Update and a question about teaching Fuss/heel. - Page 1

 In general terms Falco's doing extremely well.  It's like I have a completely different dog from a year ago.

In the house his manners are almost 100%.  We're still working on not rushing the door when someone rings the bell, but his greeting behavior is improving, and the rest of his house manners are impeccable.

Outside his ability to focus is slowly growing, and he's listening and choosing to attend to me in favor of some fairly high counter-stimulus (such as another dog offering to play).  The last time I had him off leash playing fetch some people let their off leash dog intrude on the game (without checking with me first, which was annoying -- we were off on our own in a different area from the dogs playing and they had no way of calling their adolescent GSD back if my dog were aggressive).  Falco didn't give the intruding dog more than a quick glance -- he was far more interested in me and the ball, which is something that wouldn't have happened six months ago, since he loves other dogs and loves to play.  (This reminds me to also say thank you again for the ball recommendations.  We tried both the Gappay and the Frabo in medium, and while he likes the Gappay the Frabo is a tremendous treat and source of reward.)

So we're making excellent progress and I'm very happy with how things are developing.  It's still very much a work in progress -- if we've been at a pet store for socialization, for example, I can't exercise him or train with him for more than half an hour immediately afterwards or he will have a small melt down.  Falco's capacity for enduring stimulation is much improved, but there are limits that still have to be respected.  We'll keep working and keep stretching those boundaries, of course.  "Watch me" is falling into place, though he can't do it for very long yet.  It has had the desired effect that he now snaps his attention to my face whenever I speak to him, and he's gradually starting to check in more and more on his own.

So thank you again to everyone who gave advice concerning improving his focus! The work in front of us is far from over, but the end is actually in view, and we're making good progress towards having Falco trained up to what I would consider to be minimum acceptable standards.  The sky's the limit past that, of course, but I really want the dog to understand the basics such that I can take him to work with me, and into the field with me, and hiking/camping/etc. with me as well.  Some of my neighbors have expressed incredulity about how much time I spend working with the dog, but the end goal is simple: the best possible quality of life for both of us, which means that he can come with me where ever and whenever possible. 

This leads me to my next question.  I had taught Falco the rudiments of "heel" (I use Fuß) and he had it -- except for when he became overexcited and/or otherwise lost focus.  In the mean time he seems to have forgotten it entirely and I'm not having any luck reintroducing it the way I originally taught it (walking slowly, and only rewarding when he was in the correct position).  He walks with a loose leash most of the time now as it is, I only need him to get into the appropriate position.

Do any of you have a favorite technique for teaching heel that differs from this?  I'm willing start again with a different method, because having the dog come close and stay close is vitally necessary sometimes for his safety and mine! 

I should add the request to please not include any suggestions involving coercion or hard correction, because I'm not going to follow that sort of advice.  While I realize that it can work perfectly well to obtain the desired results with some dogs, with Falco it would prompt an immediate shut down (possibly to catas

... Posting limit cut off, sorry! Continued:

(possibly to catastrophic levels with a hard correction, where he'd start spinning in hyper circles and remain overstimulated for days after). I've worked too long to convince him that being mentally present is a good thing, I'm not going to undermine that in any way.

Thank you in advance for reading, and for your responses.

what where you rewarding with the first time around? food?

 Really high value food (liver, raw beef heart, etc.), and a tug toy because he likes to play tug.

well you are using a ball mostly now correct? That is his most valued toy correct?

 a real easy way to get the appropriate positioned learned is by using your surrounding. IE fence, building, etc.... give him limited options but keep it comfortable for him and show him what he has to do to get his reward.keep the  ball near your  shoulder, start with as soon as you gain focus reward tug, then work up to duration 5 yards ten yards etc.... this is not a super quick process but when the light comes on its on. I say use the ball because of your previous post. he wants it over all distractions. get used to working him with it in the absence of distraction and slowly increase the level of distraction as his focus comes up. The wall will initially keep him from spinning in front of you to get the ball. The next step to stop that behavior will be right turns away from him. but watch some of the videos on how the "game" can be used for teaching the focus heel.

 Thanks for the response yoshy.

There' a long stretch of chain link fence I can use, but I'm not clear on what you mean by "keep the ball near your shoulder".  Would tucked under the arm work?

I've been digging around on YouTube for videos, but a lot of what I'm pulling up isn't very useful.  Do you have some links you'd recommend?

Sent you a PM.

Denise

videos to purchase but not links.

this is why internet training advice is so difficult nearly impossible haha.

if you use a tug under the left arm pit is ok. but a ball would be concealed in your arm pit.
You dont want to conseal the toy, as that is the focal point of his attention initially. However
you dont want the ball to dangle. hold the ball visible with no movement on you left breast.
at this point you are teahing the position, so maintained focus and position equals reward
the dog with a 5-10 sec reward tug. Be mindful of rewarding when the dogs focus leaves the
ball and comes to you as you want to reward him for looking at you not the ball. As his focus
level increases and awareness of body position increase the duration before reward. Once
you have a solid heel with out distraction work your way up. I start with an open park enviroment
where people are at a distance. then close the distance to where you can have people walking
dogs around you and playing fribee and things like that.

 That description is really helpful yoshy, thanks!  It might still take some tweaking, because with Falc's issues he can't focus for very long, but we'll start with what we've got and build.

Thanks for the PM too, jettasmom!  We'll be working on things according to your and yoshy's example.

your welcome, let us know how it goes

Denise