Puppy and Dog Basic Beginners Course

REVIEW AND PRACTICE:

By this lesson, if you have been practicing every day with your dog, teaching appropriately, giving properly timed corrections, and lots of honest praise, you and your dog should be advancing very nicely in all the fundamental novice obedience exercises. Now, we will work toward better performance.

IN ORDER TO PERFORM THE HEELING AND FIGURE-8 EXERCISES correctly, your dog should be able to do the following:

1. Walk, on a loose leash, neither pulling nor dragging the handler about, nor lagging behind the handler by so much as even one nose length

2. Sit at heel, every time the handler halts, with very little or no extra commands to "sit" or corrections for not sitting.

3. Heel with the handler...not lagging behind on the about-turns; nor crowding or interfering on the left-u-turns.

4. Show a definite change in speed during the change-of-pace from normal to slow or from normal to fast and back again. To be attentive, under complete control all during the change-of-pace.

5. No sniffing of ground, people, other dogs, objects, etc., at any time during the heeling and figure-8 exercises.

IN ORDER TO PERFORM THE CORRECT STAND-STAY:

Your dog must stand (from a sit) on command, with little or no enforcement from the you. Stand still, without moving of paws from position, while the you leave and return to your dog. Then, upon command, move forward and into a sit for the exercise finish.

IN ORDER TO PERFORM THE CORRECT RECALL AND FINISH:

Your dog must remain in the sit-stay position until it is called by the handler. When called, your dog must move to the handler quickly and directly, then sit, directly in front of the handler, attentive to the next command. Upon command to, "heel", the dog will get up and move to the right or left (as the handler and dog prefer) of the handler, then come to the heel position on the handler's left side and sit.

IN ORDER TO PERFORM THE CORRECT SIT-STAY AND DOWN-STAY:

SIT-STAY... Your dog must remain sitting for one minute, while the handler stands six feet away, and then returns to the dog.

DOWN-STAY... Your dog must drop into the down position on command without additional commands/corrections, and remain there for three minutes, while the handler stands six feet away, and then returns to the dog.

It is best if you can meet for eight "classes." For "classes" five through eight refer to the Heeling Patterns.

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