# Teaching your dog to watch you while heeling



## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Years ago I took an attention class. We kept the food in our mouth so the dog's attention was always on our face. Since the dog could not see the treat, he never knew if there was something in there or not.


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## coffenut (Jan 3, 2012)

So what if you dog is not food motivated (looking pointedly at Káva and glaring)


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

cubbysan said:


> Years ago I took an attention class. We kept the food in our mouth so the dog's attention was always on our face. Since the dog could not see the treat, he never knew if there was something in there or not.


Did you spit the food at the dog? I'd have to teach her to catch it first. She hasn't mastered that yet. 




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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Nairb said:


> Did you spit the food at the dog? I'd have to teach her to catch it first. She hasn't mastered that yet.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


No, you take it out of your mouth to feed her. LOL I'm trying to picture you spitting food into Bella's mouth!!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

What I do when mine turns away is tell him to watch and give him a little pop of the leash and then I reward him as soon as he starts to watch again


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

^ Same as Nuggets Dad, but I also do that clicker method thingydo. When the dog offers attention - whenever, not just when you are actively training - you mark it and you praise/reward it. And you want to make sure you "release" the dog. 

I'm not doing any corrections with my young puppy, but I am doing a LOT of mark/praise training with him right now well before I add corrections. 

The other thing is that with food training, you aren't going to go from having food in your hand to nothing at all. You need a transition. 

So treat in view in your hand at your hip. 

Over time you can put the treat between your flat hand and your hip, so it's there, but your dog isn't seeing the "hand has something" view. 

And then the treat goes into your pocket or treat bag if you are using one (most people start with the treat bags on the left and start switching them over to the back or the right side away from the dog before disappearing it completely. 

Jacks never knows if I have treats in my pockets or not - and that's because sometimes I reward from the pocket. Sometimes I take him over to my training bag for a jackpot after something. <- It was a very gradual process getting him there though. 

If your dog is heeling very nicely, that's a good time to start fading the treats out of sight. 

@attention - the other thing too is that "watch" is taught as a stationary first before you begin moving. And then when you start asking for "watch" while heeling, then you are taking 1-3 steps with attention and releasing. And building from there.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Vhuynh2 said:


> No, you take it out of your mouth to feed her. LOL I'm trying to picture you spitting food into Bella's mouth!!
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


My obedience class trainer spits hot dog pieces into her German Shepherd's mouth! She explained this on the first day as the reason she doesn't use pre packaged dog treats. I'm not ready to try that one yet. 


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Nairb said:


> My obedience class trainer spits hot dog pieces into her German Shepherd's mouth! She explained this on the first day as the reason she doesn't use pre packaged dog treats. I'm not ready to try that one yet.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


I used hot dogs and string cheese. I have also bought the ends of meat, turkey, roast beef, chicken from the deli and cut those in bite size pieces.

I never spit it out though. My aim probably would not be good enough if I even tried.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

Nairb said:


> My obedience class trainer spits hot dog pieces into her German Shepherd's mouth! She explained this on the first day as the reason she doesn't use pre packaged dog treats. I'm not ready to try that one yet.
> 
> ent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


I've seen a very accomplished looking obedience handler standing repeatedly spitting pieces of string cheese into her dog's mouth as a warm up before going into the obedience ring. It was one of the first times I attended an obedience event and I was amazed but the dog was completely focused on her then and throughout their time in the ring.

Zoe is coordinated enough to catch treats I toss to her but I'm not coordinated enough to spit them to her.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

This seems like some good information...

