Modoc Level 4

Yes I will submit for Level 5 and I'm just about to update the payment info today!

Okay, here is our heel/stop/heel

I didn't do multiple reps of feeding in the stop in between heeling, but I will work on that next. She does some head dipping at the beginning, which is always when she does it, and then keeps her head up the rest of the time.

At a certain point my hand got stuck in my treat pouch and I pulled it off my waistband. I miss a few opportunities to reward... The last rep I think looks pretty good!

Here are some baby steps in heel!

We are still getting some head dipping, and I've started putting the food at the side of her head (does that count as reverse luring?), which she's not totally accustomed to leaving alone just yet... But it is helping to keep her head still!

Let me know what you think!

So a couple things...

I started with just getting her to go to the front foot target. I placed a small board underneath it to give it a distinctiveness for now. I worked on sit and stand while facing her first.

Then, I thought it would be a good idea to have her try the sit and stand in heel position, and I made her think too hard... I was clicking for keeping front feet planted and so her head and back half do wonky things lol

I realize it isn't the best angle to see her head while standing in heel position. Her head still moves around quite a bit...

Loveeee that pivot into heel on the target, and her head position. She steps super smoothly and clearly has great body awareness. (That foot target is small!!) She offers it beautifully; you don't need to lure it.

Do your front-on-target in completely separate sessions for now (from your pivot into heel on target). Too much brain power for no reason if you mix them, until you start doing calling from heel to front.

Be aware of how your treat pouch affects her head position for fronts. I actually don't see her looking at the pouch, but! That's a thing.

After your "circle," she is consistently a bit too far ahead. Look down at your left foot while you train heelwork. Their front feet should be in line with the bottom half of your foot, basically. This gets a little weird when they sit, because they can sit with their feet splayed out in front of them (not my fave but it's acceptable), but she maintains that forged position as she stands & walks, too.

After you cue circle, click and reward early, before she can get ahead.

I think this might fix itself when you follow my instructions for your hand position, below.

In your left finishes, she is setting up in proper heel position, and then she maintains that position when you walk forward. (That's good news!)

So, I'm curious to see more of your forward heelwork, because what I see here is not her busting ahead of you, but her committing to the position she starts in in her finish, which for her right finish is too far ahead.

She may very well still be rushing ahead in other moments besides this video, though. 😂

It looks to me like you rushed your formal heel picture hand position a bit, because she is confused about when she is supposed to be following that hand as a lure, and when she is supposed to be ignoring it (which she will be in your formal heel picture). If you have your hand set up to be outside her head, and she follows that as a lure, it's not going to put her in the right place.

Keep practicing her offering coming into heel with your hand like that, on the foot target, because she rocks at that. That's how you'll get your offered swing finish with your hand set up Schutzhund-style (outside of her head).

When you need to lure her a bit - which I think you do for right and left finishes still - lure her, (feed once?) and then when she is set up, put your hand where you want it.

(She is close to not needing to be lured for left finishes!)

Her head position while she moves forward with you looks great.

I bet that's because she's so coordinated, too. Who needs to look where they're going? Not Mo.

Can I see you lure her into standing heel (against a barrier) and then do baby steps forward?

Something else that's throwing you off is that when she finishes and sits, and you cue her stand, she is standing by walking forward, as opposed to kicking out with her back legs without moving her front feet. So, she starts in the right position, and then is forged forward again before you move.

So! Let me see your standing stationary heelwork with some forward steps.

And then we'll just generalize that out of her sit in heel, without needing to cue her to stand. (It'll be easy, probably - don't worry.)

Please let me know if any of this is confusing........ I'm kinda tired!! 😬

Also the music is from Nicolay watching TV haha... It starts out very saucy