# the next step in leash training



## chloe920 (Apr 5, 2009)

I've been doing loose leash training with Chloe and she is doing really well, walking in "heel" about 50% of our walk time. My question is at what age should I start to use "correction" with her to keep her in "heel". She is 14 weeks now.

many thanks
L.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I absolutely love the results from targeting/ clicker training instead of corrections. Tango& Tally's best thing even in formal obedience is their heeling, and they have experienced no collar corrections. There's a fun game to play called "heeling into the party". Toss a treat on the floor, saying find. Then , have a super-high quality treat ready as you coax/lure your puppy to come back to heel position. Gradually, increase the distance of where you throw the treat- run away so pup sprints back to heel position- do it off leash. It's a fun heeling game. Tally is funny bc even on off leash woods hikes or beach days, he'll sometimes come to heel on his own, and look longingly to be asked for a front or some task that will earn a treat. It's just silly, but he really loves to heel, lol.


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## jnmarr (Mar 7, 2008)

I would just freeze when the leash was tight, and walk when it was loose, and praise. The key is to wait and let thiem figure it out. Gradually I shortened the leash. 

When we stopped for a potty break I say " okay, smell " and do they ever! I let the leash loose ( 6 ') , but still, no pulling is allowed. Didn't add the command " heel " until they were in that position.. and at times we used a clicker. Some time I randomly treat when they are in a good postion. Rusty will correct himself is he sees me putting my hand in my pocket.. :doh:

We don't compete or show.. I just wanted to enjoy my outings with my babies.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

She's definitely still to young for collar popping, and Ljilly has some great suggestions for never needing corrections. When a pup that young pulls, I'll stop and walk in a different direction so he learns that he has to keep his eyes on me in order to know where we'll going. If he's pulling, it means he's not looking to me for guidance, so I want remove any reinforcement for that behavior (i.e., going where he wants). When he looks back at me and returns to a loose leash, he gets praise and treats.


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## kgiff (Jul 21, 2008)

Are you intending to want to keep her in heel the entire walk or are you just working on learning heel? I don't know how far your walks are, but 50% seems like a lot of time to be in heel. My dogs just walk on a loose leash on our walks and are called into heel position very rarely. If we're out on a busy street or encountering lots of pedestrians I may ask for it it, but not for an entire walk. Even right now with my puppy our walks are only about 10-15% of heeling work/practice. We make the heeling part lots of fun and keep the increments short so that he doesn't get distracted. He also gets lots of rewards for being in the right position.


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## chloe920 (Apr 5, 2009)

well...right now since I'm trying to teach her what the word "heel" means, I suppose I probably encourage her to walk in that position more than I will in the future when I know that on command she will return to that position. She never really pulls (unless another dog show interest in her), but our issue is lagging behind. She likes to sit every 2 steps as I think she knows that I will call her to come and when she does, a treat will quickly follow....so I've tried getting her to walk a few feet before the treat is given to show her that if she keeps moving, more treats will come. Usually when she laggs, I'll stoop down, make "kissy" noises, call her and then she bounds to me all happy....we walk 10 feet and she sits again. I know she is young, but I have to admit that at 6am, this can get trying.

I'm currently walking her on a retractable leash so she can get as much exercise as she wants on the walk and it hopefully makes the walk more fun as she can roam a bit more than on a conventional leash.

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

L.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

Right now, I'd just mark the right behavior (being in position) with "yes!" You don't really want to add the "heel" command until she's doing it regularly, since you want to be able to say "heel" and have her do it indefinitely until you release her from it. 

It's probably too early to expect her to do it well or to correct her for getting out of position. Correction makes a dog less likely to offer new, creative behavior, so it can be a real mistake to correct, especially early in the learning process.

As you say, I think you may be inadvertently teaching her that lagging and sitting is a rewarded behavior. A smart dog will sometimes group together behaviors in her head in a way we don't intend. Correcting her for lagging will make her less likely to creatively group behaviors and attempt new ones in the future.

Next time she lags and sits, walk as far forward as the leash will allow and stop, but maintain just a tiny bit of forward pressure on the leash. Stop and wait, facing away from her like a statue. Don't coax her or give her eye contact. Have a treat ready, but make sure she doesn't see it. When she finally gets bored and comes forward to inspect you, treat her once she gets back in position. Don't acknowledge her before that.

