Category: K9 Competition

Heeling Tips & Tricks #32 – Left TURN Slow – Teaching & DESIRE! – Perfect Heeling

32 left turn slow
Teaching & DESIRE
Left TURN Slow

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Teaching LEFT TURNS – SLOW

  • With your standing on your left side and your hand low on the leash close to the snap hook and the leash taut, extra leash can be held in the right hand.
  • Have the palm of your hand flat, hand on the front side of the leash so that you are reining back and slightly towards your body as you make the turn.
  • Take a few steps forward in a SLOW PACE, start to shift your weight to your left leg.
  • As you are doing this, rein back on your leash to help cue your dog rotate his rear to maintain heel position.
  • Release your dog by dropping a toy from under your left arm.
  • Make sure the dog is looking up and watching you at all times when making the turn.
  • Play and interact with the dog before trying the repetition again.
  • Make sure your dog is focused up on you during every step.
  • If the dog is not properly rotating rear, revisit your REA training in other videos posted.

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Heeling Tips & Tricks #31 – Right ABOUT TURN Teaching & DESIRE! – Perfect Heeling

right about
Teaching & DESIRE
Right ABOUT TURN

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Teaching the Right ABOUT TURN 

  • Have your dog standing on your left side in heel position.
  • Take a few steps forward in slow motion, and then start to execute the RIGHT ABOUT turn releasing the dog up in heel position as you start to go into your turn.
  • When teaching, release your dog at different points in the about turn to keep the dog guessing and build desire for the dog to keep his head up throughout the turn.
  • If your dog loses focus or drops his head during the turn, reward MORE OFTEN IN the turn.
  • Make sure the dog is looking up and watching you at all times when making the turn.
  • ALWAYS play and interact with the dog before trying the repetition again.
  • Watch for your dog dropping the head to drive around the turn.  Release earlier in the turn and/or give slight reining motions upwards to keep the dog’s head up and/or maintain the visible treat as above to keep dog’s head up.

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Weather isn’t so delightful!

weather
 
Weather is not always ideal for outdoors training.
 
In fact, it is sometimes downright harsh and inconvenient!
When cruel weather hits, or circumstances make it difficult to risk going outside for training, don’t despair!
There are training activities that you can enjoy with your dog right in the comfort of your warm dry home.
 
Does your dog want to do something?   Bugging you to train?

Here are a few suggestions to keep you and your dog from going stir-crazy when the weather traps you both indoors.

NoseWork – Scent work with hidden treats
The new sport of NoseWork is quickly catching on. Dogs just love it as it uses their natural ability to find scents with their acute sense of smell. Teaching your dog to discover odors using only his nose is a great game for his body and mind.

To start, set up a few (4-5) boxes or containers (I use plastic containers with holes punched into the bottom). No peeking! With your dog in a different room, place a few treats in one container. Then place all the containers upside-down and about 1 foot apart from each other.

Next, go get your dog. Enter the “scent room” and holding your dog back away from the containers, speak excitedly to your dog and let him go while encouraging him to smell the containers. As he as he pauses at the one with the treats, enthusiastically praise him on his discovery. Open the container and let him eat the treats. Soon, your dog will know what’s expected during this game. Keep adding more containers, space them at farther apart or add different objects other than treats such as your dog’s favorite toy or bone, to increase the challenge as your dog’s scent work improves.

Agility – Rev Settle – focus and foundations
Doing agility with your dog is great fun. Anyone that does the sport will attest to how quickly the basic foundations can be lost. Being trapped inside is a great time to refresh and revisit basic foundation skills as well as build focus and drive on the stationary skills your dog needs to be successful when showing. My favorite game for start line stays, table or 2o2o are the Ready Set GO! Games.

This is actually a combination of various games and placement of reinforcement. When training for agility, make use of them when leaving your dog for the first obstacle, during a stay on the table or a stop on contacts.

