Best Way to Correct Sniffing?

[Patty1231]

Rocco just had his first official OB trial and DQ'd on the healing. Again, sniffing! He did great at the fun match we did a month ago and the only thing he messed up a little there on was initially on the healing - for sniffing! I guess outside the smells don't stick as well as they do indoors on a mat? He thinks he's a bloodhound - what can I do correct the sniffing problem?

[MontanaRott]

Phil used the prong with Guerin to stop that. He is in training for tracking so he wants to sniff. So he now knows, causual walk sniff away, harness on sniff away, slip collar on we are working, no sniff. Phil put the prong on, took him out to a grassy area, and started heeling, nose goes to ground, a quick pop, AH AH, watch me! Head comes up eye contact is made, GOOOOOD Watch me! Keep heeling and on it went. Guerin now keeps his head up and nose off the ground when heeling.

[Luvs]

Originally Posted by MontanaRott

Phil used the prong with Guerin to stop that. He is in training for tracking so he wants to sniff. So he now knows, causual walk sniff away, harness on sniff away, slip collar on we are working, no sniff. Phil put the prong on, took him out to a grassy area, and started heeling, nose goes to ground, a quick pop, AH AH, watch me! Head comes up eye contact is made, GOOOOOD Watch me! Keep heeling and on it went. Guerin now keeps his head up and nose off the ground when heeling.

This is what we did with Keil also. Akasha has never really had a problem with sniffing while we are working, but Keil is always sniffing and for a while there he was wanting to mark our training facility. It only took a couple corrections for him to realize that his sniffing and marking was unacceptable. We no longer have problems with either.

[laurlitt]

Originally Posted by Patty1231

Rocco just had his first official OB trial and DQ'd on the healing. Again, sniffing! He did great at the fun match we did a month ago and the only thing he messed up a little there on was initially on the healing - for sniffing! I guess outside the smells don't stick as well as they do indoors on a mat? He thinks he's a bloodhound - what can I do correct the sniffing problem?

Sniffing is a form of disobedience (whether they want to be sniffing or not). If the dog knows what heel means then you demand it under all circumstances.

[Patty1231]

Originally Posted by laurlitt

Sniffing is a form of disobedience (whether they want to be sniffing or not). If the dog knows what heel means then you demand it under all circumstances.

This I'm aware of - I was asking for suggestions on how to correct it.

He heels perfectly for me in the house, in our yard, and the 3 parking lots I go to to practice him with heeling. He is about 90% in class - he knows what he's supposed to do there - but 10% of the time sniffing at loose balls of hair catches him. I was looking for suggestions on how to correct the sniffing for ring situations. I like the idea about taking him out in a field and working with him on this. And maybe the park, where there are a lot of smells, in an area where we don't usually walk. I don't want to make him stop sniffing when we go for walks because that's his/our time together. I just need to know the best way to make the separation for new situations (like show rings).

[MontanaRott]

We use areas where we know the smells are going to be so irresistable! Because so many times in the ring indoors or out there are wonderful aroma's so irresistable to the canine nose! The watch me command is so useful in this situation along with a nice correction. Soon he will learn when he is working, his head stays UP! Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[Patty1231]

Thanks MR! He's really very intelligent and we've seemed to overcome other problems pretty quickly so I'm not expecting this to be any different. I just need to be more vigilant with it - I guess I became lax because he was doing it right everywhere we practiced. Need to shake things up a bit! I'll keep you posted! I remember our trainer talking about this early on in our training - I guess it's easy to forget those basic instructions until they come back to bite you in the butt.

[MontanaRott]

Originally Posted by Patty1231

Thanks MR! He's really very intelligent and we've seemed to overcome other problems pretty quickly so I'm not expecting this to be any different. I just need to be more vigilant with it - I guess I became lax because he was doing it right everywhere we practiced. Need to shake things up a bit! I'll keep you posted!

You are going to be fine and so is Rocco! He will be heeling with is head up in no time! Good luck and we will be here to CHEER when you GET that first leg!

[laurlitt]

Originally Posted by Patty1231

This I'm aware of - I was asking for suggestions on how to correct it.

He heels perfectly for me in the house, in our yard, and the 3 parking lots I go to to practice him with heeling. He is about 90% in class - he knows what he's supposed to do there - but 10% of the time sniffing at loose balls of hair catches him. I was looking for suggestions on how to correct the sniffing for ring situations. I like the idea about taking him out in a field and working with him on this. And maybe the park, where there are a lot of smells, in an area where we don't usually walk. I don't want to make him stop sniffing when we go for walks because that's his/our time together. I just need to know the best way to make the separation for new situations (like show rings).

