have been doing the clicker heel with my puppy (now 12 weeks) and she is doing really well in the puppy pen (v v large one) - we can go round obstacles - she's trailed her lead and I've gently picked it up and she doesn't really know it - that's all good - she's learning heel is a nice rewarding place to be. (using heel in the loosest possible sense) I'm not sure what the next step is - If I go out into the garden (on lead/harness) then she obviously wants to dive up the bank and chew on the daisies - choose to heel ? Nah. So, should I be adding small distractions in the puppy pen eg a person standing in the garden near the pen - I think I probably need to ramp up the rewards or does she now just have to learn that she just can't choose to do other things while she is on lead and I just wait while she bounces at the end of a lead for a bit (in harness) and she gradually learns that we only move and get rewards when she is near me. or how do other people progress this? I should add she is a nice happy confident little puppy with no fear issues or anything and I know she is still young but just wanted some ideas about how to progress. Thanks
I can't offer much advice on this one apart from getting your puppy outside as much as possible for training and walking with you. Juno was outside walking in the garden from Day 1 on a trailing lead and once we had started with my trainer without the lead in the garden. It's totally natural for your pup to want to investigate the garden so it's a case of making yourself more interesting and exciting than chewing plants/sniffing etc. but it is important that they have the opportunity to explore their environment as well. Keep all training sessions to around 5 minutes at a time and always finish on a positive. Have you read The Happy Puppy Handbook, forum members highly recommend it as it offers great advice for all those early puppy stages where we ask ourselves what we should be doing and is a book we all frequently refer back to while our puppies are young.
thanks Maccie - I have been reading Happy Puppy book all afternoon now - showed it to my puppy - she said well worth chewing on I missed what to do because its mixed with sit and recall, but I think I need to start pairing it with my cue (stage 2) and then using the cue to initiate it (stage 3) and then get up to 5 steps and a sit and repeat and then start the process of proofing - Pippa said it was possible for the pup to never know what it was like to pull (which I'll aim for ...) The only slightly difficult bit is managing out and about before then - but I guess I'll keep harness walking out and about to a minimum. She does get lots of free running round the garden and orchard and forest - I tend at the moment to carry her there and just plop her down but I won't be able to do that for long ...
I'd try getting her attention outside first - no lead involved. Try to get her to do one or two steps at heel without a lead in the garden and go from there. There are big advantages to training an off lead heel first anyway.
Thanks Julie - yes she does often offer a heel in the garden - if treats are more attractive than daisies. I'd like to be able to walk her from eg garden to van on lead but she can be carried at the moment, so we'll keep practicing. I would prefer off lead - its one less thing to worry about with clickers and treats and also trying not to step on her !
OK - front and back cover + index pages of Happy Puppy Book shredded - memo to self - puppy legs getting taller and can now reach the top where you leave things - don't leave books in puppy pen !!
You mean you hadn't already cleared all surfaces . Time to order a new Happy Puppy Handbook, and leave puppy to continue digesting the current copy.
Well I have a crate in the puppy pen which is useful for putting treat bags and toys and leads and harnesses and books and cups of coffee and .... on top of, but I'd left the book on the edge of it I think and obviously puppy paws could reach - so the page bits were flying round the garden - she certainly has left her mark on each page - but I can read most of it and I have it on my Kindle too just for light bedtime reading.
So easy to forget that as they grow so quickly they can also each higher. Enjoy your night time reading
Well Jaffa is now 15 weeks and I think the clicker heel is going really well so far - we've been able to go to some new places and I've attached the lead to the back of the harness and just trail it round the back of my legs - which gets it out the way and seems to work and we can do a few minutes and then stop and watch the world go by and then a bit more. But its even better when off lead round the garden and in the orchard and she seems to enjoy it as a bit of a game. Also frequently when off lead she comes up and offers some heel which I am rewarding too even though I haven't asked for it and I don't release her if she wants to leave. Is that OK? - I wasn't quite sure if I was rewarding just doing heel when Jaffa wants to and then she can choose to just go off. I haven't explained that very well but I guess I wanted to know how to respond to offered heel during free run time
I asked that question a while back...wish the search facility was better, we had an interesting discussion. I reward an offered heel - I didn't used to release, but these days (we are a bit further on than you) if he offers a heel, I'll cue him just as he does it (to strengthen my cue, which still isn't strong) and give him his release. In the beginning, I just rewarded him offering a heel.
