I have a friend who is having trouble with her springer cross and her heelwork.  The dog keeps drifting in and out of position basically.  My friend has been training for about a year and a bit so lots of training has gone into the dog but she is finding it difficult with the HW.  She uses treats and has tried toys and has recently put a half check on her which worked for a while and the dog was really good but then recently she slipped back to her old ways of drifting.  It's a shame cos her recall and retrieve are brilliant!

Any thoughts??

Michelle??? you may have seen her at the shows.....

Em

sounds like my friends springer crosses!!! lol! needs a new dog. springers seem  to like working a little wider!

she needs to work on the dogs position statically, & work hard on the head position as if the head is always in postion then the dog cant really go wide can it?

Her head is up, granted not fully stretched, but she is fairly attentive but just drifts in and out.  Also she looks really unenthusiastic about it all to me, kind of scared and kind of not bothered!

I'll tell her to get a new dog ha ha

get her to teach the head stuck to the leg,it dosent have to be high,just stuck on

get her to teach the head stuck to the leg,it dosent have to be high,just stuck on.
TBH she sounds like clares sprollies who do it their own way when they want to!!!

She can do it lovely and did for a while with the check chain on her but then when she got to the show, she went back to her usual laid back self and didn't really work hard for her mum.

I was told Henry was unique the other day by a lady who came to class.  She said she has never seen a lab work at obedience like Mr H does as they just don't do it!  Made me :-)

wow i bet!!!!well he is very nice & thats from someone (me) who is not a huge lab fan!!!! (apart from MrH)

when she does statics,dose she press the dog into position & say her word,(close)

has she ever done training rounds at a show?as the dog may have got abit ring crafty

Well you couldn't not like Mr H now could you.  Ditto re collies tho!! but I do like Flynn he's gorge!

She does use close and she starts off ok but then starts all this drifting business.  The dog takes everything to heart too and is very sensitive when her mum lowers her tone and tells her to get in.  She just goes flat and looks terrified!

I said perhaps she should do a training round, but......she doesn't really work for a toy! ......

ok as soon as she starts to drift the VERY second,mum should stop (STOP STAND STILL!!!)& say "no close" & reafirm the close position, no harshness,just gentle touch into position & "thats it brilliant". go on do a few more paces break off play/feed then start again. dont let her always start from the sit sometimes run backwards & then go forward into HW.

that way shes NOT correcting her whilst shes working,shes stopping letting the dog know that that just isnt good enough,then showing her (even if its for the 100th time) what is expected. however she must respond the second the dogs attention goes or it wont work (hell it may not work anyway)

she can do this as a training round too

re not liking toys,if the toy isnt enough to "lure" her into position,does she like it enough to have a good play after doing a bit of good work?

She will run out for a toy and enjoys one being thrown so I guess she could throw it after she has done a bit of good work?  even after a few good paces of hw? but no reward if rubbish....

defintally!!! she could say "brilliant & get it" then throw it. keep it in her pocket out the way when working.

Thanks so much for your help Michelle.

Any advice on how to get Henry to win!!!!!! arrrggghhhh!!!

Em

he dosent need advice,just dont accept what you dont like!!!! :)

yes Henry love food circuits too.

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I know its not specifically for obedience, but i saw a good video the other day, the motivation movie by joanna hill, it had some great tips for teaching good heelwork (the dog was doing some competiiton style heelwork) and how to get the motivation going. When the dog was working well she would give a release calm and then throw food out for the dog so that they had to run and get it, then they were called back (as in a retrieve) and then the dog sort of went round as if they were going to finish, but the food was thrown again. She called it food circuits. Its purely for motivation but it really seemed to help. It is hard to explain though.

i love doing food circuits!!!!

I don't do any heelwork training on lead so from the outset I probably have to do more work that those who do all their training on lead & get through tons of cooked chicken(part of the dogs diet)in the process. I do a little & often & alway finish on a good note

I also teach dogs to play(our GSD arrived at 8 months unable to play as no one had ever played with her & now to get her attention I just touch or mention a toy)if they don't know how to, if the dog isn't interested in an ordinary tuugy maybe rubbing something he/she does like on it I like the ones that are about thumb thickness,

Perhaps going back to basics but using a different method for heelwork & doing training rounds in the higher class might help, it's a same when the set exercises are done well to be let down by heelwork & of course lots & lots of play in between the short bursts of heelwork training to keep him thinking what is coming next.

As a judge I have no problem with training rounds after all where else can you train for the ring but actually in it at a show ?

Hi

If the dog actually looks terrified and goes flat, fun training such as the circuit training will help a lot...also consider clicker training. It's always been helpful to me although i do heelwork for working trials rather than for obedience as such :)

Lindsay
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