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  1. #1
    Senior Dog Labradorks's Avatar
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    Problem Solving in Heeling

    A good heel is hard to teach! We have gotten by with the dog walking next to me not pulling the leash and managed a couple titles and decent scores. Since then, I have decided that what I really want is a great head's us, tail up, prancing heel! I've been working on it for a year and so far, it's been very inconsistent with moments of greatness but mostly walking along. Which, technically, works in obedience, too. I've tried talking, cheerleading, luring, stopping or backing up when he's not in position and even, in the past, bumping his collar (not a pop, just an annoying bump, bump, bump on a flat-buckle collar). Nothing worked or it made him not like the exercise, which I'd then have to work hard to "undo".

    I have noticed that when I use a clicker to teach an exercise, those exercises are sharper, more precise, quicker to learn and with lots of exuberance. So, why not heeling? The engagement training we did this summer automatically improved the heeling (as well as everything else we do, but that's a story for another day), so the moments of greatness were really awesome, but it still was not consistent. Heeling games helped, especially from a halt to a start and on our figure 8s, but mostly it helped with any lagging or flatness. I have every confidence in that if my dog knows how to do something or what I am asking, he'll do it. I came to the conclusion that he really didn't know what I wanted.

    The first step was to ask the dog to come to position and when he did, click and treat. I'd walk all over my house, put my hand with a treat exactly where I wanted his head, ask for a heel, then click and treat when he came to it, not so much with his body, but with his face. And he needed to be pushing for the treat, which was tough for him as he is typically a very polite dog. I did it in each room, doorways, weird spots, etc. for about a week, at least twice a day. He got it quickly with exception of the pushiness, but he eventually got that, too. Then, I did the same as above, and added three steps before the click and treat. Then five. This was where I was after almost two weeks when I had a lesson on Saturday morning. I told my instructor about it and she asked me to show her and was very happy (a bit of an understatement) with what we'd done. It had been an area that honestly, I had been avoiding with her as I didn't feel it was progressing like the other exercises and I was feeling frustrated. I had decided that I'd try this clicker thing and if it didn't do anything, I would just talk to her about how it wasn't working for us. She knew how I felt about heeling, so it was a pretty exciting moment for us when we saw the progress in such a short period of time. She asked me to put my hand in the proper position to test him a big and then try the length of the ring in a straight line and this is how it turned out. He is leash-free.

    We still have a lot of work to do, but I'm happy with his progress and how quickly he got it when I included the clicker and realized that he just didn't know exactly what I was asking for. I'm thrilled with his attitude most of all. We're having fun!
    Last edited by Labradorks; 10-13-2015 at 10:15 PM.

  2. #2
    House Broken
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    Aw! It looks good... just like what you described that you wanted! Great job by both of you 😊

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to K10 For This Useful Post:

    Labradorks (10-14-2015)

  4. #3
    Senior Dog Maxx&Emma's Avatar
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    That is a great job!!
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    Maxx and Emma Jean

    Ozzy - 10/2002 - 06/2011 - Rest well my sweet boy. You are forever remembered, forever missed, forever in my heart.

  5. The Following User Says Thank You to Maxx&Emma For This Useful Post:

    Labradorks (10-14-2015)

 



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