Heelwork - click before you jerk.

Here's my marker training spiel.

Some people appear to loose their marbles when they get a dog. Completely rational, intelligent people suddenly turn into mindless, loud mouthed loonies who hurt their so called best friend in an attempt to get a him to perform a simple task.

Let's take the heel command for instance. I want you to walk into heel. So, every time you pull on the lead, I''m going to jerk the lead and hurt you. At the same time as I hurt you, for good measure,I'm going to yell HEEL in a really rough voice just to frighten you.

For some reason, this command is supposed to teach him to stop pulling and walk quietly into heel. Barbara Woodhouse, you've got a lot to answer for.

Here's my view on this negative approach. The dog hears HEEL and immediately gets hurt. Naturally, the dog associates the word "heel" with getting hurt. The dog subsequently gets upset, stressed and generally hacked off at being hurt for no apparent reason.The dog looses confidence in you as a leader. His respect for you is diminished because he doesn't understand what crime he has committed to receive such a harsh punishment.

What if someone shouts "I'm going to really hurt you" then attempts to strangle you with a piece of leather and a chain? Will this make you calmly walk beside them and behave? No it wont - You'll think they're a total bastard who is hurting you indiscriminately and you'll resent them.

Here's my way of achieving a solid heel type behaviour.

• Get yourself a clicker.

In case you don't know, a clicker is a small device that makes a clicking sound.
The sole purpose of a clicker is to indicate that a desired behaviour has been performed.

• So getting back to the heel work. Walk with your dog on a long lead.I prefer to do this with a 6 or 8 foot lead to stop any harsh tugs. I really don't want to associate any negative experience with the clicker.The dog must see the clicker as a good thing not an indicator for punishment.



• When the dog starts to pull , turn in the opposite direction, don't pull him, just be patient. He'll get to the end of the lead and either stop or turn round to see you. If he stops just gently nudge him with light pressure until he turns towards you.



• As soon as turns towards you , encourage him to walk towards you. As soon as he walks towards you, click once and offer him a treat and some light praise.



• Repeat this a few times then start walking so he walks with you. Remember, the click is indicating that he is "doing it correctly".



• Don't issue a command at this stage.The object of the exercise is to reinforce the behaviour and reward him for doing so NOT to teach him what heel is.



• Repeat this exercise a few times and the dog will soon get the idea that following you is a sure way of getting something nice to eat. In fact, what usually happens is that the dog thinks we can make you click by turning and following you - and he can. This is the basis of training using markers, more commonly named "positive reinforcement".



• After a few 5 minute sessions over a day or two, introduce a command.Wait until he offers the behaviour before you issue a commend.(i.e. wait until he turns and walks toward you before you say heel).



• I have a few commands for heel work. If I'm walking to the park , I generally use a "heel" command which is in effect "stay with me". If I'm practising real heeling work I use a "tight" command which is a more formal competition standard heel position.



• Once you've got him following you, try to shape the behaviour. Shaping is the fine tuning part of training. To shape the heel command , I would get him to turn a follow me but hold out on the click until he is walking with his shoulder directly at my heel. This is indicating to him that I'm needing him to be more accurate. Just turning round and wandering at the back of me is not enough to earn the click and the treat. I'm now asking him to walk at a specific position in relation to my body.



• This can take a few sessions so don't get upset or impatient if he's not learning at your pace. If he's not offering you the desired behaviour , you've probably moved too fast and need to go back a step or two. The real art is in determining how fast you can progress with each dog. Every dog is different and remember that you're learning too so go easy on him.



• Remember, you are in control. Don't expect him understand everything first time. You need to work in small increments and keep the training sessions light and cheerful.

I promise that this method works. This method builds confidence in the dog and improves your status as pack leader. The dog becomes so keen on learning that whenever the clicker appears , he knows he's in for a click, treat and praise party. I suppose it's like someone inviting you out for a slap up meal, followed by a soothing massage. You're then carried to a luxurious armchair where your boss and all your friends tell you how wonderful you are. Why don't they have clickers for humans!!!!

The heel command now means "Please come and walk beside me.I'll tell you you're fantastic and give you a nice treat or cuddle". Now that's sounds better than "I'm going to jerk your neck off while I shout at you".

But I hear you say "Does that mean I have to feed him loads of treats just to get him to heel?" Well in the beginning, yes it does but as you refine the behaviour, you will gradually wean him off the clicker and replace the food treats with praise. I always throw in the odd treat just to make it interesting for them. I have a thing where I touch the dog on the cheek very softly and say "well done - you're a good boy". This is, in effect, another marker as the dog soon realises that this action is an indicator that I'm happy with their behaviour.

The more you get into training with markers, the better and more observant you'll become.

Barbara Woodhouse and all the jerk and hurt trainers are dinosaurs. Their training methods are outdated and not relevant to this dog loving society. Don't listen to the jerk brigade, give the positive stuff a try and train a vibrant confident dog who works for you because he wants to NOT because he's frightened of getting hurt.