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Heel and loose leash walking are two different things.

True heeling requires that a dog keep its ear in line with the handler's thigh at all times and through all changes of tempo. Ideally the dog would also be looking up at the handler. This type of work require a great deal of concentration and should be reserved for periods of highly focused work.

Since that is not what most folks want to do on a walk, what you really want is loose lead walking. This is where the dog walks next to the handler but is free to move a couple of steps a head as long as it does not make contact with the end of the leash.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the prong collar for teaching good leash skills no matter what method you use to teach it. The prong provides a strong but safe correction (you are not going to damage your dog like you can with a buckle or choke collar) and once a dog hits the end of the leash it usually thinks twice about doing it again.

I think the trick with any collar is to not pull against the dog because this simply makes the dog pull more against the leash until they are practically leaning into it. You need to use a series of staccato POPS to back the dog off. The POP needs to be timed so that it is given the minute the dog takes up the slack in the leash. These pops need to be quick, firm, and consistent. You can accompany it with an oral reminder "Don't pull." This is again where I really like the prong collar because a small pop on the leash gets results. Often with a buckle or choke collar you have to pop so hard that you end up jerking the whole dog.

I think the changing direction thing is another useful method because it keeps a dog on its toes. It think it can be a bit manipulative to just change direction without warning though, so I always signal a turn with my body language and with the puppies especially I say, "Let's make that turn." If they aren't paying attention to all that, well then I figure they deserve to hit the end of the leash when they get left behind.

Don't be fooled into thinking that a Mini doesn't need a prong. Someone came to me with an out of control Toy. This dog was pulling so much he walked on his back legs sometimes and he would lunge aggressively at dogs he passed on the street. 45 minutes of training in a prong collar and the dog walked like a complete gentleman down the street ignoring dogs as he passed them.

 

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Wow I'm really shocked to hear so much support for a prong collar especially for dogs who aren't problem dogs but are just being taught for the first time.

I don't start the 8 week old puppies out on a prong. I leash break them with a regular buckle collar. However, as soon as we transition to real healing training, I use the prong.

Frankly, you are hearing so much support for the prong collar because it works so well. A dog does not have to be a problem dog to be on a prong. It can be a very sophisticated tool that enables the handler to give subtle corrections. I do competitive obedience and pretty much everyone I train with uses a prong including my trainer who has put an OTCH on one Mini and a UDX on another.

 

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I agree with Bunni. My dog is my friend first and as such not to be coerced - at least not on first request. I use play, trust and a few treats with my dogs and they do just fine on the leash and for that matter off the leash. I can't see how threats and tugs could possibly make your dog interested in being with you or for that matter coming back to you when off leash.

For me, the recall is not something that my Poodles choose to do because they like me, but something that they are trained to do no matter what the distraction. For me this is major safety issue. If you are relying on your dog's good will to return to you, you may encounter a situation one day where something else is more interesting than you and your dog may not come back to you quickly enough.

I used to have a Smooth Fox Terrier (Trixie). This dog was completely obsessed with her frisbee. I would have to say that it was her favorite thing in the world. One day in the park we were playing frisbee and this guy walks up and wants to throw it for her. He totally miscalculates and accidentally throws it into the middle of a busy street. Trixie had taken off after the frisbee and was about to run into the path of an on-coming car. I gave her the recall command and she stopped, turned and came back to me. A well trained recall saved her life.

When I am out on the trails with my dogs, we encounter other off leash dogs (not always well behaved), cattle, deer, coyotes, bikers, runners, equestrians and there is always the threat of bear, moose and mountain lions. Being off leash is a high stakes proposition in Colorado.

I train the recall with a combination of treats, praise and yes compulsion training as a consequence for non-compliance. My dogs learn that the recall is NOT OPTIONAL. I can guarantee that they still love me just fine.

 

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What is OTCH, obviously it's a title, but what specifically is it?

Obedience Trial Champion..... I believe it is the most difficult performance title to get because not only do you have to be able to do the exercises at the Open and Utility levels, you have to BEAT the other competitors who are also competing at that level.

You need 100 points to get the title and you get points based on placing 1-3 (maybe 4th too) and by winning over a certain number of other competitors.

Pat Kadel, who teaches my Obedience class, has put 3 OTCHs and a MACH (top agility title) on three different dogs: Australian Terrier, Mini Schnauzer, and 2 Minis)

 

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Wow, that is quite the achievement, I can't wait to start getting into the higher stuff with Saffy, we just double won Special Beginners Obedience, and will hopefully be moving into Novice, sometime in 2010. And I'm confident we'll be able to start higher levels of agility early next 2010, which will be great to get more titles

What exercises do you do in Special Beginners? We don't have that class. What about Novice? Here in the States Novice is:

healing on leash
healing off leash
figure eight on leash
recall
stand for exam
1 minute group sit (handlers still in ring)
3 minute group down (handlers still in ring)

 

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Funny.... I consider it barbaric when people have out of control, untrained dogs.

 

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Ugh. I hate harnesses. I have never seen a dog that didn't pull in one. I think they actually encourage a dog to pull. Heck, when they want a sled dog to pull, what to they outfit him with? A harness.

Little dogs do fine in pinch collars. I personally have used one on a very bratty Toy Poodle who was so out of control that he had progressed to biting a guest in the owner's home. This dog would alos lunge aggressively at other dogs on the street (his owner had him in a harness too). A little training with the prong collar and that dog was suddenly with the program!

Walking a dog off leash and walking a dog on leash are two totally different skills. All of my dogs can go anywhere off leash but that is not the same thing as walking next to a person, matching their stride and not take up the slack in the leash.

My Sabrina is very well trained (Utility) and she is a wonderful heeling dog (judges often comment on it), but because I took her everywhere off leash when she was young, I think that today she has the worst on-leash manners of all my dogs. Unless she is actually heeling (which is a separate exercise of short duration), she wants to be out at the end of the leash and she constantly has to be bumped back. Izze and Delilah were trained with a prong from the beginning and they will walk beautifully next to me on a loose leash.

People who live in the city don't have the luxury of letting their dogs run about off-leash. Their dogs need to walk quietly next to them without pulling to visit people or other dogs as they walk. It is annoying to have to constantly be leash checking the dog to back it off. With a prong, the dogs learn not to constantly pull.

 

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Even in town I just do not have these issues. I grew up in the city ! Always lived in the city until 10 years ago . Perhaps the pulling issue stems from lack of freedom ? Or excersise persey? I honestly have never had this issue with spoos...

So you are saying that today, with your current dogs when you are "in town", you can leash them up (one or more at a time) and all will loose leash walk together down the street?

I can walk three at once, but I have to admit that Sabrina is sometimes a puller... but not when she wears a prong.