Hunter,
I'm happy that you understand what I'm saying here. To ensure I dont miss any valuable points I will try to reply u in point forms based on your comments as follows.
but sometimes it's hard to get them at exactly the right position... for my case, that is :/ and you are right, as my dog learns that heel means walk, he does walk by my side, but not at the exact position i want him to be at - might be a little front, might be lagging..just... not perfect, if you get what i mean.
Yeah I got what u mean.
Dont feel bad, you are not alone here. I had seen OB trials all around Malaysia n I have seen group training sessions and everyone is taking to the meaning that heel is walking except only 2 regular competitor is teaching heel means keep at the side of my left leg wherever they are.
he will only readjust himself to the right position if i give him a separate command ("closer" to come closer to me, "back" to stand back a little) and this of course pose as a major problem as i move on to higher levels since i would prefer him to be at exactly the right spot without having me to constantly remind him.
close or closer command to readjust is good for short term training purpose but if u use it on long term then u will have trouble when he looks up to you for seperate command at all times. U obviously cannot do this in trial. I am a believer of using only 1 command and only one time at all time. sub command like closer is used as a stern warning on very rare occassion. Use it too much then it become another command instead of warning and will lose its purpose.
since this is my first dog and first training process i did not manage to condition him well for training last time. hence the errors here and there now :/
You didnt do too bad with your first dog there. With every dog we will improve. Every each dog are our great masters teaching us the fine arts of how dog training is. Each of them are very different indeed. But all of them will benefit from the right sets of foundation work. U are very right that if we speed them through training withhout a strong foundation work all those loose steps will start to fall apart once we get higher. Although we can do retraining, it always takes longer time to correct a faulty behaviour. Therefore it pays to go slow in the foundation work until they become very solid before moving on. Having say tht, most people are sprinters and want their dog to do super OB at the shortest possible time, this is just human nature.
You can try to go back to basic again and retrain the methods motivationally. Use food or use toys whatever the dog likes best n make it fun. Forget the correction of choke pop for now, it will only make the attitude worse and I believe that the dog have gone though correction already by now in every training session. The idea is not to associate training with correction but rather associate them with fun time for him(must be for him). It takes time but will surely show a big change.
Alternatively u can just try to train the heel from the very basic again with a diff command n this time teach the heel as continuous positioning rather than a single action. BTW do u MSN? it will be easier to explain.
yes i did noticed that most trialers prefer using the command HOP over other words. when asked the reason they'd normally say is because it's one syllable and the dogs will grasp the command easier. i don't understand though in your previous post that you mentioned HOP sounds more empowering to the dog... does it really make a difference :o ?
Diff trainers have diff preference. If you deepen the understanding into dog behavoral u will find that certain phoenetical sounds uplift the dog and certain ones will scare the dog or suppress it and some phonetical sound will calm the dog. A good trainer will know how to use those to elicit the best from the dog. Dog dont understand the spoken language as it is they only know the cue work for specific behaviour. However the sound of our pronounciation makes it all the diff.
By empowering I meant a sound that can make the dog more energetic. For instance "COME" and "HEERE" which is more energetic n empowering? another one is "TAKE" and BRRIIINGGG"
As a guidance a low toned loud word is commanding or suppressve to the dog while high pitched tone in happy voice is energising. U can notice that this is a very natural instinct if u observe a litter of puppies with their mother. When the mother dissaprove anything, they will give a low toned loud GGRRR n when the dogs want to play with each other they give a high pitched yip! yipp!!
So come back to your question of "OVER" and "HOP" or "HUP" which word can be spoken in low tone and which word can be spoken on a high piched tone?
Hope this helps.
PSD
Quote
"Take this trouble for me:
Make sure my shepherd dog remains a working dog, for I have struggled all my life long for that aim ."
Rittmeister Capt. Max von Stephanitz (1864-1936)
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My dogs has been trained to "heel" and knows when they can tango with the "let's go"
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