Clicking the heel

It's been awhile since I posted an actual training post. I've already written several on the theory behind the clicker as a tool for training, and writing something about actually applying the theory is long, long overdue.

I'm using the clicker to teach Zipper to heel. Zipper presents some special heeling issues because of his size. I want to teach an attention heel, but having him heel and watch me in the eyes will not work, because he's too small. To look in my face he would have to forge forward out of heel position and also turn sideways. So I need to teach him a different focus point. I am also a trainer who is more interested in attitude than in precision. Zipper will probably only compete in Rally Obedience, where half-point errors are not counted. I want him to think heeling is really fun and exciting and I want him to be somewhat accurate, but my goal is not a 200 score.

To that end, I'm using a technique I found on the Mighty Mite Dog Gear Forum, a news forum addressing issues (including training issues) specific to small dogs. I decided that I wanted Zipper to target my left hand in the heel, and that I would drop my hand down and keep it fairly still to act as said target.

Now Zipper already knows to target my hand with a nose touch. I needed something to help him learn to target on my left that I could fade. At first I tried carrying a toy balled up in my hand, and clicking and dropping it when he was in heel position. It turns out there were problems with this. First, it was difficult to get even a small toy bunched up in my hand, especially with a line attached. And if I didn't have a line attached, when I dropped the toy he'd just run off with it. Training session over. Second, Zipper is extremely toy motivated....sometimes. If he gets at all stressed he will not play with toys, and if he's distracted he also will not play. So toys weren't working. He's always food motivated, but food also had one problem; the frantically boinging Min Pin. I'd walk along and I'd have Mr. Ping Pong Ball. Boing!-Boing!-Boing!-Boing!-Boing! I could not get all four of his feet to stay on the ground long enough for me to click.

Enter the paint stick. It just so happened that when we last painted the dogwalk, we had a couple of those cheap wooden stir sticks left over. I dipped the bottom 2" of each stick in green paint to provide a color/smell contrast. Next, I started to click Zipper for putting his nose on the stick. I only clicked if he nose-touched the painted part. I knew that I would not want him actually touching the stick but rather following it, so the minute he understood that the stick was the target, I went ahead and put it in my left hand and began walking with it.

Wait. Back up. Let me describe that a bit because it's taken some juggling to get all the components right. I put the paint stick in my left hand, pointing down, flat side in front of Zipper. I also put the clicker in my left hand, flat against the paint stick, so that my thumb curls around and can click. I have to squeeze a bit to keep them both in there, but I don't want to tape the clicker to the stick, because I want to be able to slide the stick up over time. In my right hand are treats. When I click, I rapidly sweep my right hand over and treat in position.

At this point I've done three heeling sessions with Zipper, each about 5 minutes. We always start with Mr. Boing-Boing Dog, but by continuing to move forward and clicking when he's following the target with all four feet on the ground I'm already having progress. As of last night, he was moving forward and I was able to bring the stick up so it's no longer exactly in front of his nose but slightly above it. Over time, I will slowly withdraw the stick into my hand, so that my hand then becomes the target.

I also discovered another weakness in our training. Zipper thinks sits and downs are to be done facing me. I don't physically position Zipper (try to push or hold him in position with my hands) so I'm addressing this too with the clicker. At first every time I moved he'd get up. Again I realized a training weak spot--even when I've been working stays (very little so far) I've been doing so with him in front of me. So I worked a bit on me just moving back and forth, clicking when he stayed in position. I also worked on sliding sideways into him. If he accepted the slightest position that removed me from in front, I clicked. In essence, I have indeed taught him to watch my face when sitting and downing, so that's what he wants to do. I need to help him learn he can sit and down facing the same direction I am.

I'll update his progress over time.