How to heel?

All right, another uniquely Zeus problem. LoL, I seem to be having a lot of those with this loveable dummy.

In the past, I've taught my dogs heel with the good 'ol "follow the treat" method. Well, one of Zeus' quirks is that he will not follow treats. If I don't give it to him instantly, he just gives up on it. He'll sit there with a politely wagging tail, clearly thinking "Oh well, I guess that's not for me."

I tried using one of his favorite toys instead of a treat, but that worked against me. When Zeus and I normally play, I hold the toy and he zooms around me like mad until I fling it somewhere for him to pounce on. So of course, he just circled me like a berzerk shark on a caffine high instead of following neatly.

Help! Running out of ideas! I've been putting off heeling until I figure out a plan, since I didn't want to confuse Zeus by constantly changing methods. But now I'm getting so frustrated, because heeling is now the only major skill he needs to master. Should I just put him on a leash and hold him by my left side?

Will Zeus follow your hands? The way I taught heel was to have a leash in my right hand and a small treat enclosed in my left. I would walk forward, tell the dog "This is HEEL" and bend down to tap the side/front of my leg with one finger. (I tapped my lower leg since that was at Dakota's body level. Just adjust it to however tall the dog is. Only tapped with one finger so the dog wouldn't see the treat still hidden in my hand.) When the dog approached that spot and sniffed my hand, thinking "hey what are you tapping for?" he would be in the appropriate heel position. He'd get a "Gooooooood HEEL!" and I'd open my hand to release the treat.

It wasn't exactly all about following the treat, it was more about following where I put my hands. He just got a treat for getting into that position, and eventually he understood that his right shoulder lining up with my left leg is "Heel". Once he understood that position, heeling was really easy. (Oh, and the tapping of the leg is easy to phase out. Just gradually stop bending over as far, and when you can tap your leg standing straight up and the dog still understands, you can start to tap less and less until the dog needs no hand signals at all to follow the command.)

That's what worked for Dakota. I'm not sure if it'd work for Zeus or not, but if you think it would, great!

As for putting him on a leash and holding him at your side, I don't know about doing that... I prefer not to force the dog into any position. It also might just teach him that "heel" means stay at your side, and not be as precise as teaching him to stay straight in the correct heel position.

I think psycho dog o....oh, woops, RD has a terrific way.

ROFLOL!!! You're too funny.

Have you tried practicing with Zeus when he's hungry? And what kind of treats are you using? (I realize that not all dogs are into treats and some are more into a ball or something, but I wanted to check.)

Something that might really benefit Zeus is clicker training. He may need that extra, clear and concise marker to help him to understand that THAT is what I want. Yeah! Wooooo hooooo! Even if the reward is praise and if he loves praise, it may be that he just needs more clear communication. So when he IS in the right position, even for a second, click and treat/praise. It may help him.

It is important to try and discover what he really likes so you have a good reward. Steak, chicken, cheese, hot dogs, liver treats, a Big Mac....???

i'm also thinking clicker and target stick would probably work well.

Gem i am sorry but everytime i look at Zeus he reminds me of a OVER GROWN BABY or a pre teen child. Just that pic you have on your signature. The visual I have of him just sitting there trying to let you know who is boss just cracks me up. I know it isnt a laughing matter but Zeus is just to **** cute

He is definitely, illegally cute. I love that dog....just on account of that picture. LOL. What a charmer. He'd get away with murder around here.

LOL! Thanks for the compliments, all. And yes, he is an overgrown baby. I'm fortunate that he absolutely lives to get my approval.

I think a lot of Zeus's treat following problem is that he's too darn polite. The food could be dangling in front of his nose, but if I don't actually hold it to his mouth and encourage him to take it, he won't make any attempt to eat it or go after it. He just thinks it's not his. I've tried liver treats, cheese, steak trimmings, lunchmeat, and he won't follow.

I think RD's suggestion might work though. Zeus is a nosy dog who's always interested in what I'm doing.

Teach a really good target to your closed fist, then use that instead of a lure. Works great, and once you have a good target going you can tach endless tricks.

I agree with Mordy. I did the tarket stickwith my pup. she got it straight away. I hold it to my left side and she follows it. I also taught Maddy to go touch a certain stick with a ball on the end of it from 15 meters away. And she's only 18 weeks old.

That's great! A target stick. I haven't used a stick, but taught Lyric to target my hand. (with a clicker.....5 minutes) He is very treat motivated and super interested in what we're doing so he's not much trouble to teach things to. He's quick on the trigger mentally in the way of obedience type skills. He can be distractable at times though. It does help if it's nearing his dinner time and he's hungry.

Zeus sounds just great. He loves praise and he is doing fantastically with obedience work. Don't let anyone diss a hound. LOL. With a face like that, I can just tell he wants to be your pal and do what you want.

All right, target training it is! I also tried RD's solution, and it worked. LoL, much easier than I thought, since Zeus is tall enough that I don't have to bend over. But I think subsequent commands would be much easier to teach him with the target training.

Just an update. Thanks for the advice, all! Zeus knows how to heel now, (at least in theory). He's still a bit sloppy at it: he'll bump into me on occassion, or be a tad too far ahead or behind, or sit with his butt out of position, but he's getting better every day. Zeus will have his head up and be staring at me the whole time he's heeling, and you can see in his expression just how hard he's trying. It's very endearing.

Woooo hoooo! I knew he had it in him! So, you used the target stick or your hand? Once he gets onto the idea pretty well, you can start shaping up the heel so it's not so sloppy. I did that with Lyric....just stop rewarding him when he lags and when he is closer...or better than he was previously, reward and then expect a little more out of him by withholding the reward until he's better yet. He is wonderful to be paying so much attention to you. Well done!

my dog has a.d.d times 1 million. do boxers ever learn to heal

attention deficit disorder btw

Actually, trainers are happiest when they get a really exuberant dog! Its the placid well behaved ones that are harder to train. Of course boxers can heel, boxers compete well in all levels of obedience and agility.

I dont doubt she could learn a million tricks lol but the stress shes going through right now im happy she knows how to sit and shake. shes also more of a gaurd dog then a show dog i have alot of respect for people who show, I could never have the patience for it!!!