TRAIN THE SOLUTION - PART TWO

Train the Solution  -  Part Two

We previously dealt with the dog that runs to the door and barks and several of those types of challenges which all can be addressed with very similar treatment. Next we want to deal with the dog who doesn’t walk properly on the leash.

There must at least a dozen cure all answers to this question and I’m sure there must be at least that many more out there lurking in the dog blog sphere. Over the years I’m sure I’ve tried most except the e-collar. I did watch a You Tube video on the use of the e collar by a K9 police dog training facility and they seemed to be successful but I still prefer to train for the solution and forget the problem.

I prefer to teach the dog where I want him to be when I tell him to heel. As usual we start in a quiet environment with no distractions and our dog is off leash. As before we are equipped with high value treats which we use as lures and rewards. Here I’m going to confuse some of you who are accustomed to training for ring competition because when I want my dog to move to a position beside me and facing the same way I am, I simply say heel. From old training sessions we taught ,Come to heel, and my K9 buddies said that was confusing and many of them just said By. 

Over the years I have given my dog a small hand signal of simply making a counter clockwise circle with my two fingers which when we are teaching the task it leads him back and around to the inside to where he is directly beside my left knee. As I give the signal I also say heel. Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Just come around and sit beside me.

So what does this have to do with the dog that pulls on his leash?

Simple enough. We are in our quiet environment with no distractions and our student is focusing on us and we say Heel and lure his nose around in a counter clockwise circle and point to that position beside our knee. When he assumes that position he is rewarded and praised. Do this with happy enthusiasm in reps of five so you can say Heel and make your little circle and point to the spot and it won’t be long and he will jump in the air and spin into position. I had a 100 Lb. Rottie  that thought that this was so much fun that people would stop me on the street and ask if I could make the big dog jump up and turn in the air land beside me. She never let me down. 

The secret is to make a game of this to where your dog will enthusiastically come to this position from a variety of positions and distances. We gradually change situations and continue this to be a game that has nothing to do with wherever the dog is when he is on the leash. 

Next we start off with the dog beside us and with our lure in hand we say Let’s Go and walk on. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how for the most part he’ll fall in beside you and you will gradually go from 10 steps to 20 and then you will introduce a turn etc. So what do you do when he gets out of position.  Hey that one’s easy you say Heel and he snaps back into that slot beside you where he knows he going to get praise and a reward. That’s why we taught the solution first. 

This system takes a little more time and patience but it gets amazing results that stick because the student has a positive reason to perform the task as opposed to all of the other solutions that involve corrections that mostly include some form of punishment. 

Try it you’ll like it and it’s really cool to see Buddy jump back into place beside you when you softly say only one word. Heel