Beginning Novice Week 3

Remember to review the training terms each week until they are officially installed in your head. Also review exercises in week one and two, practice everything before starting new lessons. Hopefully the weather will continue to get nicer and it will be easier to get out and work your dogs. If you lose your lesson plans go to poshpets.com and you will find all the weekly training plans under documents.

Heeling:

Now that your dog knows where the proper heeling position is, make sure you mix up your heeling patterns. Do zig zag heeling, lots of about and u-turns, circles and spirals. Continue to encourage your dog to stay with you, say watch me while heeling and give treats when they are heeling along.

Stationary right-about-turn:

This exercise will help your dog to make fast tight about turns. With the dog sitting in heel position get his attention by saying “watch me” and giving a treat if necessary. Say “heel” and quickly make a 180-degree turn to the right. Be ready to give a low pop forward if your dog does not respond as you turn. Praise as your dog reaches the heel position. You can either continue on heeling or give the OK release.

Random Sit:

So far we have been teaching your dog to sit when we stop while heeling. This exercise is to make sure your dog sits quickly anywhere he may be. When your dog is not heeling, (but he is on leash!) step in front of your dog command sit, pop straight up and praise when he does. Do this several times during the lesson, just at random times. Your goal is your dog will sit quickly with just one sit command.

Sit-Stay, next step:

Hopefully your dogs are sitting and staying for at least 30 seconds by now. Remember it is better if you put them on a stay and they stay, even if you are only standing directly in front. I would rather see them stay and hold while you are close then going out twenty feet and they break. If you dog gets up and stands before you reach them, it is too late. You need to watch your dog while they are on a stay, learn to read their body language and be ready to yell “No!” and correct before they are all the way up! If your dog is staying every time for a minimum of thirty seconds, you can go on to this next step. While the dog is sitting and staying in front of you, quickly jump to the right. Your dog will probably get up the first time. He will think you want to play, so be ready to correct. If your dog stays then jump to the left. This exercise will get your dog used to distractions and learn to stay no matter what crazy thing may be going on around him. At this time, you should never release your dog until retuning to him. Remember “OK” every time you finish an exercise. Always give lots of praise and or treats after saying OK. Practice several sit and down stays a day.

Come:

If your dog is turning and coming happily to you when doing a come-fore you can ask them to sit in front sometimes. Only move on to this step if your dog is happy coming to you. If you think your dog is not ready to sit in front before a OK command, just continue calling him and giving the ok release when he is in touching distance. Our goal eventually is for the dog to come and sit straight in front, without giving a sit command. So if you don’t ask for the sit, you must say OK to release them when they come to you.