*How to Train Your Dog to Pay Attention*

*Spit Food at Your Dog*

_If he doesn't catch it, don't let him pick it up or go back to the spot on the floor to lick it. It's a game of spit and catch with hot dogs. It won't take long for him to stare at your face with great intensity._

*Speak Softly*

_If you speak softly your dog will need to pay closer attention, not to mention this is an excellent habbit. Your dog can hear better than you, speak softly._

*Change Direction on Lead
In the house*

_Put a short lead on your dog and attach it to your belt loop. Walk around your house and don't pay attention to your dog. Just go about your business and drag him around. It won't take him long to start paying attention to your every move. Do this for 15 minute intervals._

*Outside*

_Place your dog on a short leash and go for a walk on a grass field. When walking suddenly change diretion, won't look at your dog or say anything. Don't jerk too hard on the leash when turning, you don't want to hurt him. Do not do this using a choke or prong collar._

Training Dogs to Pay Attention / Sport Dog Training


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

TheZ's said:


> I've seen a very accomplished looking obedience handler standing repeatedly spitting pieces of string cheese into her dog's mouth as a warm up before going into the obedience ring. It was one of the first times I attended an obedience event and I was amazed but the dog was completely focused on her then and throughout their time in the ring.
> 
> Zoe is coordinated enough to catch treats I toss to her but I'm not coordinated enough to spit them to her.


My trainer has 2 German Shepherds that she uses to demonstrate. These are very accomplished dogs. One thing I've noticed is how they just sit in front of her and follow her every move, watching her face the entire time she's talking to us. I would imagine they're waiting to see if she's going to spit a hot dog chunk at them.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

For me, there is always a consequence for the dog looking away. It might be a leash pop, a push away, a butt tag, dropping a toy or treat on the floor and grabbing it before they can get it, SOMETHING. I NEVER allow heeling to go on if the dog is not looking. As soon as the dog looks away, I do something about it. I can't tell you how many people I see will let their dogs lose attention for half the ring before they address it. As soon as my dog looks away, I don't want to take another step of heeling. 

I do spit treats for fronts, because I want them looking up at me when they come to front. I don't spit treats on heeling because I don't want them looking at my face, that is too far forward and will cause them to forge/crab.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Goldens 3,4, and 5 were trained to hand target. So to teach them to heel, they would follow my hand, then my finger(smaller target). The problem you are having is that you are luring. It is basically a bribe to get your dog to heel. I would try to get one or two steps of heeling without food,then reward from my right hand.. I would take baby steps... And work up to more heeling. Also using a variable system of reward will help. My friend who has helped me get most of my fourteen titles on my dogs is against luring for exactly the reasons you are having trouble... Will not talk about Goldens 6-10!!!


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## Bentleysmom (Aug 11, 2012)

I agree with Sally's Mom. I was using treats to teach Bentley to heel but when it's 22F out I'm not into fumbling with treats so since I had already taught him "touch" my left hand that's how I'm training him to heel now and it's working out really well.
I do the same thing in the house now, instead of telling him where I want him to go (puppy jail, crate, bed ect) I move my left hand toward that place and he just goes.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Sally's Mom said:


> Goldens 3,4, and 5 were trained to hand target. So to teach them to heel, they would follow my hand, then my finger(smaller target). The problem you are having is that you are luring. It is basically a bribe to get your dog to heel. I would try to get one or two steps of heeling without food,then reward from my right hand.. I would take baby steps... And work up to more heeling. Also using a variable system of reward will help. My friend who has helped me get most of my fourteen titles on my dogs is against luring for exactly the reasons you are having trouble... Will will not talk about Goldens 6-10!!!


That sounds good, but how did you teach them to follow your hand? Is there a YouTube video that you're aware of?

Tonight is the 2nd to last night of her beginning obedience class. She needs to be able to do it with no treats next week. 



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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> Tonight is the 2nd to last night of her beginning obedience class. She needs to be able to do it with no treats next week.


Considering this is beginning obedience, why exactly is your instructor pushing you to do something without treats?


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Mine are more or less clicker trained. So first, I held my hand out and when the pup touched it, I clicked and treated... When the pattern was established, I would say, "touch" when the pup touched my hand. Then I make a game of following my hand to touch..then treat... When the dog is following my hand, I start to teach heel. Literally one step then reward... Gradually increase the expectation for sustainability...


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Megora said:


> Considering this is beginning obedience, why exactly is your instructor pushing you to do something without treats?


No treats is just for graduation night. I don't know if that is the norm or not. She's actually going to judge it like a competition. 

If we could use treats, Bella wouldn't have any competition from that group. Without treats? Who knows?