So, what can we do to improve and keep our dog’s stays?  Reinforce, reward, and test your dog for good behaviors during practice.    I have four ways to reward and work on start line stays. Always start close to your dog thus it is great to work on inside.

  • Throw back – The “throw back” is simply throwing back a toy or visible treat to my dog. This can be done at anytime and any distance from your dog. I do accompany the throw back with a “get it” release.
  • Go Back – The “go back” is where I go back and reinforce my dog by either feeding him treats (not letting my dog move until verbally released) or releasing for a game of tug. DO be careful your dog doesn’t release as you are pulling out your toy or treat!
  • Send Back – The “send back” is to a toy that I pre-placed behind my dog. To start teaching this game, I stop and turn towards my dog as i am leaving him and simply tell him to “get it”. This is a common way of releasing a dog to a toy or treat.
  • Release forward – “Releasing forward” to the obstacles can quickly become a reward of the highest value. I take special care to reward the stay a lot to balance the value of both staying and driving forward.

Obedience/Rally – sit/get/down/get and doodling
Two of the best ways to hone your dog’s skills and refresh his foundations are with fun active games.

The sit/get/sit/down game is very easy to play. Start with your dog in an active state. IE moving and engaged with you. You can be playing a game of tug or letting your dog chase a cookie that you are moving around in your hand. Ask your dog to sit. The second his rear hits the ground, break into another game. Revv your dog again and go back into an engaging game. Quickly have your dog down. The second he is down, break into another game. Your goal is to create the desire for your dog to sit or drop fast.

Doodling is another fun activity you can do inside on a cold or rainy day. Doodling consists of your dog in heel position and moving with you when you move. I use it to sharpen up pivots, fronts, finishes and so on. It is important to remember to break off often and engage with play and interaction.

Household chores – Teaching him to clean up
skiClean-up can be a lot of fun when your dog knows how to put things away! This game is easy. Scatter a few toys on the floor. Staying close to your dog, encourage him to pick up a toy and bring it to you. Reward every time a toy is delivered. Find each one and put it away in a basket to earn a reward. Start adding different objects to the floor like your dog’s food bowl for him to bring to you. After he has learned the bowl trick he can bring you his bowl after meals.

Another alternative is teaching your dog to put toys in a basket. Once your dog is bringing the toys back, teach him to drop it in a basket. Start as you did before and add a basket big enough for your dog to easily come to you and drop the toy. Once he is coming to you and dropping the toy add a command such as “Clean-up”.

Any of the games and training mentioned will be a fun challenge for both you and your dog.  Keep all your sessions fun by rewarding and playing often.

Use the bad weather as a great time to polish and improve your training.

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Heeling Tips & Tricks #30 – DIG – Distraction Initiate GAMES! – Perfect Heeling

30 dig
DIG – Distraction Initiate GAMES!
Perfect Step by Step Heeling

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DIG= DISTRACTIONS INITIATE GAMES = Dog Ignores Distractions
Often a distraction can cause your dog to lose focus, to worry, or even create a negative experience for your dog. However, distracting situations are a perfect time for you to turn a possible “negative” experience for your dog into a “positive” one. If trained appropriately, not only will your dog become more confident, but he will “try harder” and learn to focus more intensely on you no matter what the situation.

This skill cannot be rushed! Work on the DIG skill a few minutes in every training session.

DIG is an introduction into proofing and can determine how your dog responds to pressure. It is teaching your dog how to be successful when faced with new locations, environments, and or people. In addition, it is teaching your dog that distractions both visual and auditory, are a rewarding cue to your dog.

Pay close attention to discover what your dog’s threshold is in a variety of environments and situations! The threshold or distance from a distraction your dog can remain focused may vary. Some dogs work comfortably 10 feet from a distraction while others need more distance or space.

Working with distractions will help your dog become confident and will enable him to concentrate and successfully do his “job” and focus on you in many different situations or new locations. After all, the “ring” is a continually changing new environment.

