Hi,
I have an 8 year old Papillon, Pogo, who is very well trained in all the basics plus a lot of fun relatively useless tricks :-) We used to train in agility, never competed, but I still have some obstacles in the backyard that we play on sometimes.
I have recently become interested in rally-o. Pogo does really well with all the commands, turns, etc. The only problem is that he swings his little rear-end out so he trots along next to me sideways or 2-3 feet from my left leg. I have walked along every fence, wall, ditch and curb in Raleigh and he still doesn't stay in "heel" unless we're along a physical barrier that forces him to stay close. (We've been intensely working on heel for a little over a month).
I clicker train and reward reward reward for good heel position. He is so smart and usually "gets" what I'm trying to teach him and makes the connection on the correct behavior to earn a reward. I have no doubt that I am simply not explaining this in a way that he understands.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to help him make the connection? Should I go back to the beginning and re-teach heel?
I've been doing a lot of research lately and I think maybe I'm asking for too long of training sessions. I usually go to a nearby horse arena as I can train off-leash without getting in trouble. It's a big space and we usually walk back and forth across it several times. I stop occasionally (he sits promptly, but not necessarily close to my left leg), turn frequently, mix up the heeling with other tricks/commands/etc. Another possible problem I've thought about is that I'm not using high enough value treats. I almost always train with cheese, he loves it but maybe it's not good enough for such an intense task.
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