Problems with attention heeling - Page 1

I have been working with one of my dogs on the attention heeling needed for the BH test.  His attention is excellent when he is sitting or in a down.  I tell him to watch and he will stay focused on me, looking straight into my eyes, for long periods of time even through some pretty tough distractions such as an aggressive dog barking at him, food next to his face, people calling his name, and even other people flicking him on the ears.  My problem is holding this same focus when we are heeling.  I started out using food and directing it to my face to get him used to heeling and watching at the same time, he seems to understand the concept and will be focused for a short time, then will get distracted and wants to just sniff the ground, especially when we first start out with the heel.    Food seems to hold his attention better than a toy or tug, but I was wondering, if he already understands the concept of watching me, should I be using more food, less food, or start using a leash correction for loss of attention which at this point I have not really been doing.  I have also read from some people that using food or toys is not needed to teach the attentive heel, any suggestions?

I was told to use the clicker everytime my girl looks at me while heeling and give her food.  That way you are rewarding them for what YOU want them to do, not them looking just any old way.  Don't let him sniff the ground, give a small correction to stop that and don't let him eat anything that he or you drop.  He has to pay attention to get the food.  You can also put food in your hand and have him drive into your hand (at waist height) to try & get it from you.  Let him have it, when you run out, stop, have him sit, reload your hand and start heeling again.  This will give him more focus on you and then you can back off on the food less, only rewarding with food when he is in correct position and looking at you.  They figure out really quickly what you want from them by learning what gets them the food he wants. :o)  Good Luck.

Teri 

One thing that I found useful was introducing several sits early on. So for instance, heel a few steps, then sit. Heel a few more steps (with lots of excited chat) and sit again. By the time we set off again my boy is really paying attention. If we just heel straight away he switches off, like yours.

Also helpful is to play with a tug toy until he REALLY wants it, before starting heelwork.

This works for me, anyway!

Your sessions need to be short and if you get 2 steps out of him without him checking out, then that's what you build on. Be energetic and RUN to reload with more food.. works great if you put it in your mouth .. what a great place to look huh??? You need to use food that really motivates him and you need to look towards randomizing your rewards.. my dogs always get a reward and sometimes we have to spread it out (because we have to go 50 paces and that's only 1 way!),, so when you get to having attention for that long.. you may reward at the end in one session and then 3 times or more in the next session and then maybe twice. 

We use a pinch collar as a motivational tool and frequently pop the collar, say yes and give food so that a pop also has a positive aspect to it . 

 Initially we do a lot of heeling in a big circle, usually with the dog on the outside .. with lots of rewarding.. they always have to think there is gonna be something for them!! 

Make it happy and fun, unpredictable and really rewarding and your dog will soon think you are way more exciting than the ground

Good luck!!