You can also reward her more often for compliance and ignore her more stringently when she's out of position. You become exciting and dispense treats when she's in the right position, and you get boring and ignore her when she isn't.



chloe920 said:


> well...right now since I'm trying to teach her what the word "heel" means, I suppose I probably encourage her to walk in that position more than I will in the future when I know that on command she will return to that position. She never really pulls (unless another dog show interest in her), but our issue is lagging behind. She likes to sit every 2 steps as I think she knows that I will call her to come and when she does, a treat will quickly follow....so I've tried getting her to walk a few feet before the treat is given to show her that if she keeps moving, more treats will come. Usually when she laggs, I'll stoop down, make "kissy" noises, call her and then she bounds to me all happy....we walk 10 feet and she sits again. I know she is young, but I have to admit that at 6am, this can get trying.
> 
> I'm currently walking her on a retractable leash so she can get as much exercise as she wants on the walk and it hopefully makes the walk more fun as she can roam a bit more than on a conventional leash.
> 
> ...


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## chloe920 (Apr 5, 2009)

I'll try it tonight...I'll let you know how it goes.

L>


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Also, be interesting. Humans walk in a really boring way for dogs. Once she's grasped the idea of heeling through targeting your palm(there's lots here about targeting on other threads), try to mix it up a little with zigzags, pace changes etc. Also, when she does a very nice job, drop where you are and play. Keep her happily surprised. Walking at the same pace in a straight line is boring for a little tyke. You can set up a few chairs in the middle of the room and turn left around them or weave in and out of trees. . .Heeling against a wall can be helpful for teaching her to stay straight.


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## beargroomer (Jan 2, 2008)

Ljilly28 said:


> I absolutely love the results from targeting/ clicker training instead of corrections. Tango& Tally's best thing even in formal obedience is their heeling, and they have experienced no collar corrections. There's a fun game to play called "heeling into the party". Toss a treat on the floor, saying find. Then , have a super-high quality treat ready as you coax/lure your puppy to come back to heel position. Gradually, increase the distance of where you throw the treat- run away so pup sprints back to heel position- do it off leash. It's a fun heeling game. Tally is funny bc even on off leash woods hikes or beach days, he'll sometimes come to heel on his own, and look longingly to be asked for a front or some task that will earn a treat. It's just silly, but he really loves to heel, lol.



"Heeling into the party" sounds like a fun exercise! 
And awww, I love that Tally tries to heel even when at the beach to earn a treat!  I wish Gibby was food motivated. Gaius, my other dog, was like Tally as far as food goes, looking for chances to earn a treat. He'd walk like 1/4 mile doing focused heeling to earn one kibble, but Gibby can care less for treats if we're outside. He'll scoff at liver, cheese, chicken... :doh::doh: He walks pretty nicely on a loose leash and is not a puller, but he doesn't do the focused heeling thing for more than like 4 seconds. :


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

beargroomer said:


> "Heeling into the party" sounds like a fun exercise!
> And awww, I love that Tally tries to heel even when at the beach to earn a treat!  I wish Gibby was food motivated. Gaius, my other dog, was like Tally as far as food goes, looking for chances to earn a treat. He'd walk like 1/4 mile doing focused heeling to earn one kibble, but Gibby can care less for treats if we're outside. He'll scoff at liver, cheese, chicken... :doh::doh: He walks pretty nicely on a loose leash and is not a puller, but he doesn't do the focused heeling thing for more than like 4 seconds. :


Gibby is like my other dog Finn. Finn isnt as good at heeling, and he doesnt care too much for treats- more for adventures& friendly people.


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## tippykayak (Oct 27, 2008)

My Gus was brother to LJilly's Finn, and he was similarly unmotivated by food. Even when he was behaving, sitting by my side amidst distractions and I wanted to reinforce him, he'd take the treats I gave him and place them on the ground in front of him and continue to watch whatever was going on.

The vet gave him a cookie after a shot once, and he took it in his front teeth, placed it carefully on the exam table in front of him, and gave the vet the hairy eyeball as if to say, "you are _not_ going to buy me off, mister." He melted when the vet said "good boy" and petted him, and then he took the cookie.

The key with him was building from controlled situations where the distractions were minimal and finding what did reinforce him. Fortunately, he had a very strong drive to retrieve, so a tennis ball worked wonders. I could have his attention and then reinforce him by giving it to him paired with praise.

I also paired praise with treats in calmer situations when he actually would take them, and that helped solidify praise as a motivator in his mind.

He was also very sensitive to a "no" or "eh eh" from me, so I did use that, as sparingly as possible, to interrupt him from paying attention to distractions and immediately praised and rewarded when he gave his attention back.


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