too far forward - Page 1

HI Guys, I have a 10 month old mal and in her heel work she creeps too far forward. I reward straight above her head and behind but its not fixing this issue. I have also tried putting a toy under my arm but still no improvement. I only do very short steps and try and reward before she mucks up. She was trained via the Michael Ellis DVD method and I have a slight suspicion its due to her looking at my face.
Any suggestions on other ways to fix this would be great

thanks!

You might try some quick turns and left abouts. MIx it up, walk faster, take bigger steps. Don't keep saying fuss/heel, if she gets too far in front of you do a quick about or left about. It won't  take her very long to understand that she needs to keep her shoulder at your knee. I don't use food rewards, but if  you do, you can treat her when she does it the way you want.

First, make sure the dog had some exercise before you attempt any work. A dog that is "buzzing" to expend drive is not going to focus on the task at hand. 

Blitzen has the right idea...

Too many people do Obedience Routines when TRAINING (Full length rountines)...This is not the right way to teach...Short TRAINING Sessions are what is needed..When TRAINING you should keep your training Sessions Short and to the point...Work on ONLY 1 thing at a time...For instance if you want to work on the Heeling then work ONLY on the Heeling...

If your dog is Forging then you should reward (either Food or Toy) ONLY in the correct position...With that in mind when doing Obedience then do very Fast work with only a few steps in between turns...(like maybe only 3 or 4 steps in between turns)...And here's the big part...Use NO COMMANDS...Don't say a word...Make your dog keep an eye on you and they can't do that if they're in front of you...So to stay with you they need to be in a position where they can see you...This is an exercise that you only do for a few minutes (maybe 10 minutes)...but you can actually work like this a few times a day if you want...

Now there's something I do everytime I finish working on Ob...and that is to PLAY...Whether you know it or not you create stress when TRAINING...So when you finish with a training session you should "relieve stress"...I play with my dog...they way you play is up to you...I use "2-Ball"...This relieves the stress and you're still giving the dog exercise and belive it or not you're training...You're teaching a "Send Out"...a "Retrieve"...and still giving the dog some exercise...

I hope this gives you some new ideas of how to control your forging problem...

Great idea to play after training. I forgot to say that. Making sure they have had some exercise first is also good. I forgot that too.

I think one of the most important training procedures is to only give a command one time. Repeatly saying - fuss, fuss. fuss, fuss  sounds to a dog like gibberish and nagging to put in in human terms. I'm sure Q Man, HD, et al experienced this with their dogs too. When Bev and I are out for  walks or doing the little bit of training we do these days, if she is forging ahead and I make a quick about or left about, she almost jumps 3 feet into the air to get back into the heel position . 

IMO you have to start rewarding when your dog is at the right position without walking.Then make a few steps en reward when still at the right position. But the reward is not above or in front of the dog but from behind your back. The dog has to learn to expect the reward at that place and in that position and there is no use to go too far forward.

This video i posted a few days ago on an other forum and displays what i mean

https://youtu.be/y5aRtllxe3o

 

btw the dog in this video is a young female of 11 months