Training focused attention in heeling

As promised, this embarrassing video shows what happens when you don't have good focus in heeling. This was an official AKC Obedience trial, held outdoors at Purina Farms in Missouri. Obedience trials are different from Rally trials because you are not allowed to talk to your dog or use multiple hand signals. One command, and your dog is expected to follow. A second command is allowed but will knock points off your score. At the Novice level, the heeling pattern is first done on leash, then repeated off-leash. You lose points if your dog doesn't stay with you, and you lose additional points if at any time you have a tight leash.

One thousand reasons, aka excuses, why Atlas and I did poorly in this trial.  It was our first outdoor trial, and earlier in the day there had been sheep and pigs in that same ring.  You can imagine the heavenly smells for a dog to sniff.  We hadn't practiced as much as we needed, obviously.  I had never trained a dog for obedience trials before Atlas, and all our training was done indoors. Can you train focused attention in an outdoor environment? Absolutely! Had I done it? The video speaks for itself. Atlas was supposed to stay nicely by my side through the whole off-leash heeling, and you can hear sympathetic giggles from the audience as he chose to sniff and left me to continue the heeling routine sans dog. I was hoping when I started the "fast" jog, that my movement would catch his attention and bring him back to me.  When that didn't happen, I resorted to calling him again, but it wasn't enough to save our performance.

The moral of the story here?  Training is a continuum, and this Obedience trial was simply one pit stop on a long journey towards having a well-behaved dog. Atlas and I continued to practice, we worked on focus, and we were able to improve significantly.  One training trick that made a huge difference was when I incorporated "jackpots" into my training.  A jackpot is a series of treats, given one after the other, continuously, like a slot machine paying out a prize.  Sometimes it can be 3 treats, sometimes 5, and sometimes even more.  But it is never a rote reward to be given after every exercise.  The jackpot makes the dog want to work more, and work harder, because he never knows if this will be the moment that will earn him the jackpot.  Like a gambler becoming addicted to the slots, the dog starts thinking that training is fun and cannot wait for the next chance to win the big prize.  I saved the jackpot for exceptionally good performance on a single exercise, and it caused him to focus intently on me for a much longer period than if I just gave a single treat after every exercise. Repetition=boring. Variety is the spice of life!

The next video shows what happens after I started incorporating jackpots into my training routine, and stopped giving treats routinely.  Unlike in Novice Obedience, Rally Advanced is done completely off leash but allows the handler to talk and encourage the dog. I have to say, this was one of the proudest moments of my life.  Enjoy!