Need help with heel work

[blacky]

I have a 8 month old black lab only had him a month and started training him with a club for gundogs he his good at sitting etc but i have trouble with him on heel he pulls all the time on the lead not as bad as when we first got him he was like a train.

I have tried giving him sharp tugs on the lead but this does not do nothing

When he See's another dog he just pulls hard on the lead and wants to play this is a bit embarrassing as he is strong and pulls hard.

 

 

Thanks for any info

Keith

Edited April 14, 2010 by blacky

[fortune82]

I have a 8 month old black lab only had him a month and started training him with a club for gundogs he his good at sitting etc but i have trouble with him on heel he pulls all the time on the lead not as bad as when we first got him he was like a train.

I have tried giving him sharp tugs on the lead but this does not do nothing

We he See's another dog he just pulls hard on the lead and wants to play this is a bit embarrassing as he is strong and pulls hard.

 

 

Thanks for any info

Keith

 

Get a small 240 volt generator and attach it to your belt then run an extension lead to the dogs neck and when he pulls just hit him with 240V. He wont pull again!

 

Ive not tried this one yet so let me know how you get on!

[v-max]

You need to pull even harder on the lead & if the lead is long enough use the hand strap part of the lead over the bridge of the dogs nose & enforce with the heel command. Even better is get a thin whippy bit willow or stick & tap him across the bridge of nose when he pulls & again every time you correct him enforce the command of heel. Heel work is quite easy to master with most labs & done 3-8 times a day at 10min's a time. You can near perfect the basic heel work in a day with a good lab or i have. Read a couple books & try DVD's on this section to help get an idea as it should be a short section in the training. A good thing i do is walk the dog 10-15ft & turn or just when you can see the dog want to commit an offence or pull etc then turn 180deg to distract him there is so much little things you can do when teaching the lesson ie tap side of leg/click fingers/sit him every 10ft for a break & so on.

As for your dog i sounds like he will need the firm hand side of it & in the right hands could take no time to teach him. As for wanting to run after other dogs when he see's the other dogs just sit him & dont allow any funny busness you need to get firm with him at 8months he will be strong & keen but easy to sort/teach in good hands.

[J@mes]

I try walking mine in to stuff, as well as making her walk backwards to me when she gets ahead.

 

walking in to stuff - walk along a wall, fence etc and keep the mutt on your left side and walk with the wall on that side, walk very close to it, so close that your dogs head is level with your leg but his body is behind. I find this helps keep ours at heel.

 

if there is nothing to walk along, then I get her to walk back to me whenever she tries to pull ahead. I stop, she stops, she is told to sit, she is told "back" and then told to sit when she is level with me. she soon gets bored of pulling and walks properly.

 

as for the wanting to pull when other dogs are around - keep his attention fixed on you, stroke his head, tell him to watch you, fuss his nose. this helps us when other dogs are about.

 

Others may disagree but we found these things work

[activeviii]

had a problem wit my cocker. h was a right ******. with in 5 minutes with a new trainer it was sorted.

 

use a thin slip lead. i use a leather one. tell him once to heal as you walk. if he goes a head then pull him back. thats his first and only warning. if he pulls again then he flies. yank him backwards HARD, just as his feet come back to earth he then flies back out in front of you and then as he touches down again he gets yanked back to the heal position. tail will be in between his legs and he will have his head low but looking up at you. you stand up straight and say HEAL and walk like you mean it. it should take no more than a couple of goes. my cocker flew the one time and now hes on heal. i went to a lot of people with the problem and try everything i was told but it only worked for a few goes then he would just ignore me.

 

doing this has also stopped him going mad every time i touch the lead so two birds with one stone.

 

i tried the willow whip. swinging a walking stick in front, treats, spinning another lead in front of him and the turn and walk the other way. none of them worked for more that a few times before he knew that he could get away with it. i have toughened up on him a little more and he is a changed dog. he tried to please me now rather than pleasing himself.

