fortune82 Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 I have a six month old cocker spaniel which is progressing well with training. He sits, and stays, retrieves fairly well and recalls when I am in the garden. He is not always so obedient on walks although I remain calm with him and correct his mistakes. However he will not walk to heel. I have tried popping his lead, encouraging him to walk at my side with treats and also turning 180 degrees on a walk when he pulls as well as just stopping when he pulls. Anyone got any ideas? Thanks for any help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chappers Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 First post so please feel free to ignore it I had the same problem with my Springer, I used treats, I see that you've tried the same, with my Springer, if I used a boring treat he soon lost interest. But have you tried it with a really tasty treat, I use to buy a large bag of cheap Iceland sausages for a couple of quid, pop them all into the oven, freeze them, then thickly slice a couple for training purposes reducing the slices in size as the dog progresses. but start off with thick slices, they cant resist them, shove them into your pocket and be sure to let the dog know where they are, I found that he would walk with his nose almost touching the pocket, give whatever heel command you use, and a slice of sausage when he gets it right, make him work for his treat, no freebies Accompany this with lot of praise when he gets it right each time, but it has to be fun for the dog so would advise short training sessions, so he does not get bored and be consistant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 Spaniels and heelwork... the preserve of those gifted with the patience of a saint. Good luck, it's something I've never mastered, but then again if my spaniel is at "heel" all it means is she is close and not hunting... it's good enough for Simon Tyers on his cocker training dvd so it will do for me. I don't use the lead a whole lot now and when I do she still likes to draw on it now and again. I found the constant changes in direction were most effective, use a long lead, let the dog get ahead then change direction and make sure the dog knows it's coming with you, soon the dog will be looking to you to see where it's going next. TBH I didn't work that hard at it and it worked to stop the stupid arm off style of pulling but would have worked better if I drummed it in I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dusk2dawn Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 I have a six month old cocker spaniel which is progressing well with training. He sits, and stays, retrieves fairly well and recalls when I am in the garden. He is not always so obedient on walks although I remain calm with him and correct his mistakes. However he will not walk to heel. I have tried popping his lead, encouraging him to walk at my side with treats and also turning 180 degrees on a walk when he pulls as well as just stopping when he pulls. Anyone got any ideas? Thanks for any help. A method I have used many times with a problem dog is to walk the dog on a lead up a quiet lane with high banks or a field with a solid hedge, the dog walks as normal on your left with its nose just level with your knee, the lead is in your left hand, in your right hand you carry a swishy thin wand devoid of leaves etc, except for a few on the very end, a "swisher," the idea is not to touch the dog at all but to move the swisher up and down gently in time with your walking speed. the dog will have to put its nose into the swishing leaves or stay at heel,should it move forward and make contact with the stick a firm "NO"is given but lots of praise every 20yds or so, after a few sessions the dog will not seek to move ahead and will be content to stay by your knee, within a week it will not need to be on a lead, very soon the swisher is dispensed with and the dog, unless it is stupid, will have the lesson learnt. You can progress to what I call "square bashing" walking the dog, again with a swisher in 10yd squares, first one way, then the other start the lesson on the lead and finish off the lead, always finish the lesson on a successfull note with bags of praise, put the dog back in its kennel happy. As with any training session if things dont go right, switch to something the dog can do, give it lots of praise and call it a day. Hope this helps in some way, Rgds D2D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyRS6 Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 Spaniels and heelwork... the preserve of those gifted with the patience of a saint. Good luck, it's something I've never mastered, but then again if my spaniel is at "heel" all it means is she is close and not hunting... it's good enough for Simon Tyers on his cocker training dvd so it will do for me. I don't use the lead a whole lot now and when I do she still likes to draw on it now and again. I found the constant changes in direction were most effective, use a long lead, let the dog get ahead then change direction and make sure the dog knows it's coming with you, soon the dog will be looking to you to see where it's going next. TBH I didn't work that hard at it and it worked to stop the stupid arm off style of pulling but would have worked better if I drummed it in I suppose. You know what wqd, I do agree with you regarding it being difficult to get a Springer to walk to heel. Mine is 4 and up until 2 weeks ago he NEVER walked to heel. My mind set was that you did not want to restrict them to walk to heel as its natural for them to be out in front etc etc so why enforce heel? I could always get him to heel out in the field off the lead. I just trained him to stay within 4 foot of me with a "Stay Close" command. He never associated "stay Close" whilst on the lead though, so I gave up until a couple of weeks back. Whilst on the lead I used the heel command and when he started to pull i'd let the lead go slack and change direction pulling him with me. It took a 4 year old dog 2 days to get it!!!!!!! He don't walk to heel like a crufts dog, but he does not pull one little bit any more. I was well chuffed!!! So we have heel command for the lead, stay close for the field. Works very well for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lurcherboy Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 Its all on a sticky by NTTF LB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShaggyRS6 Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 Were your ears burning about 10 mins ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted August 29, 2009 Report Share Posted August 29, 2009 Spaniels and heelwork... the preserve of those gifted with the patience of a saint. Needn't be. I can get an earthworm to heel with an ort dangled in front of its mug. Spanielers have an aversion to heeling, Simon Tyers apparently included and the whole of North America as well. It's almost laughable because the aversion is really an allergy to it--why shouldn't spaniels heel as do any other gundogs? They have the same four legs for coordinated mobility, eh, and proper obedience, right? Obedience--heeling is as basic as it gets next to sit or hup. Why frown on it then? Because heeling would be imposing something on a spaniel that might take something else (desire) out of them. Balderdash. Heeling can be mastered in 10 minutes with a 10-week-old puppy if the will (and the liver titbit) are there. The will is the handler's, the titbit is the pup's--if it follows along as its nose leads it. And the rest of its body will follow as well, thus you have heeling. If you don't find it not necessary for trials, or for picking up, or working afield, fine. Just don't alibi it as difficult to accomplish with a spaniel, 'cause it ain't, a'tall... MG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortune82 Posted August 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Thanks for all the replies guys. I am seeing improvements all ready! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprocket Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Method I use is similar to "Dusktodawn" I have a second lead that I rotate Slowly infront of the dogs nose -without making contact with him, this is more of an annoyance factor to the dog and does not hurt him because you will find that the dog will not walk into something that could touch him on the nose when he doesn't need to. This usually only takes a few goes before the dog associates the word heel with the swishing lead. Let me know how you get on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ziplex Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 I always found my Spaniels wouldn't heel as such, they wouldn't be no further than a few feet away unless told to be either so I never bothered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WGD Posted September 1, 2009 Report Share Posted September 1, 2009 Needn't be. I can get an earthworm to heel with an ort dangled in front of its mug. Spanielers have an aversion to heeling, Simon Tyers apparently included and the whole of North America as well. It's almost laughable because the aversion is really an allergy to it--why shouldn't spaniels heel as do any other gundogs? They have the same four legs for coordinated mobility, eh, and proper obedience, right? Obedience--heeling is as basic as it gets next to sit or hup. Why frown on it then? Because heeling would be imposing something on a spaniel that might take something else (desire) out of them. Balderdash. Heeling can be mastered in 10 minutes with a 10-week-old puppy if the will (and the liver titbit) are there. The will is the handler's, the titbit is the pup's--if it follows along as its nose leads it. And the rest of its body will follow as well, thus you have heeling. If you don't find it not necessary for trials, or for picking up, or working afield, fine. Just don't alibi it as difficult to accomplish with a spaniel, 'cause it ain't, a'tall... MG Some advice to the OP wouldn't go amiss then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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