We’ve introduced heeling against a wall, working on both attention and position. We’ve also worked on stationary attention, with minor distractions. Today we will introduce moving attention.

The command HEEL means position; the command WATCH means attention.

When you start putting HEEL and WATCH together, it’s very difficult for the dog. It is common for the dog to give great attention sitting in heel position, but as soon as the handler takes the first step, and the dog gets up from the sit, the dog’s head goes down.

The dog has to be taught he can get up from a sitting position while maintaining attention and keeping the head up.

In addition, WATCH has meant eye contact. But as soon as the handler starts walking, they quite naturally want to see where they are going and are no longer looking at the dog. The dog can either forge and wrap around in order to maintain eye contact, or they have to learn to watch a new focal point such as the handler’s shoulder.

So that first step is difficult for the dog because of physical limitations (butt comes up, head goes down) and because the attention picture is changing. Up until now, WATCH means sitting at the handler’s side making eye contact. It doesn’t (yet) mean moving at the handler’s side watching a shoulder or other focal point. So we will shape moving attention one step at a time, first teaching the dog that they can get up while keeping the head up.

Technique. Begin with the dog in heel position. Tell the dog to SIT and then you move into heel position. It may help to pass the leash around behind you and hold it with your right hand. Have a treat in the left hand. Holding it up (luring) above the dog’s head, say HEEL and take one step forward with the left leg. If the dog manages to get up, keeping the head up while watching the lure, mark YES and reward by encouraging the dog to jump straight up and take the food.

Jumping up to get the food helps reinforce the head up position. You can’t jump up if your head is down looking at the ground.

If your dog has a hard time with this, begin with the dog standing in heel position. Take one step forward. You might have to reward the slightest try in the beginning, until the dog understands that the movement is possible.
Practice one step, MARK&REWARD. Then two steps, M&R. Then three steps, etc.

Moving heel
Technique. With the dog in heel position, begin walking forward in a straight line. Tell the dog WATCH and MARK&REWARD the moment he looks up. Only ask for one step of WATCH. Try to keep moving while you give the reward. Give the reward with the left hand, rather than reaching across the body with the right hand. Give the reward next to your left hip in the place the dog would be if he were in correct heel position.

The reward needs to come pretty quickly in the beginning, so it’s nice if you can hold several treats in your left hand. But your dog will probably bother your hand and forget about the WATCH.

Try putting your left hand with treats on outside of dog’s head, next to his nose or ear, so that his head is in between your left leg and left hand. Don’t touch the dog or try to force him to look at you, make the treats accessible but not available. If he mugs your hand just ignore it. Say WATCH and the moment he looks away from your and and makes eye contact, MARK&REWARD.

“You have to do something to get something!” This is an important piece for the dog to understand:  it doesn’t matter where the food is, it’s not available until he’s released (YES) and his actions are what makes the food available.

Keep your left hand still. Don’t hide it from dog, put it behind your back, try to move it away, etc. Moving your hand will turn it into a chase game. Keep your hand still so that the food is accessible, just not available until he makes eye contact and you MARK&RELEASE.

With the treats in your left hand, put your hand down by dog’s face and start walking. Use no corrections in the beginning, just say WATCH and walk until dog looks up, then immediately MARK&REWARD. Reward just one step of attention. When you can start getting that reliably, go for two steps.

The reward should come either by opening your hand up in place and letting the dog take a treat, or by raising your hand and letting the dog jump up for a treat.

In the beginning, no leash corrections, no verbal corrections. Wait until the dog shows understanding before adding any corrections. Reward success, ignore faiure.

Alternate method: the hand touch
If your dog understands a hand touch, that can be used to teach proper heel position. Hold your hand out flat, with the palm parallel with the floor. The position depends on how tall your dog is:  your hand should be held in such a manner that when the dog looks up, he can see your palm while maintaining correct heel position. Take one step, MARK&REWARD by giving the TOUCH cue and letting the dog jump up to touch your hand.

Make the reward a game. YES, touch, then give the treat.

Teaching heel in this way avoids some of the forging issues, and the dog won’t be wrapped around trying to make eye contact. Instead, it models head up and looking straight up, which may actually be easier on the dog’s muscles as he’s not always walking around with his head turned to one side only.

You will need to fade the hand position eventually.

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Even if WATCH means eye contact, you need to be very aware of your shoulder and head position. Early on, you ask for attention as you stare back at the dog, with your head and perhaps your shoulders turned to the left. As you begin to make progress in heeling, you will start to look straight ahead. But the dog, who has the picture of eye contact and turned shoulders on his WATCH card, forges and begins to wrap around in order to maintain that same visual picture. This makes for incorrect heel position.

So even in the early stages of training, try to keep your shoulders straight and facing forward. If you want to look at your dog, look over your shoulder. Don’t turn to the left. If possible, practice in front of a mirror so that you can see when the dog is correct and then MARK&RWD without any physical cues.

Using toys in training watch
For many dogs, toys are far more rewarding that food, which makes heeling more motivating. Remember Grandma’s Rule? If the dog understands that heeling with correct position and with attention is just a means of getting to play with a toy, he’s much more likely to do it with enthusiasm.

You can use a tug toy or a tennis ball in a short Chuckit!® You will do exactly the same thing as you did with food:  make the toy available but not accessible.

Begin with a stationary WATCH. With the toy held on the outside of the dog’s head, ask for a WATCH. If the dog grabs the toy, be unimpressed and unemotional. Keep the toy still until the dog outs it. Just OUT, SIT, WATCH. The moment the dog turns his head to look at you, MARK&REWARD.

