Free: Contests & Raffles.
So Daisy is just over 2 years old. So far I feel very happy with a lot of her training and she has done very well. The only thing is heel. My goal is to have her heel at the point where her collar is about even with my knee. She responds very well when I am forcing her to pay attention by doing 90 degree turns or turning back on our path randomly. She will follow suit perfectly and I praise her and it's all fine. But if we are just casually walking and there is no course changes for a moment, she starts to get out ahead more. I repeat the heel command and sometimes it works but most of the time I have to dead stop or repeat the command in a harsh tone to get her back. But once she is in the right heel location she slowly works her way back out or, and this is my biggest struggle, I praise her and she seems to think the praise, or treat, or pat on the head means the task is done and she immediately goes out ahead. She doesn't do this with other commands. I can tell her to stay, walk away, and say "good girl" and she will wag her tail or such but continues to follow the command. But if I say good girl to her heeling properly, then she immediately goes back forward. Any ideas or tips from anyone?Thank ya
You are doing the right thing changing directions now that she pulls ahead like said in another post quick jerk on leash At some point After you praised her or gave her a treat you let her go so now she thinks that’s the cue to goI use the cue ok to let my dog go from any drills we are doingAlso an ecollar will helpOverlay the jerk on the leash with a tap on the collarMy dog now if he takes a couple steps after I stop I’ll say heel and he walks backwards to get back in position Keep at it and be consistent
Quote from: huntnfmly on September 01, 2022, 09:56:58 AMYou are doing the right thing changing directions now that she pulls ahead like said in another post quick jerk on leash At some point After you praised her or gave her a treat you let her go so now she thinks that’s the cue to goI use the cue ok to let my dog go from any drills we are doingAlso an ecollar will helpOverlay the jerk on the leash with a tap on the collarMy dog now if he takes a couple steps after I stop I’ll say heel and he walks backwards to get back in position Keep at it and be consistentThis is what I would recommend as well. Letting the dog 'off control' with that praise is the key message. I would also make sure to train the dog to sit when I stop and then every time they nosed ahead, I would stop, make them sit, then start again. Labs love to creep forward, that's the hunting instinct coming into play.It sounds like you're doing a good job overall - Evan Graham's smartwork stuff is supposed to be good - I believe he learned a lot of it from Rex Carr who is the best retriever trainer ever in my opinion!
Praise is always good. Not sure about rewarding with a treat for doing what they are supposed to be doing out of a need to obey and please you. Maybe after the end of a training session.