Review:
Backwards Heel
Start increasing the number of heel steps you take between mark/rewards. Choose a random number of steps between 1 and 6. Sometimes walk backwards, sometimes walk forwards. See if you can use an empty hand in cue position, then mark (click or ‘yes’), then take food from bait bag. Use a side rail (i.e. x-pen) to help keep your dog lined up. This will take away the complication of keeping your dog parallel to you. In the video below you can see Popeye is at a bit of an angle when we do backwards heel, we could use more practice with a side rail to help him get the muscle memory for a straighter backup.
For backing up in “front” position we can now remove the platform. Make sure your dog understands your hand signal (or verbal) and is good with backing up at the distance you want. First, put a piece of tape in front of your platform to mark its position. You will use this mark as your criteria for “clicking” when your dog’s hind feet cross the tape line. After several successful backups to the platform, remove the platform and use the tape line to determine the distance. In the video below I start with a short distance and work up to make sure we are good:
Pivots
Try using other objects besides an upside down food bowl for your dog to pivot on. You can use a book or a few layers of foam material. Something that is closer to the ground to help your dog make the transition when you remove the pivot bowl/platform completely.
Remove the pivot bowl and use a small piece of tape as a visual marker. Take steps around the tape with your left foot as if it were the pivot bowl. Try taking small steps at first and mark/treat each step. Over time you can chain a few steps together and mark/treat after a few pivots. Once your dog is fluent with pivots you can wait for really good pivots and mark/treat those.
Homework:
1. Practice backwards heeling (lure/reward method):
- Work on random steps (1-6) forwards and backwards.
- Do some “fine dining” (slow rewards to build duration while you are both standing in heel position) as well as “fast food” when your dog does something really good.
- Start by using an x-pen or some type of side wall to help your dog stay lined up, but experiment with a lower side wall or remove it completely to see if you both can maintain a good line. The longer the travel the more chance your dog will drift out of alignment, so only do a few steps at first.
2. Practice walking backwards to platform (shaping method):
- Once your dog is solid in backing up to a platform with a hand signal or verbal then remove the platform. Use a tape line as a landmark and click as soon as your dog’s back feet cross the line. See video in Review section above.
3. Pivots:
- Try using objects besides an upside down food bowl to help your dog generalize the pivot behavior. I like a thin book or a small piece of foam (i.e. platform material).
- Try removing the platform/bowl and just use a piece of tape as a visual marker to replace the pivot bowl. (see review section above for video).
- Reset yourself into heel with your dog if you get out ahead too far. Try taking small steps at first.
- Try playing pivot games (see video below) to encourage your dog to find heel position as you pivot away from them. The goal is to teach our dog to swing their back side towards us, this help prevent crabbing and keeps a tighter heel position. Keep it fun and don’t make your dog work too hard or else it wont be fun for them. You can hear Popeye whine in the video below so I am pushing it a bit too much for him.
4. Chains:
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- Practice your 30 second chain. Remember to use all the behaviors from the Level 1 class (heel, leg weave, around, spin) and one behavior from Level 2 (backwards heel, backwards in front position, pivots). You will reward (food or toy) only once at the end of the chain.
- You can start to hold your hands naturally, instead of leaving your hand in cue position during the entire heel. I use the hand cue to tell my dog that we are going to heel, but then I try to swing my hands naturally while I walk.
- You will probably use forward chaining for most of your work, but you may use back chaining for things like a “weave 180”. Below are some ideas for combining moves for your chain:
For the future:
Sideways heel
In our last class we will work on sideways heeling. This is really useful in helping our dogs get themselves into a tight heel with us. We will use a “three step approach” to tech sideways heel. The first step is a pivot with our left foot, this helps our dog get their back legs moving sideways. The second step is diagonal, with some travel and some pivot starting with the right foot. The third step is sideways travel only, starting with the right foot. See video below:
Remember to take very small steps at first. If we take too big of a step then our dog with need to walk forwards to make up the distance. We are looking for a side step from our dog with front and back legs. Hold food in your hand in cue position while teaching this. See video:
Use lines on the floor to help you see when your dog makes a good sideways move. See video:
You will probably also want to use shaping to refine your sideways heel. Start clicking for the better sideways movements and don’t click for the ones you don’t like. We want our dog to succeed at each level, so make sure to adjust your criteria so your dog gets a click at least 50% of the time. I usually shoot for 80% success to keep my dog in the game.
Practicing sideways heel on a curb is really helpful. Remember to take very small steps, see video below:
Please let me know if you have any questions: dogswitchdog@gmail.com