DIG ~ Introduce New distractions – generalize the concept

  • First, you must find your dog’s threshold.   Video your training session.  The video will help you see changes in your dog that you can miss while training.
  • Begin heeling from play.  RESIST the habit of always starting your heeling with your dog in an SIT!
  • Heel towards a barrier such as a ring gate, wall, table, or line of chairs.
  • Reward and release your dog at or BEFORE your dog notices or looks at the barrier.
  • After 1 repetition, check your video.  Where did your dog falter or acknowledge the barrier?   In general, most dogs acknowledge 10-12 feet from the barrier/object.
  • How do you know if your dog notices/looks at a barrier?   PRE signs can include: your dog dropping his head, changing his gait, ears going back, his mouth closed or opened, etc. Basically any sign that he knows you are approaching something.
  • Next, get your dog and your distance plan from the barrier.
  • Reminder – No visible treats on this test or when training.
  • While heeling toward a barrier, release and reward at the distance from the barrier noted from the “test”.   Always better to reward further away and build a reward history.
  • Reminder: your dog may not actually LOOK at the barrier. In most cases a dog gives “PRE” signs before actually looking.  It is Your job is to be able to see the PRE signs!
  • Pick loads of different barriers to heel toward.   The ore the better BEFORE you ever heel closer to any barriers.  Example I might heel and play at 10 feet from 50 different objects over many weeks before ever moving closer.
  • Please take your time when teaching and training DIG to your dog.   It is the JOURNEY and Not the DESTINATION!

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“Achieving a Balance” in training

Most of us want and even strive for a dog that exudes enjoyment when training and showing. What many of us ultimately look for is a partner that shows willingness and precision along with drive and desire. How do we achieve that balance between speed and yet keep the accuracy?

Back in the old days, training methods were designed for precision without much care for motivating the dog. Although some dogs performed well with this technique, many dogs didn’t appear to enjoy the work itself. Dog training is all about balancing between two ends of a scale.

Drive vs Precision
Training is all about learning how to balance building desire yet maintain an adequate amount of self-control to be accurate when performing skills. In general it is important for a training method to take into account the dog’s willingness and “want” for learning skills. Temperament often plays a role in how a trainer structures training sessions. Dogs that show a high work drive are typically easier to motivate but many times need more training in self-control skills. On the other hand, dogs that show lower drive often need more motivation and shorter sessions while training. With these dogs it might be more important to build the drive and desire before actual training of skills begins. The key in training is motivating your dog during sessions to build the drive you want. Regardless of the level of working desire your dog has, building or maintaining the drive and desire is an important component to take into consideration before you start working with your dog.

TOO MUCH DESIRE
Dogs motivated beyond their threshold or capability become dogs that have a hard time focusing on a task. Some people call this “happy” and “high drive” – others call it frantic and stressed. Many times dogs like this seem to have a hard time remaining calm or unable to think while training.

What to do with a highly excitable dog:
• Work on “rev/settle” games. Anytime your dog sees or hears excitement, have him turn to you for treats or a game of tug.  After, have him lay down and settle emotionally. Reward periodically while he is in a down and in a calm state. If your dog notices an exciting event either reward for your dog looking back to you or release off the down and play.  Over time this game teaches your dog to focus on you during exciting events.
• Feed your dog half his meal before the training session and use low value treats such as kibble for food rewards during training.
• Keep praise low-key and brief and all petting should be calm and slow.

TOO MUCH PRECISION
What happens when you have too much work and do not get enough time for fun? You as a person become sad, overworked and depressed. When you train without reward or motivation, your dog doesn’t have joy in the work. Often dogs trained in this manner are ones who quit trying altogether or go into a “shut down” mode. Other dogs become overly stressed and get completely hectic and scattered commonly sniffing or looking for enjoyment visiting other people. Either way, you tend to get a dog who responds only when he “has to” and who avoids tasks at all other times.