Reward by having the dog jump up to take the toy, or by throwing the toy. If you’re rewarding with a tug toy, reward high, at shoulder level for a shepherd for example, so the dog jumps up.

If throwing, throw with your left hand away and behind so dog has to turn away from the handler. If you throw the toy ahead or to the right, the dog will forge more and more. If you reward to the left, the dog will anticipate that’s where the toy will appear, and not get so far out of position.

Whatever you do, don’t hide the toy, put it behind your back, or try to lure attention by putting the toy up in your arm pit or at your shoulder. Again, we want the dog to understand that it doesn’t matter how accessible the toy is, the only way the dog will get it is to give attention and gain the release word YES. This is an important component of self control. The dog needs to understand YES is a release as well as a reward. YES releases the dog to chase or take the toy.

With the dog in heel position, start walking. Continue walking until the dog gives just a moment of attention —  then MARK&REWARD.

Retrieving day 2
Shaping — reward early tries frequently.
Correct pickup and hold is important in dogs going on to do competition obedience or Schutzhund. For other dogs like service dogs, the pick-up is not nearly as important as the dog learn to retrieve many different items: socks, keys, a quarter, a piece of paper.

Teaching the hold
The correct hold involves holding the dumbbell calmly and firmly. There is no chewing, chomping, rolling the dumbbell around in the mouth. A correct pickup is fast and direct. Hitting the dumbbell with the feet, sending it rolling etc. are all faulty.

The shaped retrieve and the hold are taught separately. If the dog wants to play with the dumbbell, roll it around in motion, pounce on it, chew, or chomp, then we need to teach hold. This will give us a tool to use during the retrieve… if the dog begins to chew or play with the dumbbell, you will be able to just say “no, HOLD” and know the dog understands.

The hold is taught through compulsion. I prefer to use a piece of PVC pipe to teach hold, so that there are no negative conotations associated with the dumbbell. Also, the PVC is not so nice to carry in the mouth, and the dog may be more inclined to chew, giving us an opportunity to teach that chewing is incorrect.

First step: the PVC is placed into the dog’s mouth.

Begin with the dog in front in a sitting position. Hold the collar with three fingers of one hand. Open the mouth by putting your thumb in the corner and pressing. Place the PVC in the mouth, not too far back, but just behind the eye teeth. Watch the lips. Don’t let the lips get caught between the teeth and the PVC, or you’ll surely teach the dog to hate this exercise..

Hold the mouth gently but firmly closed. You fingers in the collar keep the dog from backing up; your thumb and forefinger of the same hand hold the lower jaw. Your other hand is placed gently across the top of the muzzle.

When the dog holds it calmly without fighting, MARK&REWARD. Just let the PVC drop to the ground. Repeat. Release when dog yields. Don’t make the dog hold it for very long, just hold long enough to yield. (If the dog really fights or struggles, place the dog in a corner where he can’t get anywhere.)

Often, after you repeat placing the DB in the dog’s mouth a few times, the dog will begin to reach for the PVC before you can put in his mouth. This is a good thing.

Look for a calm, yielding hold.

Slowly make it a little longer. Now, instead of marking immediately, use your “keep going” marker: “goood… YES and reward.

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Shaping – no corrections, No “no”, no ott. Reward success, ignore failure. If the dog does something you don’t want, don’t say anything, just ignore it and it should go away.

The way shaping works is you quit rewarding one thing and wait until the dog offers something new. Be patient. Wait while the dog tries to figure it out. The dog will get frustrated and try something new. If the new action looks like it will lead us in the right direction, MARK&REWARD.

What we’re looking for is a good attitude: the dog should be eager, trying things, engaged, looking at handler — “didn’t you see this? watch me!”
Patience is important — don’t be too quick to help.

If dog gets stuck, you may need to go back to a previous step. If wait too long with no reward, the dog may give up. Small steps and many frequent successes, especially in the beginning, will lead to rapid progress.

Begin with the dumbbell either on the ground or in your hand. On the ground works fine unless the dog wants to hit it with his front feet. We want to reinforce any interaction with the dumbbell, but OTOH, we don’t want to reinforce anything we’ll have to get rid of later, such as pouncing on the dumbbell and sending it skittering across the floor. As you can imagine, dogs like this game!

If your dog shows any tendency to pounce, begin with the dumbbell in your hand. Show the dog the dumbbell and MARK/TREAT for any reaction.

If you’re beginning with the DB on the ground, place it on the ground, then move it slightly with a foot so the dog looks down. MARK/TREAT for any reaction.

In the beginning the dog needs a high level of rewards in order to keep trying, so you may need to help by moving the DB so the dog has a reason to notice it. But only do that a few — that’s three, maybe five — times!

Now wait for the dog to show you that he’s noticed the dumbbell without you moving or waving it. MARK/TREAT for any reaction.

Patience is the key to getting your dog to try something new.

Your goal today: The dog touches the bar of the dumbbell with his nose.

If he touches the bell in the beginning, reward for that a few times. Once the dog shows you that he understands touching is what gets him the reward, stop rewarding him for touching the bell. Only reward for touching the bar.

Steps:

• notice
• move towards
• touch briefly with nose
• touch longer with nose
• touch the bar with nose

Ignore:

• pawing the dumbbell
• barking

Important: reward success and ignore failure. If you don’t like, ignore it!

Happy training!