An Easy Question For The Training Gurus

[Esky the husky]

As per the title, Esky doesn't seem to understand how to sit and/or drop when she is heeling.

Instead of plonking her butt down beside me facing in the same direction, she twists and sits on a 45 - 90 degree angle from my leg.

Or she'll come and sit in front facing me.

And it's much the same with drops

How have other people overcome this problem?

Any advice is much appreciated

[ness]

Use a barrier so the dog can't twist. Something like a wall or a fence are good. Are you using food to reward her and if so what hand are you holding the food in and where are you giving the food?

[corvus]

I took the somewhat more convoluted route of teaching Erik rear end awareness so that I could signal him to rotate his back end in so he was nicely parallel.

[Esky the husky]

Use a barrier so the dog can't twist. Something like a wall or a fence are good. Are you using food to reward her and if so what hand are you holding the food in and where are you giving the food?

Yes I was using food.

In my left hand and feeding straight to her mouth.

[ness]

Left hand is good - sometimes people hold it in the right hand and that can cause twisting. I would definitely try with a barrier and do that for a little while to build memory for the correct position.

[Esky the husky]

Thanks Ness

[boxagirl]

Esky I've been having the same problem with Wolf He is show trained so naturally wants to be facing me. But now I have only been rewarding his straight drops only and he is getting the idea

[Jigsaw]

When we first start training our dogs we are usually facing the dog. When we start heeling we have changed the picture by standing next to the dog. It's possible the dog does not understand the command in the context of the position you are now in, as sit to the dog is usually in front of you and that may be what he's trying to do . You may have to do further training in static positions to help your dog understand what you want. Using a barrier may help give the dog more of an idea of what you want if you continue to have problems.

Edited January 4, 2011 by Jigsaw

[TerraNik]

Yep, I agree re: barrier method.

[Aidan3]

If you feed in an advantageous position every time, they quickly learn to anticipate where the food will appear and sit straighter. This usually means delivering the food with your hand slightly further out from your body (at first, even if it is a little exaggerated).

The other thing is to get them as fast and responsive as possible before changing positions.

[dasha]

I have never used a barrier but have found that you need to make the position of heel the place to be rewarded with massive reward history. Then Ask a sit (easy one) while you are still. Repeat exercise while not in motion about 50 times with high rewards. Then without moving your feet ask for drop. Reward.

I did everything stationary about 50 times first. Then take 1 step and ask for sit or drop and you will find the dog will be anticipating the drop or sit as that is when the reward comes. As soon as he drops or sits, reward.

You need the dog to be wanting you to give a command and the heeling just becomes the bit in between rewards.

As you will have only rewarded on heel position the dog should stay in heel to be able to do sit or drop when asked as that is the place to be. That is what I have found with my dog anyway and she was a dog that hated being close to me.

[wuffles]

I found that one of my dogs was really sensitive to the signal I was giving. When signalling 'drop' my hand was actually on a bit of an angle and he was dropping with his nose facing my hand. Once I straightened up my signal his drops straightened up as well.

The barrier method worked on him as well but when I removed the barrier he wasn't 'getting it' that he still needed to drop straight!

[sas]

Barrier is good, I like teaching rear end awareness, my 10 year old Dane picked it up pretty quick via Clicker.

[Ptolomy]

You can even go back a step from all the suggestions. Ask for a sit or wait for the dog to be sitting, you step into heel position and multiple reward, then step away. It doesn't take the dog long to work out heel position is a great place to be.

[RallyValley]

You can even go back a step from all the suggestions. Ask for a sit or wait for the dog to be sitting, you step into heel position and multiple reward, then step away. It doesn't take the dog long to work out heel position is a great place to be.

This is what I did for Toby's sits Now if only he didn't think down mean lay down facing diagonally, he is still touching my side but his paws go in front of my feet :D

[caffy]

You can even go back a step from all the suggestions. Ask for a sit or wait for the dog to be sitting, you step into heel position and multiple reward, then step away. It doesn't take the dog long to work out heel position is a great place to be.

Totally agree with Ptolomy

I would even reward to the left of your dog's head initially and then be sure to reward with dog's head straight ahead.

[Staranais]

I teach left hand pivots & left hand pivot about turns first before asking for sit/down at heel, also teach flip finish, these seem to prevent the problem.