My 18month old BC is doing great with her training, recall, fetch send away are all great but she loses interest in her heelwork so quickly.  She walks to heel fine but im struggling on getting her to watch me for any length of time ;o(  Ive tried treats (including cheese and sausage) and toys as she prefers to work for toys, however i cant take these into the ring with me!!  Anyone got any tips, would be greatly appreciated, cheers.

In training use a really funny voice and also do it in short bursts, so nothing longer then a few strides with her in perfect position, keep everything short and sweet and gradguly increase the paces and she will realies that she has to look up at you as she gets prasie for doing that and not praise for losing interest (although you don't mean to give it to her that way!!

Good luck, this method worked with my bitch (new trainer doesn't agree tho! :( )

Rox

Thanks for that ice queen, i will try this and see how i get on, only thing is when i speak to her in a silly voice she tends to get excited and start barking :(

ok so maybe thats not such a good idea!!! :(  I'm sure you will find something, hope it does work for you!

Roxanne

I like using a clicker because once the dog understands, you can click the exact position you want :) Mary Ray uses the clicker now.

YOu say you can't take toys or food into the ring - quite right! ;) But, you can use them in training and once the dog has the hang of whta you are asking, gradually phase them out and then just reward at the end. Loads of people train dogs for obedience using such incentives and have happy attentive dogs in the ring :)

Your dog can be rewarded at the  end of the obedience test by playing with the toy ....

Lindsay

I have thought about trying clicker training but not sure if i can introduce it at such a late stage?  Should i introduce the clicker and start retraining sits etc or only use it during heelwork?  I have heard lots of great stories with excellent results - but i guess i am just too scared to try something different!  :(

I think i will try and give it a go - some of the clicker training packs i have noticed have booklets to help you, thanks for that Lindsay.

Sorry forgot to mention - this is my first BC and first time training to compete - so not much experience!  I had a LabX before as a pet and she was so easy to train as long as she was rewarded with something edible :)
Having a great time with it though and doing a bit agility and flyball too - heard the clicker is also good for agility?  She tends to run on a bit from me - i cant keep up but that will come soon enough - hopefully.  She has her first agility show in June so fingers crossed we will have mastered it by then :)

You can introduce a clicker at any time - but try teaching something new with it to start with rather than something your dog already "knows" so they get the hang of how it works.

I also introduced a target stick and am teaching my bitch to touch that as I sometimes have trouble with picking things up - if I point to them to indicate them she takes this as a "down" command so I am hoping that I can use the target stick to point instead.  Don't laugh, I did say hope! :D