Teaching a strong heel

[onyx'girl]

Originally Posted by codmaster

Which year would you recommend? When i looked on Amazon they had a couple of different ones 1992, 1993, and 1995?

I have the copy from '92 but it was in the 10th printing(2006) Not sure what the difference is in the other two publications.

[GoSearchk9]

I have heard great things about Michael Ellis, I will definetly check that out thank you! I also am a huge believer in muscle memory. I like the idea of building the heel with toys and then once I can go longer periods of time without reward introducing the toy to work more on the focused heel...

Doggiedad Cyrus is 9 months now. I've been pretty lax on working with his heeling because we've been doing a lot of work with his basic obedience. (he came from Europe and took the transition kind of hard, so we had to start pretty much from scratch). Now that he is progressing well its time to buckle down on his heeling .

[GoSearchk9]

Originally Posted by FG167

Madix is super toy-driven. So, I started with food first and lured. I was totally against this because he has good eye contact, but it was VERY difficult for me to get him to look at me while walking. So, I held treats in my hand, by my arm pit and treated when he was in proper position (I countered his tendency to forge by having a leash drawn behind me and in my right hand - so I could lure, pull forward with my left hand and check the leash with my thighs/butt, while holding the end in my right hand. It really cleared up for him what position was correct). Then I transitioned to the toy to give his heeling a little more pop. I still use treats when I'm in my obedience class (b/c the toy tends to put him into drive and then he barks...which is disturbing to the other dogs hahaha), so now I'm treating when he's not looking at my hand but is looking at my face. I've also started to put the hand with the treats other places - behind my back, next to my leg, behind his head, next to his head - and still ask for eye contact while we're walking. Now, I also do this with his toy

Cyrus is the same with his toy. If I start with that I think I will lose a lot of focus initially and he will just become so driven that any chance of heeling will go out the window. Just seeing his tug makes him go through the roof LOL!

[GoSearchk9]

Originally Posted by GoSearchk9

I have heard great things about Michael Ellis, I will definetly check that out thank you! I also am a huge believer in muscle memory. I like the idea of building the heel with toys and then once I can go longer periods of time without reward introducing the toy to work more on the focused heel...

Doggiedad Cyrus is 9 months now. I've been pretty lax on working with his heeling because we've been doing a lot of work with his basic obedience. (he came from Europe and took the transition kind of hard, so we had to start pretty much from scratch). Now that he is progressing well its time to buckle down on his heeling .

Oops meant treats LOL.

[onyx'girl]

Leerburg Streaming Video
There are many free clips on this link, then you can choose which videos you'd like to order!

[GoSearchk9]

Awesome! Thank you guys very much! I cant wait to get started