spiritdogs
Posted : 9/3/2008 7:34:18 AM
Actually, I find that the most successful dogs at heeling are the ones that do it because there's something in it for them. Those dogs that I teach heel to start with no collar, no lead, and just a clicker and some treats. I start in a non-distracting environment and simply reward the dog every time he ends up by my left side. I slowly raise the criteria until he is pretty much staying there, then I begin to add the automatic sit, turns, and about turns. What I don't do is say "heel" until all the behaviors are there. Then I begin to say heel as the dog does each one, then I space out the commands until I can simply say it once and the dog realizes that heel is a position and not separate behaviors.
Some dogs, my own included, rarely do a formal heel, since I am not in to competitive obedience at this time in my life. But, my dogs must be able to walk nicely on lead at my side, even if not a tight heel. The training is done the same way, just without raising the criteria to that level of precision, but the cue I add is "let's go".
I never teach leash walking on leash at first!!! I put the onus on the dog to stay with me because he wants to. If I'm always tugging, or pulling, then the dog is not voluntarily opting to DO the behavior unless those things are present, and once they are absent, the dog does what he darn well pleases. Instead, I prefer to use high value reinforcers to get the dog used to the fact that the action is where I am, not in the environment at large. I look like a weirdo, talking and chirping to my dog, or feeding a mile a minute after clicking each discrete behavior, but my dogs learn that I am the bearer of all good things, not that squirrel in the tree.
Same with pulling. The reason dogs pull is that it works - we go with them when they do it. (Think intermittent reinforcement...) If you think that you can stop a dog by pulling back on his neck, you can't. (Think oppositional reflex...) Turid is not living in a fantasy world - she just knows that you have to train a dog, and not just thrust him headlong into the neighborhood without some foundation work that makes sense to the dog.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Turid's work, she is the person who wrote "On Talking Terms With Dogs". We use her information all the time to calm dogs by using their own familiar signals. I'm not inclined to dismiss her work at all, since much of it has been very helpful in working with reactive dogs.