CorgiMum
06-02-2007, 06:58 PM
Merrie & I have been having a conversation regarding some heeling and general training, then we decided to share it here as some others may be interested too.
Merrie:
Question, is heeling for whenever our dog goes for a walk? Or are there some times when we let them sniff and do their business where others we need the heel because there are people/dogs around? See just my eagerness to do it right.
Thank you for the thread on training. I knew the jerk method wasn't the ideal because Pepper never mastered heeling compared to all the other commands.
You know what is funny is when I practice commands with my neighbor's golden retrievers, I give a command to one dog and the other (submissive) one does it. Do you have to work with one dog alone when this happens?
CorgiMum:
That is great info isn't it? I used that site a lot when I was training Dylan for the Ob ring. Nothing like breed specific training!
About heeling and walking, yes that's right, "heel" for close in and pay attention as you mentioned. General walking I say "go easy", that means you can go ahead, you are allowed to sniff and pee. Then I use "by me", no strict heel is needed, but he must walk along side of me, not ahead, and no stopping.
Hope that makes sense.
I don't like to use the jerk method. I prefer to say AK! Sort of like someone making a gong show buzzer noise. Eveyone finds their own type of sound, the dog will understand that his action is causing a negative sound and make that connection. But, the very second that he either stops or makes a move to come back...I use big praise to make sure he knows that was what he should be doing.
Training two dogs at once. Well there are tiimes that it is good, but in general, I only train one dog at a time. Like a private music class etc.
And it works like this for us too, Montrose would sometimes be nervous to try something I wanted her to learn or do. So, I would do it with Dylan first, they she would be, well heck Mum, I can do that too! And be very confident when I asked her to do it becuase Dylan did it, got praise and a treat.
Then there was all the freestyle dancing, light practices in the kitchen (not the serious sessions) Montrose would sit on her "place" and watch us. When we were done, I would put on 'her music' and we would do a few little easy tricks. Also sometimes the three of us would dance together, a family affair, with Gary being the audience and doing all the clapping and cheering!
And that paid of in spades! When Montrose got her wheels, she was able to back up, spin right, spin left, etc. That got her over a big hurddle that some dogs have to over come.
I believe in teaching my dogs lots of different things, they after all working dogs, and a tired corgi is a happy corgi!!
Merrie:
Question, is heeling for whenever our dog goes for a walk? Or are there some times when we let them sniff and do their business where others we need the heel because there are people/dogs around? See just my eagerness to do it right.
Thank you for the thread on training. I knew the jerk method wasn't the ideal because Pepper never mastered heeling compared to all the other commands.
You know what is funny is when I practice commands with my neighbor's golden retrievers, I give a command to one dog and the other (submissive) one does it. Do you have to work with one dog alone when this happens?
CorgiMum:
That is great info isn't it? I used that site a lot when I was training Dylan for the Ob ring. Nothing like breed specific training!
About heeling and walking, yes that's right, "heel" for close in and pay attention as you mentioned. General walking I say "go easy", that means you can go ahead, you are allowed to sniff and pee. Then I use "by me", no strict heel is needed, but he must walk along side of me, not ahead, and no stopping.
Hope that makes sense.
I don't like to use the jerk method. I prefer to say AK! Sort of like someone making a gong show buzzer noise. Eveyone finds their own type of sound, the dog will understand that his action is causing a negative sound and make that connection. But, the very second that he either stops or makes a move to come back...I use big praise to make sure he knows that was what he should be doing.
Training two dogs at once. Well there are tiimes that it is good, but in general, I only train one dog at a time. Like a private music class etc.
And it works like this for us too, Montrose would sometimes be nervous to try something I wanted her to learn or do. So, I would do it with Dylan first, they she would be, well heck Mum, I can do that too! And be very confident when I asked her to do it becuase Dylan did it, got praise and a treat.
Then there was all the freestyle dancing, light practices in the kitchen (not the serious sessions) Montrose would sit on her "place" and watch us. When we were done, I would put on 'her music' and we would do a few little easy tricks. Also sometimes the three of us would dance together, a family affair, with Gary being the audience and doing all the clapping and cheering!
And that paid of in spades! When Montrose got her wheels, she was able to back up, spin right, spin left, etc. That got her over a big hurddle that some dogs have to over come.
I believe in teaching my dogs lots of different things, they after all working dogs, and a tired corgi is a happy corgi!!