1 year old Lab hates training

[jtwilly2]

My one year old american lab hides when its training time. He has the basics, sit, stay, down, come, shake. When we try to get him to follow us in the house or even say the word heel he runs into his kennel and just looks at us. I did have a trainer when he was about 7 months old that was suppose to help with heel and he dragged my dog with a leash around the house saying heel. (no he didnt get the job of trainer after that). I am having the normal issues of leash pulling and jumping. On a good note I do take him off leash in an open field and play frisbee with him. He listens very well in that field. any suggestions or anyone have an idea of why he runs into his kennel.

[Jeff]

He probably associates the word heel with the way the other trainer treated him. Labs are very smart and never forget things like that. I would look for a good positive trainer in the area. Someone that teaches AKC Star Puppy or Canine Good Citizen. Their methods are going to be positive.

So basically you need to retrain the heel position but use a different word. It looks as if your dog has associated the word Heel with I am going to be dragged around the house, I don't want that.

I trained heel position and right and front and behind by using platform training. So if you can find a platform trainer around there as well that is a great option.

[xracer4844]

He's associating HEEL as negative due to the incompetent "trainer" who thought it would be a good idea to drag him instead of teach him. Is he shy towards being leashed? How do you go out with him? When he is on leash with you how does he act?

If at any point a dog is fearful or shuts down during training - it's usually because of a negative experience or because it's not fun. When training is no longer fun - you really need to find out what can be used to motivate and spruce it up. Calm and assertive energy from you is the most important thing to display to your dog; especially during training time.

[sheltieluver]

I agree with both above posts. The word I use for Healing is "with me" when teaching heal I use treats at first holding the treat at heal position as a lure take a few steps with the word follow me reward. I then ween the treat way and start rewarding for attention on me talking to the dog. There is different ways to teach it but it should be positive and fun for the dog. I second fining am there trainer.

[JenC]

Save heel for when you are walking. I use HERE for wanting the dog WITH me. You can retrain it easily enough with treats and small steps.

[jtwilly2]

He is not shy on the leash at all. He actually becomes very excited and starts jumping like a crazy dog. I stay calm tell him to sit and stay and make him stay that way till I open the door. I go out first and its the same with the gate. So he is not leash shy at all. He really is a good dog and it does make me sad when he hides in the kennel I will try the retraining and we are working on the not pulling as well.

[BaconsMom]

Try to make training time 100% positive. Lots of praise, treats for rewards. You need to have your pup associate training time with good memories. Make sure you stay all smiles too. Bacon can always pick up if we are nervous or angry, even if we dont show it.

[Labradorks]

My pup is a worrier and it sounds like yours is as well. That, in addition the person who dragged him around, probably caused some anxiety. But, that in and of itself may not be the issue. Tell us about your training style. When you ask him to sit, how do you do it? Some dogs can even stress out when spoken to in a certain voice. If he gets up, what do you do? Do you get stern? Do you give him a collar pop? Do you drill your dog when training? I'm not suggesting that you are abusive, but for some dogs, being too stern can destroy them. It's not at all uncommon for Labs to be sensitive and I've seen some Labs with pretty severe anxiety, especially, in my experience, field Labs.

I have always trained my pup positively and he still was a little stressed. Not like yours, there was some insecurity. I changed trainers, and now we not only do positive only, but everything is a game, or ends in a game. Training lessons are a few minutes one to five times per day with lots of treats and playing in between. I make it the most fun and exciting thing he will do all day. And, I always set him up for success.

Finally, if he has a favorite toy, you can try letting him have it ONLY during training. You can put it on the fridge and when it's time to train, bring it out, shake it, get him to come to you, praise him, play with him with the toy (not alone, but tug, retrieve, etc.), tell him good dog and get him riled up and excited, then put it back. Do this one to ten times a day. Do it while cooking, cleaning, waiting for your coffee to brew, etc. 15 seconds is fine and I wouldn't play with him with it for more than a minute at a time. Once he's SUPER excited for this special toy and looking at you then the fridge like "please let's play with that thing!", you can start incorporating your commands: sit, down, etc. But be FUN and when he does it, release, play for 15 seconds, rinse, and repeat. Before you know it, he will start offering these commands and be completely focused on you. Eventually, you can put it in your left hand, shake it, get him excited, then in a happy voice say "heel!" or "let's go!" or "with me!" and have him follow. After three happy steps, throw it, let him have it, have a party with a super happy voice. Do this for awhile. After a week, increase his steps, etc.

Training takes time and you have to be careful with dogs who are sensitive, worriers, and dogs that do not want to be wrong. Some dogs will try everything to get it right and not care too much about being wrong. Some will be hesitant because they don't want to be wrong. And some will shut down. You have to be sensitive to your dog's needs and personality. You might try a Denise Fenzi online class or just look at her YouTube videos for free to see what I mean. Also, Janice Gunn has a lot of good videos and trains similarly to Denise Fenzi. I'd look for things like ring games and motivation in training.

[jtwilly2]

I have always done positive training, My pup is not food motivated at all which I found strange for a lab. He loves hearing good boy and good good. He gets a smile on his face and will do whatever you want except heel. When he was very young he was taught with treats and praise. So I just spent my lunch with him outstide in an open field playing frisbee, I throw the frisbee he retrieves and sits. Today I had him doing a stay, I would throw the frisbee and he would stay until released, he would retrieve then sit. I dont yell dont raise my voice hardly change tones unless he is doing something wrong then it is a no followed by a command. He is a little insecure. That is why I do positive training and set him up for success. I will check out the videos and I will try the special toy. thank you

[FOWLQUEEN]

Still to this day I make sure to make training sessions fun for my boy(4yrs old)...training is positive time...if you do something stressful for the pup make sure to do something fun for him after that way he leaves thinking positive....mine likes "fun bumpers" where he doesn't have to heel and steady he can just be a goof. It's such a fun thing for him that when he hears his ecollar beep on he comes running and knows it's work time