What to do to get more joy and drive:
• Lighten up when you train!
• Enjoy the time and the journey with your dog!
• Motivate your dog using games and reward with food and toys your dog really enjoys.
• Backing away from your dog helps build drive coming towards you.
• If in doubt go back to foundations. Reviews of foundations often find holes in your dogs training or understanding.
• Train in shorter training sessions. Keep it short and sweet.

Achieving the balance between precision and desire is possible. It takes time and planning along with rewards and motivation. YES, you too can have a dog that shows willingness and precision along with drive and desire.

Do you have a training question? AskDebbyQ

Heeling Tips & Tricks #29 – Intro Right Turn – Perfect Heeling

29 right turn slow
Building Desire for RIGHT TURN   @
SLOW PACE.

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REMINDER HANDLING – When doing turns, the rule is “THINK IT, SEE IT, DO IT”.

Training SECRET – The weight shift is the important part of a turn cue.  I want my dog to understand my change of direction the second I start to shift my weight.

Teaching the RIGHT TURN – SLOW PACE

Review and practice the footwork for the Right Turn without your dog before teaching your dog the Right Turn.

  • Start heeling forward slowly.
  • As your weight shift to your right foot, rein forward on the leash.
  • Make sure your dog is attentive up on you throughout the turn.  If needed, use a toy under your right arm to keep your dog’s focus up.
  • During or after the turn, reward your dog by releasing up to a treat/toy that is in your right hand held out your side until the second you will release your dog.
  • Play and interact with your dog before trying the turn again.
  • Teach and build DESIRE in the Right turn BEFORE teaching in a normal pace.

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Heeling Tips & Tricks #28 – Rear End Awareness Circle – Perfect Heeling

28 rea left circle
REA – Rear End Awareness –
Tight Circle to Left (for 8 later) @ Slow Pace

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Introduction Tight Circle Left Slow Pace – Building Desire

  • First your dog needs to know the REA and has been weaned off the pot.  (YouTube videos available.)
  • Next, he needs to know weight shift and leash reining.  (YouTube videos available.)
  • With your dog on your left take 1-2 steps forward, when you weight shift to your left foot, rein your dog’s leash.
  • When doing left circles, rein the leash to get the maxim rear motion from your dog. The more the better!
  • Reward your dog for responding to the rein/weight shift by dropping a toy or treat and play with your dog.
  • Once you start building duration, randomly reward your dog to maintain the “desire” and focus.
  • There is always LOADS of reward and games in every training session to keep training fun.
  • Take your time and get your dog OFFERING rear end movement before progressing.
  • Heel in slow pace until your dog is reading cues and offering the REA movement readily.
  • When doing turns, the rule is “THINK IT, SEE IT, DO IT”.

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😉🐶🐶🐶 *****Next VIDEO – 29 – Intro Right Turn Slow Pace 

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Heeling Tips & Tricks #27 – Teaching and building DESIRE in FAST PACE

27 intro fast
Teaching and Building DESIRE in FAST PACE

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TEACHING AND BUILDING DESIRE IN THE FAST PACE .

  • There are 3 main skills to teach for a great FAST pace.  Accelerate Step into fast. Maintaining focus through the duration of the FAST, and the Break Step back into normal. Each of these areas of the FAST pace need to be taught and rewarded randomly.
  • Start to heel your dog forward at a Normal pace, do NOT start from a sit!
  • After a few normal steps, do a “acceleration step” into a FAST pace AS you bring a toy/treat from your right hand across your body and tell your dog to “get it”.
  • It is important to reward your dog’s effort to accelerate his pace as well as keep focus up on you.
  • Adjust the delivery of the reward according to your dog’s drive.
  • Release and play before repeating.
  • Only once you have built desire for the acceleration step into the fast should you start to add duration steps.
  • Once adding duration, randomly reward the acceleration step.  This will maintain your dog’s desire.
  • REMEMBER to always train a longer fast than you will ever need for a show.
  • Watch and make sure your dog is driving off his rear.  Teach this important step will ensure better right and about turns as well as the outside post of your Figure 8.

