Week 6: Dog learns to be accountable (TC)
Pre/Post-Training Session protocol – make sure you are doing Cool Down time with LL on ground after every training session.
Know when to use the OUT! in public.
Before you proceed:
Before you start this Week 6 Lesson be sure your dog has passed or attempted to pass Vickster’s Test first* and then attempted to pass the String Test*. Take a piece of cotton thread about six inches long, then thread it through the running ring of the choke collar and tie the two ends together. You will now have a choke collar with a ‘loop of string hanging from it. Install the chain as normal and bring the dog into a secure area on his six-foot leash.
Quietly unsnap the leash and attach it to the loop of string hanging from the collar. You now have a fusible link between you and the dog. Work a simple heeling pattern including at least one Right Turn, one Left Turn, two About Turns, pace changes of fast/slow and two or more Automatic Sits. If your dog is struggling, do more Auto Sits which is the exercise your dog knows the best and has been doing the longest.
At the end of your heeling pattern place the dog in a Stand/Stay and go to the end of the leash for one minute, do a Return to the Dog and do an Exercise Finish. If your string is still intact, proceed to do a one-minute Sit/Stay, followed by a three minute Down/Stay. Again, check your string; if it is yet unbroken congratulations, you are ready for Week 6, if not go back to and fix the problem.
Be sure to video tape your entire String Test and on the video, break the string.
What happens when a student and their dog haven't passed the Vickster's Test nor the String Test? Those students will not go onto the FOUNDATION Course lessons 7-10, the off-leash training material. They will complete the Week 6 material, submit their Week 6 EXAM and then be considered Graduates of the LLHC (Loose Leash Heeling Course).
The next course for them is the Tech Savvy (TS) ecollar which WILL give them the much needed off-leash reliability along with the field commands needed for future field work. The TS is basic field commands, Whistle Recall, Whistle Sit, and Place (Go Away on command in a specific direction).
New Material:
Since you are now reading this paragraph, I can only assume that your dog is ready for the throw chain exercise. Throw chains are not commonly available in most areas. And when found they are generally limited to only one size. Making your own is easy and simple.
Start each training session working on Week 5 lesson assignments, but reserve the last half of your session for throw chain work.
ACTIVE SIT: Your dog learned the Passive Sit - the one beside you. This is the Active Sit and teaches a dog to move to their right and then to their left on an elevated square surface. Teaches balance, good muscle coordination, and strengthens all the leg/hip muscles for good health.
Throw Chain
Rule #1: Never let the dog see you throw it. You don’t want him to know where it comes from.
Rule #2: Never miss the dog. You don’t want him to start computing hit and miss percentages.
Rule #3: Never let him see you pick it up. You don’t want him to know how many there are.
All week
Heel your dog to an area where you have set up, or expect to encounter, some strong distractions. A distraction used for this exercise can be anything that your dog might find more interesting than you (with the only exception being another family member calling him by name). We will convert these distractions from compelling diversion to obsequious reasons to pay attention. I have found it useful to carry a notepad in which I categorize those distractions I have converted.
While still on the six-foot leather leash, with throw chain in hand, give your dog the “Okay” release and allow him to approach the planted distraction. His familiarity with this command should allow him to let his guard down enough for you to sneak to a position behind him. From this position you cannot break rule #1.
At a whisper (loud enough that you can hear yourself over the ambient noise but not so loud that someone 10 feet away can hear) call your dog “Fido, come”. If he does not respond by taking a step in your direction tag him on the rear with the chain and reel him in to a position (SSIF) straight sit in front. Be sure to reel, and praise him all the way in. Praise him for the straight sit; set up your Finish " Fido, Heel" and bring the dog around to the heel position with a single “Fido, heel” command. Exercise Finish. Correct as needed. Then set up again and release your dog with the "Okay" and start over.
Obviously if your dog turns and starts on your Recall command you reel, praise, and finish as normal.
NEVER use throw chain if you can see your dog’s eyes.
Remember that your dog MUST NOT see you throw the chain.
If you call him and he turns to look at you, but does not take that important first step in your direction, you’ll simply have to wait him out. Either he will turn away, in which case you fire the throw chain; or he will reluctantly comply, in which case you reel, praise, and finish as normal.
Have a helper retrieve the chain and place it back in your hidden hand. Bring the dog back to the same distraction and try again. After three clean Recalls, log it down as “proofed” on your notepad and move on to the next temptation.
By the end of the week, you should be able to call your dog, at a whisper, from any and all distractions you have proofed him on. Be creative to the point of unfairness.
Add these following progressions to your Week 5 routine:
Down/Stay -End of Longe line for three to five minutes by the end of the week.
Sit/Stay- Handler out of sight one to three minutes.
Sit for Exam/Stand for Exam - Combine the Stand/Stay and the approach by a stranger this week. Use the sequence for approach from your lesson 4 sheet but place the dog in a Stand/Stay position with you six feet in front.
Recall -Use Lesson 5’s format with your Longe line to increase distance on the Recall. Throw chain work MUST be done ONLY using a 6’ leash, never on a Longe line at this point in the training.
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