Luna level 5 take 2

Yayyy!!!!!!!

This is good stuff!

Training beautiful heelwork is like painting a picture, but you only get to add a little bit of paint every day. Even when you think it's done, you still get to go back and add a little something when you decide that there's still something missing.

(end painting simile) And when you're doing it for the first time, everything takes like 10x longer because you're bound to make a bajillion mistakes. That's okay! There's no hurry!

She is being very thoughtful. Even if her head bobs a little, the bobs are much shorter now, and she often doesn't dip as low as she was before. Your waiting for her to focus before you step is good.

1:48 is PERFECT 😍

2:50-3:15, I don't think you wait for her to connect focus again completely, mayybe your steps are a little faster?, and the head position falters a bit more.

Next round, 3:38, you go super slow for the first step and she does b e a u t i f u l l y, doesn't even bop her head at all. Those super duper slow mo steps are good for her.

Do you feel like you know what you're looking at while you do this? I know it's not always easy to see your dog while training for heel.

Yep! I think I needed it broken down this slow for both myself andddd her. But now that I have a better picture of what I am looking for from her and me, I absolutely feel more confident in making our practice count more in terms of quality over quantity.

I feel comfortable moving onto 6 if this is still a part of that level. Thank you so much, this was the “ah ha!” Exercise we needed!!

@Lauren & Luna Awesome!!

& You got it!

Ok cool, touch is a cool thing to have in your toolbox, but I really like where we're going just with the slow-mo take off. You're really close to cracking the code.

I want you to practice more of the really dramatized slow-mo, like the first rep at 1:22. (You do it more times in the video, but then you also start playing with going a little faster.) The slow-mo steps are working, and it's what you'll need for every time you start walking. So, for awhile, to fight this habit, you will always take off in slow-mo.

When you reward, always wait until she looks back up at you until you step forward (in slow motion) again.

I'd like to see a session of you just practicing that. :-)

Good job!!

You can even have the reward cookie in your left hand if she knows a touch-to-fist.

For Level 6, you would work on the next level for pivoting, but just keep working on this for heel forward.

“Swing!” “that’s a Lot” 😂😂😂

@Coralyn - Venus and Mars K9 ok I totally misread the 5 steps thing and thought you meant more steps in a longer space than just 5 without needing a treat.

We will take this back inside and slow down. I want to nail this with her.

@Coralyn - Venus and Mars K9 also I totally see what you mean about her head inside vs. out. is that common?

@Lauren & Luna Ah sorry I was unclear about the 5 steps thing! It sounds like you understand me now though.

Like I told you on instagram: She probably just needed to be asked for slightly less outside, but that step was skipped (I think). Outside is different, more distracting, hotter etc.

So she defaulted back to dropped head, which is easy and possibly related to a previous understanding of heel.

The post you made inside again on insta looks great though.

Not**

Her body is mostly in the right place here, but we lost the head position & intense engagement that was in your last video. (Possibly because outside is more distracting? Or hotter? Or something?) I want this to look like the last reps of the video in your living room. :-) If she is dropping her head consistently, I want you to go back and just work on that first step. Right before you step off, you can squeal "yayyyyyyy!" for the first step to keep her head up. You can also try doing step 1 slower.

You're going to be off the races once she understands that the head position is part of what you're looking for.

You can do Rally with what she's doing in this video. But your last living room work is much higher quality heeling, and she will start prancing if she holds her head up like that the whole time. I wanna see it!

@Coralyn - Venus and Mars K9 yeah yesterday morning when we did this, it was already 80 something out. Going to try later to after Dinner. Plus the grass was just cut so that should be less distracting.

@Lauren & Luna I think I just want to see more duration from her straight line heeling against the barrier - like, being able to take 5 perfect steps. :-) You’re pacing yourself very well.

You’re ready for the next level’s pivoting section, though, for sure.

@Coralyn - Venus and Mars K9 ok, our fence line in the back yard is longer so I’ll work against that this weekend 🙃

@Lauren & Luna I just said slow turns for you during resets so that you don’t get dizzy! I don’t think you have to turn any slower for her.

Hands are up to you - for Rally, you are allowed to have your hands in front of you. For AKC OB, they have to be at your side, so that’s where this exercise comes from.

@Coralyn - Venus and Mars K9 hands can be in front with no luring motion I’m assuming 🤓

@Lauren & Luna Yes, but actually their definition of luring is just looking like you're trying to convince your dog that there's a cookie in your hand. You can move your hands, twinkle your fingers etc.