I just came back from class, got some ideas from the instructor, and she demonstrated one of them with Bella. Hold treats in hands, and raise arms to the side parallel to floor. Sit dog in front of you, and say "watch" to get them to look you in the eye. As soon as they look at you, move one your hands to your mouth, and then reach down to give her the treat. Keep repeating until they focus on your face. The idea is to get them to think the treat is coming from your mouth. Obviously this goes hand in hand with storing treats in your mouth for training. I tried it as soon as I got home, and she figured it out fairly quickly. 




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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Sally's Mom said:


> Mine are more or less clicker trained. So first, I held my hand out and when the pup touched it, I clicked and treated... When the pattern was established, I would say, "touch" when the pup touched my hand. Then I make a game of following my hand to touch..then treat... When the dog is following my hand, I start to teach heel. Literally one step then reward... Gradually increase the expectation for sustainability...


Sounds like a good idea.

Wow, there are so many ways to train a dog, it's enough to make your head spin.

I took your advice at class tonight. I treated from my right hand, and only on the halts. She seem to do fine with that. Thanks.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Be careful rewarding from your right hand, it can cause a dog to forge and wrap. I only reward from my right hand on about turns. Also, if you only reward on halts then you are going to start getting very attentive halts but it can make your actual heeling start to decline because they are getting no reinforcement for that.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Loisiana said:


> Be careful rewarding from your right hand, it can cause a dog to forge and wrap. I only reward from my right hand on about turns. Also, if you only reward on halts then you are going to start getting very attentive halts but it can make your actual heeling start to decline because they are getting no reinforcement for that.


Good point. I'll start rewarding randomly. Thanks.


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## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

I have a related question. How do you treat while heeling when the dog looks away when they chew? I have tried small and soft treats but she will not maintain eye contact when she eats. 


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

When I have a dog that can't chew and hold his head up at the same time, then I break off the exercise when I give the treat. So it might be midstride when I decide to reward, or halfway through a turn, but the moment I reward the exercise has ended. Then a soon as they swallow we resume heeling.

I do find that most dogs learn how to heel and chew at the same time with experience, but until they do I don't want them practicing bad habits.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I've been doing the "watch" (I actually say "look at me" because that's what I've been saying for a few months) periodically throughout the day with hot dog pieces in my mouth, my arms extended out to the side, and Bella sitting in front of me. 

When she makes eye contact, I take a piece of hot dog from my mouth and give it to her. If she looks at my hand as I'm moving it toward my mouth, I stop and say "look at me," until she makes eye contact again. She's to the point now where she ignores what my hands are doing. 

In fact, she's sitting in front of me, staring a my face as I type this. LOL. The best part is, she doesn't know if there's a treat in my mouth, or not. 

I did a few minutes of heeling a bit ago to try it out. Other than a little bit too much excitement about the hot dog pieces in my mouth, she did pretty well. 


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

I second what Jodie says...
I would avoid giving/focusing the dog on your mouth too much with the treats while HEELING -- if the dog is any good at it, she'll be wrapped around in front of you, tripping you, in no time 
I do not give treats WHILE heeling, I say "YES" and to the dog that means game over, your treat is coming now. I actually give the reward either with my right hand behind my body (so the dog doesn't forge/wrap around in front of me) or I stand in front of the dog and let them jump and get the treat. Once he eats it I just start heeling again or do another set-up and start heeling. 
I think if your dog is so motivated by the food in your left hand, you need to go back and heel with food instead in your right pocket, take 2 steps and if she keeps good attention, break and treat from the RIGHT hand. Repeat this and very gradually build up the distance. So the left hand is not so much of a crutch, she knows her food will come but she's not looking at it to lead her around like a carrot on a stick. Best of luck!


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I want to thank everyone for the great advice. Bella did great at her graduation and took first place. That was two weeks ago. Her heeling has improved dramatically even since then, and I don't have to lure her with a treat in my left hand. I know some here may disagree, but I keep the food (hot dogs) in my mouth. I use my left hand to get her attention when she looks away, which isn't often now. It's what works, and have not had any issues. She's even doing well with some limited off leash heeling in the house.


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