren't too worried about (IE an antique chair would not be a good idea, especially for a dog that might try to chew something other than their toy while you aren't watching, but a good metal folding chair will do), silence which means no verbal commands, praise, or corrections. Also no conversations of any sort with your dog. Objective and Goals: This exercise starts the leadership portion of dog (or puppy) training in a very non confrontational way. You are defining the space and activity that the dog will inhabit while you are engaged in other activities. It starts the process of showing the dog how to quiet themselves down during certain ti...
Read more