I was assuming you already had an approach for correcting disobedience and was treating the sniffing as another kind of issue. In order to get a solid heeling dog (and all other ob exercises) not only must you encourage them to perform correctly but you need to let them know they CAN NOT do it incorrectly... If he's doing it correctly in the yard and in the parking lot then you need to go places where there are more distractions so that he can find out what incorrect is and that there are consequences. So going to a field where he can sniff is a good start, but you may want to go to a park where there are kids around, etc. to correct for other mistakes like looking away, etc... For me I use a pinch to correct the dog and it works well.

[diddybopper04]

I would say you have an attention problem. Not a sniffing problem.

If this dog understands HEEL POSITION (this takes quite some time), which I teach before I do ANY heeling, and he understands he is to look at you and pay attention while heeling, I would set him up with distractions, and correct him EACH time his attention wanders the slightest bit. ON LEAD. For the next bit, I would not give him ANY chance to leave me during heeling, or let his head drop. The instant he looses attention, game over.

You can probably find some good info on teaching focused attention on the net if you have not done this with your dog yet. My instructor gives 8 week classes on focused attention only. It works wonders.

And if you are looking for someplace to proof heeling from a sniffer, if you can find someplace where livestock have been, that is a GREAT place to do that.

[Storm]

What is your foundation for your heelwork? If the dog is sniffing the motivational aspect is lacking. Motivation in hand with association and anticipation is what builds focus and intensity in heel work.

[Storm]

What is your foundation for your heelwork? If the dog is sniffing the motivational aspect is lacking. Motivation in hand with association and anticipation is what builds focus and intensity in heel work. If you correct there must be a correct behavior in place in order for the dog to "release" by reverting to the correct learnt behavior, considering it is existent, other wise you will be just causing conflict and confusion. Behaviors can't be forced through correction, well maybe in a round about unfavourable way, but rather concentrate on the development here which may require you going right back to square one.

[Storm]

Also the disire to heel must come from within the dog, in other words initiated by the dog. If it becomes reliant on correction for focus then it becomes a cruch and if you trial and the nerves are up there and this filters through to the dog and he responds negatively then you can't correct and the wheels will come off. Also considering that alot of time dog revert to avoidance behaviors, one being sniffing, to try and escape the "demands" at hand. Also there is a difference between "focus" and a dog driving attentively.

[Muckdogs]

I haven't read any of the above, so excuse the redundance if any. First off, it seems a simple problem to correct. It is obvious to me that the dog lacks enough focus on you in the face of distractions not normally around. This tells me that you need to work on focus work a lot more, under all sorts of distractions. At the end stages, you should be able to cross a busy highway and the dog will not remove his eyes from you. Likewise, you should be able to walk right into a lake and he should still look at you. How you get there is another topic.

A couple of suggestions. One thing we teach our club members is keying the dog for the upcoming work, so that it associates what is about to happen with previous sessions of work. For instance, when I track, I always go through the same pre track routine. I always ask him, "Ready to find" and let him sniff his tracking lead and boettcher harness(whihc is never used for anything other than tracking). Same with obedience. I always tell him, "let's go heel" a few times and then let him sniff his ob leash (which never comes out other than for ob). I believe that this helps the dog get in the right mindset, like "Hey, I know what we're going to do, been there done that, time for OB" Likewise with protection work, always sayt o him, "ready to go to work, lets go get teh bad guy" As corny as it sounds, it helps the dog focus and anticipate what you are going to do. Then we always approach the field the same way. If ob, he is focused on me from the first step. If not, we go back and start again. I ensure his focus and positioning are correct. If not, right back tot he truck for another try. Same with protection instead he is looking forward, but at a heel position. Just from proper keying, the dog can be told what is on the schedule. That's step one.

Step two is applying the hard work you put into teaching the focus. If he knows what you expect of him before you step ont he field, he is far less likely to stray because this routine has been repeated over and over again.

As for the focus work, that has probably been gone over a lot on here. My only advice is that you make the dog comply. If you want focus, teach it first and then demand it later or he gets a correction (or lack of reward) and you repeat until he gets it right.

[Patty1231]

Thanks to all of you with your suggestions. I know the problem is mine, not his. I got soft on him, for one thing, and also got too set on routine places where he knows what is expected - because of routine, not because of focus on me. I will certainly use the focus work you suggested, Muckdogs, regarding the use of terminology and lead identification. That shouldn't be too difficult because I have a lead that I use only for OB work. The poor trial showing has actually turned out to be a real positive. I'm not really interested in titles, my goal is to make my dog my partner. Obviously, we have some work to do on that! But with the help of all of you, I know we'll get there! And maybe others can learn from my mistakes and prevent the same situation with their own dogs.