There are many methods and techniques for dog obedience training. When working with an *unusual or difficult breed there is no need to invent totally new methods. Stay with the proven techniques and an established trainer that you are comfortable with and fit the proven techniques to your individual needs.

Usually dogs will try to do what the owner wants, pleasant or unpleasant. However, if there is really harsh corrections, especially with the stubborn animal, the dogs learning ability can be blocked. If the owner can reasonably demonstrate what he wants, and rely on the instinctive pleasing desires of the dog, tension is reduced and the dog will try to do what is required. Learning to please is the name of the game. Most dogs will never forget a pleasing situation, and will consistently do the desired response to cause the pleasant situation to repeat over and over.

This is a very basic, but reliable approach to take with all obedience training.

This does not mean the lessons should be boring. Commands and praise should be consistent, but if the routine is varied, the dog will not anticipate each exercise, nor will the dog or trainer become bored. Also, long drawn out training can cause boredom and fatigue.

 Because some breeds, such as scent hounds or sight hounds, or dogs that have been bred for many generations to pull, such as sled dogs, etc., do not take to heeling as easily as others, don’t start these breeds with heeling. You want to start with positive training, and the many, many corrections you would need with this type of dog on heeling, would not necessary lead to a positive training session for you or your dog.

Long Sit

For the difficult of unusual breed it is most often best to start with the long sit. It is a useful exercise because you can be in control of your dog early on, and it is achievable for any dog. Start by sitting the dog in the heeling position (beside your left leg). Encourage the dog to watch you while he is in the sit position. If the dog breaks the sit, pull up on the lead and collar, and gently push down on the rear to sit him again and praise when sitting.

After the dog sits and watches you consistently at heel, try the watch me from other positions such as with the dog sitting in front of you. Also try the watch me when giving the dog a treat (you cannot fail this way, and then the praise is both verbal and the treat). Do the sit and watch me about 4 or 5 times a day. Its easy, and you can do it anywhere in your home or outside.

Recall

Once again, before doing any heeling, practice and perfect the recall. What puppy or dog won’t want to come happily to you when its a positive training session. With many breeds training the come on lead is a good idea, but if you have a lead puller, don’t fight it. In the house or in your fenced yard with no lead walk away from your dog (never over 10 feet at first) and call him. Remember the dog does not yet know a perfect sit in front or a perfect heel, the key is that he comes to you happily. You can use arm and hand gestures at this stage and all kinds of happy talk. The finer points come later, but for now, happy training sessions, and a happy willing dog will result.

The recall can be boring for the non-typical obedience dog, so try to make it a happy game. Turn and run a few steps from your dog, and let him catch up and come to you. Praise each time he does. These methods for the recall can eliminate slow recalls from a bored dog. You will have a happy dog. Remember you have trained this exercise with no lead, therefore no unpleasant pulling and need for corrections.

Heeling

Now it is time to train heeling. Heeling is the key to being able to tell if your dog will every master obedience for trials, but you still must train your dog even if you will not go in obedience trials. For the hard-to-train dog heeling is the most difficult. And the trainer must make a correction each time a mistake is made. This is why we are leaving this exercise to the last part of training, and with the successes up to this time, hopefully the dog really likes his training so far. You have to do your best to keep the difficult task of learning to heel to be as positive as possible. Try to work up the dogs enthusiasm to watch you with a happy voice, food, and body actions, all pleasant of course. If you use food, encourage watch me, always praise, but don’t give the food every time. By keeping the dog watching you, you will eliminate some of the lagging, forging, going wide crowding you, or sniffing.

Keep your pace brisk, but still comfortable for you and your dog. On turns grasp the leash and hold it flush with your knee, which will encourage the dog to stay close to your knee. As soon as the turn is done, let the lead go. When halting make your dog sit, which is generally brought on by a quick tap or brush on the rump. Pet him and praise often during the sit at heel.

Proper leash use

The proper lead can make a difference for you and your dog. I like a leather lead, and it should be a comfortable width in your hand, but still not so large it will weigh down a small breed. I use a chain collar, because the noise the chain makes and not the tightening gets the message to the dog well. Some use a leather or fabric collar, but generally an attentive dog is most likely to be successful being trained on this collar. A dog that pulls likely won’t train well on a leather or fabric collar. Many new handlers pull rather than quickly correct and then release the collar. Pulling makes the dog resist and pull in the opposite direction. Initial heeling can be done in a circle to the left, because this keeps the dog closer to the handler. A dog that pulls a lot, and needs a lot of correction can often be trained successfully by taking a lot of turns with just a few steps in between with a leash snap and praise on every corner. The multiple turns help the dog be more attentive to you.

Heel position

The proper heel position is with the dogs neck and shoulders even with your left knee. Don’t settle for anything less and the dog will quickly learn it.

Off Lead Heeling

Heeling off lead is a very difficult exercise for most dogs and trainers. If a dog has learned to stay in heel position on lead, chances are off lead will be easier. Do not start off lead heeling too early, before the task is mastered on lead. To do so will be frustrating for both trainer and dog. But the key is, do not let the dog get out of heel position, and if he does, correct.

There is an intermediate step between on lead and off lead heeling. This is the use of a short lead. This ensures the dog is under control, but the dog cannot see the long loop of loose lead. With the tiny dog, or course this cannot be used, but with the intermediate dog and large dog, this works well. Start by holding onto the short lead, but do not pull on the collar, but do correct as necessary with the short jerks as with the long lead. Then have the dog heel by your side with the short lead dangling. The dog cannot trip over the short lead. But the lead is there if you need to take it.

If you dog is hopeless off lead, you have not done enough on lead training. Go back and practice on lead heeling and do not go back to off lead until you have found success on lead.

Front and Finish

Front and finishes are hard to master with many dogs. I have had the greatest success using white fences placed close together in a tunnel formation. If the dog finishes wide, add a fence in back of you to ensure closer finishes. Praise much, because soon the dog will be doing this without the fences. The key is that you are pleased and you are showing the dog how to do the exercise himself, not just because the fences are there. Later on, you can replace the fences with two to four short white sticks as training aids for you and your dog.

Special problems

The short legged animal of course can sink very quickly into a sit when you really want him to stand. Loop the lead across the back and under the hindquarters in a half hitch fashion. You can then gently hold the dog in a standing position (do not jerk the lead). Praise constantly.

In summary the so called hard to train breeds are not that hard to train. It just takes the same patients and consistency as with any dog, and a little ingenuity and a bit more time. Always finish on a positive note, even if it means going back to the dog’s best exercise and repeating it for success, playing with the dog, and/or giving it a special treat. And....treats do not have to be food, it can just simply be something special to the dog....a ride in the car, or a good cuddle in its favorite spot.