Hi, We have been doing a lot of heel work botb off and on leash. This is mainly arpund off leash as we can control it while on leash. Example is we will do 20 steps and then C&T, once she has that she will go off and somehow treat it as a release cue. This will happen both out amd at home so distance and distraction are virtually none existent at home. Then do her own thing for 30ish seconds then come back and we start again. We can increase the distance if we have a special treat, but that to me is more bribing and rather want to avoid if at all possible. Don't know where she has picked up that she can go once she has had her treat. I don't know if it has anything to do with her checking in when we are just out and I give her her time. Would not have thought so. Anyone got an idea of what I might be able to try next. Thanks
20 steps for just one c&t sounds a lot. You could try the 300 peck method instead. One step - c&t, two steps - c&t, three steps c&t, and so on. If at any time the dog starts to wander off (or pull if it is on the lead) you have to go back to step one c&t and build up the steps again.
@Sven , I need to work on this with Cassie too , I've no advice but just to say I will be following this thread myself I hate heel work, it's so boring I find, but I MUST do it !1
If you find heel work boring, then so will your dog. I try to make it fun and exciting to engage us both. Rather than stomping along at a constant speed in a single direction, I vary my speed every few paces, do lots of about turns, suddenly run backwards, stop etc. My dogs sit on the stop, so it's fun to try to catch them out (they love it too) by going really slowly or from a run to a sudden stop. I often reward by tossing a treat, so they have to run back to me to restart the game. I also intermittently reward with a ball, which is a real jackpot for the older two. I find training like this means that, when you have to do long, tedious trudging, the dog is better able to cope, because heel walking is fun! I'll try to video some of it later on to give you an idea.
How right I'm sure you are -- I find it boring because I think it's boring for her ! So we hardly ever doing do it, but I will apply those ideas they look great. I am quite motivated by having a go at the "rally" competition which does things like that. @Sven, I seem to have hijacked your post..
@selina27 all good don't mind. I do vary the speed, direction, stops etc. And make it fun. She just seems too wander off.... @heidrun you might be right about the 20steps. This is a gradual thing we have built up over time, so wouldn't have thought it should be too hard, but then again I am no expert. Will try your suggestion though and see how that works out. As always thanks for the help
We also talked on another thread how doing doggy sports makes all this boring stuff so much stronger, because it is broken up with amazing stuff. So, a long walk at heel is followed by a retrieve. A sit/stay is followed by running an agility course. And so on. So, even if you're not getting involved in training for any sports, you can use the same idea. Find what floats your dog's boat - or create this, as you would by building the desire for a retrieve chain, or teaching the combination of elements in the agility course - and use that as the reward for increased difficuty, once you have the basic behaviour. Also, you might want to consider that a click is normally the release from a behaviour, so by continuing to use it, you're telling the dog the game is done. Once I have shaped a behaviour (so, in this case, the heel position), I don't think the clicker is appropriate - at best, it's unnecessary, at worst, I think it can actually introduce problems. Instead, I use a "continuation marker" which, in practice, is me saying "good boy", and only sometimes rewarding for this. It's something that gives the information to the dog "you're doing the right thing", but that this isn't the end - you have to work through it.
Makes perfect sense, as when I don't click but just give her a treat she will actually stay. Then we do something else like a touch or a play before we start again. I think becuase I have been using the click as a release not cued yet, I think she might be interpreting that as realse. Never thought of that. So this morning I tried what @heidrun suggested and that worked for a period. So now I am confused and have to make a decision on do I continue with the C&T or just use the C&T for release....I will see what works best over the next couple of dasy without confusing the matter
I've never used a clicker for heeling as I felt I didn't have enough hands or coordination. I lured a LOT (possibly for too long) and I try to make myself very exciting and very unpredictable so that she is always watching for what I'll do next.