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Difference between a skill and an exercise.

What is the difference between a skill and an exercise????

An exercise is something I am required to do in the ring.  Drop on recall, heeling, each sign in rally, obstacle in agility, etc.  All of these are exercises.   They are the “Things” we are required to do at shows.

Skills are individual tricks that I teach my dog. As my dog learns more tricks, I can start combining tricks that will be combined together to complete an exercise at a show.

Think of all “exercises” as nothing more than a bunch of tricks chained together! 

So…. Tricks include things like going around me for the short finish, jumping to my either my right or left hand for the beginning of the long and short finish, etc.

When training, I teach skills. I break down any exercise I might need for a show and teach all the skills separately. Once my dog is proficient with the skill, I start to mix and match what I may need for a ring performance but I also mix and match just to be random and test my dog’s knowledge and understanding of all the skills.

My point is for you to start thinking out of the “exercise box”. (Don’t just train exercises.)

Start training skills/tricks.  Proof and perfect each trick/skill to meet your criteria (which you should set high).  Mix and match tricks/skills, to test your dogs knowledge and have fun!!!

 

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Heeling Tips & Tricks #26 Handling Cues 100% Consistency

26 handling cues
Heeling Handling Cues – For PERFECT Communication

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THE HANDLER’S (YOUR) JOB WHEN HEELING:  For your dog to be able to heel well with unwavering focus, your dog needs to know where you are going.   Since heeling is a TEAM SPORT and both members of the team must be able to do their job, I have developed the following handler cue guidelines for myself and students.

Straight Line Heeling – Your goal is to keep your footwork as simple as possible.  Hit that “EASY BUTTON”!

  • Eye cues – Look on the floor about 2 feet in front of you when heeling in a normal pace.  Look where you are going.
  • Head cues – Relax your head and slightly tilt it downward so you can see the floor and your dog’s nose out of the corner of your eye.
  • Walk a straight line – Use a line on the ground to walk on for practice.

Halts, Head and Eye Cues

  • When doing a Halt, look to your toes.  Yes, it is that easy.  LOL
  • As you hear Halt, think halt and then slowly look towards your toes as you stop.
  • Relax your head and slightly tilt it downward so you can see your toes and your dog’s nose out of the corner of your left eye.
  • Always be confident and don’t worry about where you are or where you are stopping.
  • I find it helpful to stop on my LEFT foot with a new or inexperienced dog.  The left foot is closest to the dog and will be easier for your dog to pick up the cue.
  • Keep your shoulders pointing forward.

Pace Changes

There are four speed transitions you will need while you are heeling.

NORMAL TO SLOW TRANSITION: Use a rolling break step (slowly roll from heel to toe) to transition from normal to slow pace.  Move your eyes to about 1 foot in front of you or where your next step will be. Keep shoulders and weight slightly forward (do not lean back or your dog will think it is a halt).

SLOW TO NORMAL TRANSITION: Slow pace should be about half the speed of your normal pace.   When you transition from slow to normal, you want to make the pace change in 1 or 2 steps.  Keep your shoulders slightly forward.

NORMAL TO FAST TRANSITION:  When you transition from normal to fast, move your shoulders slightly forward, and push off with your foot.  Look about 2 strides in front of you during the fast.  In FAST pace, ideally, you need to actually RUN.

FAST TO NORMAL TRANSITION:  From fast pace, use a break step to go back into normal pace.  Focus your eyes back to about 1 stride in front of you.  Move your arms back to proper heeling position, keeping your shoulders and weight over your hips.

When heeling think HEAR IT, THINK IT, DO IT!

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😉🐶🐶🐶 *****Next video – 27 – Intro and Teaching FAST PACE for Heeling 

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