 

not saying this way would be right for you but it was the last resort for me so i had to take it.

 

the lead is the key for him now. its the lead that tells him off and not me. i don't smack him or anything now so he knows the my hands and good hands and are for praising him and giving him fuss.

 

 

all the best

 

Phil.

[blacky]

You need to pull even harder on the lead & if the lead is long enough use the hand strap part of the lead over the bridge of the dogs nose & enforce with the heel command. Even better is get a thin whippy bit willow or stick & tap him across the bridge of nose when he pulls & again every time you correct him enforce the command of heel. Heel work is quite easy to master with most labs & done 3-8 times a day at 10min's a time. You can near perfect the basic heel work in a day with a good lab or i have. Read a couple books & try DVD's on this section to help get an idea as it should be a short section in the training. A good thing i do is walk the dog 10-15ft & turn or just when you can see the dog want to commit an offence or pull etc then turn 180deg to distract him there is so much little things you can do when teaching the lesson ie tap side of leg/click fingers/sit him every 10ft for a break & so on.

As for your dog i sounds like he will need the firm hand side of it & in the right hands could take no time to teach him. As for wanting to run after other dogs when he see's the other dogs just sit him & dont allow any funny busness you need to get firm with him at 8months he will be strong & keen but easy to sort/teach in good hands.

So i only train the lab to heel 10mins at a time?

What about the rest of the time?

What Dvds or books do you recommend?

Thanks

Edited April 14, 2010 by blacky

[v-max]

had a problem wit my cocker. h was a right ******. with in 5 minutes with a new trainer it was sorted.

 

use a thin slip lead. i use a leather one. tell him once to heal as you walk. if he goes a head then pull him back. thats his first and only warning. if he pulls again then he flies. yank him backwards HARD, just as his feet come back to earth he then flies back out in front of you and then as he touches down again he gets yanked back to the heal position. tail will be in between his legs and he will have his head low but looking up at you. you stand up straight and say HEAL and walk like you mean it. it should take no more than a couple of goes. my cocker flew the one time and now hes on heal. i went to a lot of people with the problem and try everything i was told but it only worked for a few goes then he would just ignore me.

 

doing this has also stopped him going mad every time i touch the lead so two birds with one stone.

 

i tried the willow whip. swinging a walking stick in front, treats, spinning another lead in front of him and the turn and walk the other way. none of them worked for more that a few times before he knew that he could get away with it. i have toughened up on him a little more and he is a changed dog. he tried to please me now rather than pleasing himself.

 

not saying this way would be right for you but it was the last resort for me so i had to take it.

 

the lead is the key for him now. its the lead that tells him off and not me. i don't smack him or anything now so he knows the my hands and good hands and are for praising him and giving him fuss.

 

 

all the best

 

Phil.

Hi sorry & dont want to tell you how to suck eggs but a spaniel & lab are worlds apart & heel work with a spaniel can be one of the last training exersizes you do with spaniel breeds & a lab it is one of the first you teach so they are the same in princable but done at diffrent stages completly. Labs also generally take it on faster/easyer too.

 

 

So i only train the lab to heel 10mins at a time?

What about the rest of the time?

What Dvds or books do you recommend?

Thanks

Hi if it is going well you can strech the time out just dont over do it. I have a book working gun dogs by martin deeley but there is many books DVD's out there. Edward martin is very good dispite he dose not trial his dogs is very good & he dose good books & DVD's from basic to advanced stuff & you might even find stuff on youtube on gundogs from some of the more reconized gundog trainers its worth a try. If you wernt so far you would have been welcome to come to me & there is plenty good lads between me & you closer to you to help you if you wanted to go down that route for basic introduction & help.

[blacky]

If you wernt so far you would have been welcome to come to me & there is plenty good lads between me & you closer to you to help you if you wanted to go down that route for basic introduction & help.

Thanks for that v-max

He is good at other things but just pulls on the lead and just wants to play with other dogs.