Hello all!  I got a question...I having been working diligently with my Val on obedience the last two weeks and she has done wonderful...NO MORE SLED-DOG..for all who were at Julie's seminar in Missouri.

Well, she does have a hard time controlling herself when I bring out the retrieving dummies...she is SO driven...

I just want to know how...or if anyone has been able to... get their dog to HEEL----Backwards...yep, I mean backing up with me.

She is now really good on and off the lead with OB..I can walk (or run) and she almost always stays right by my side...she just own't back up.

does anyone have any tips?

OH, and do I need to "correct" her when she gets less obedient when the bumpers come out?  or do I not want to correct when birds or retrieving is at hand?  I dont want to nurt her awesome drive.

All guidance appreciated!

Robert

Does she understand that "heel" is a position next to your leg, or does she think it means "go forward with me"? If you can call her and tell her to heel and she goes next to your leg, you're ready to try backwards. If not, get that done first.

Heel forward and then have her sit when you stop (this should be automatic). Then step back one step, and tell her to heel. She should scoot back into the proper position. You might have to start with a half-step first. Slowly work up to more steps. If you go fast, she will turn and walk towards you and then re-heel, so go slow.

I am sure there are more ways than this, and likely better ones. Hopefully a better trainer than me will post too!

Keep the same standard no matter what is happening. If she doesn't listen when there are bumpers, don't do any retrieves until she does. Correcting her for OB will not hurt her drive to retrieve. This is the beginning of her learning to be steady.

Robert,
That is good no more sled dog. You may want to try to walk Val along a fence or along side of something that will prevent her from turning. Keep her pinned between you and the object. This has worked well for me.

Teaching backwards heeling fits in quite well when you teach "push / pull".



.

Doc: I either don't know or have read about it and forgot...what is push/pull?

I have actually started the "hold" portion of FF in the last 2-3 days...going well..I think, as she is holding it for what I feel is quite some time and plan on moving the hand away in the next day or so, but not rushing as NO spitting allowed! )

Push pull is when you sit with your dog at heel and turn , tell the dog to heel and she should turn with you so that you are facing the same way. It is a drill that will be important later on with wagon wheel, or when setting her up for marks.

Ok, so you mean that I am standing and she is sitting and I turn and she should turn and sit the direction I am now facing...If that is correct I will work on it but I have been turning circles into and away with her...she does good with that...but they are continuous...If I understand right I have her heel and sit..then I turn..give the heel command and she should heel/turn and sit the correct direction? I do this on a repeated basis...gonna see if she can do it right now...............................ok, she doesn't quite line perfectly up with me but she does move to my left side after I turn and tell her to heel. she wants to heel without the command when I turn but will stay sitting if I give her the sit command and then turn..is this a problem? it makes sense to me that if I have her at heel and stop that she automatically sits and then continues to heel after I start walking again. To me, if I want her to stay sitting (I dont use and didnt teach a "stay" command) then I must give her the sit command or she should contniue to heel. Am I wrong here?

Also, when the dog is at heel with you, and isn't quite "lined up square", if you say
"Here", the dog's front will get closer to you. If you say Heel, the dog's butt will get closer to you. (thus "push - pull")



.

Ok, now I understand the term push/pull! We will work on it. She usually learns at a good pace, but we will see.

For a dog that heels on your left side:

"Here" tells your dog to turn to the right (a forward movement for the dog).

"Heel" tells your dog to turn to the left (a backwards movement for the dog).

It's very important for the dog to know this by the time you start running blinds.  There are two basic types of yardwork drills for teaching blinds:  1) Lining Drills and 2) Casting Drills.

This is an excellent article on Lining Drills, including Wagon Wheel and the push/pull concept:

http://www.dobbsdogs.com/library/retrievers/rj09.html

After doing wagon wheel with your dog, heeling backwards is a piece of cake.  I have fun with my dogs heeling forwards and backwards up and down stairs - my dogs love doing it, and it requires complete focus on you.

robert a hayes hit the original question, use a fence and use a whiffle ball bat. youll have to go really slow at first. Use a CC and get her in heel position. I like to go 3-4 steps forward and then 2 back. Push on her chest with the wiffle ball bat at first to help guide her backwards. This will transition in to light taps on the chest. My last dog was really good at backwards heel. Ridley pretty much jumps/springs backwards.

Hey Robert glad to hear Val is over the sled dog thing. How is she with your son (sorry i don't remember his name) better I hope. Patience and and being very consistent will always get the job done. Stay at it.

Thanks D&C. Val is doing well with Andrew. She responds and focuses for me the best, but is very good with him also. We will continue to work on OB with Val.