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10-12 Weeks

Jack is now 12 weeks old, about a week away from 3 months.  At this stage, we are working a lot on heel, sit, and staying at sit until told to move.  Jack is a lot more familiar with heel and I will now give collar corrections as he moves out of place.  While on heel, Jack is not allowed to sniff the ground; this is a distraction and the dog is not learning what he is supposed to.  As Jack's nose goes to the ground, I do a very small, gentle tug upwards on the lead to keep his nose off the ground.  Let me talk a bit about the lead.

The lead I use is a British slip lead.  Don't know what it is?  Google it.  The traditional collar and snap lead will not work, although Jack does wear a collar due to city ordinances.  A British slip lead is preferred (or a choke chain will do the same) because when it is placed correctly, it mimics the bite of the pack leader.  The way you place your lead depends on the side you want your dog to be when heeling.  Remember:  from the beginning choose one side and stick with it where your pup will be while on heel.  It's hard enough to walk around a marsh with decoys, your gun, and all that extra weight; you don't want a dog criss-crossing your path.  If you choose to have your dog on your left (I do), you will place the lead over the dog's head in the shape of a "P".  If you have your dog on your right, place the lead over the dog's head in the shape of a "q".  When placed correctly and the collar is pulled on, the collar tightens then loosens immediately, like the bite of the pack leader.  If placed incorrectly, the collar tightens and does not loosen.  You lose the desired effect.

While working on heel, I am teaching Jack to sit every time I stop.  As I stop, I pull up gently on the collar.  This causes a slight discomfort to the pup and he sits down.  As soon as he sits, I release the pressure.  He soon learns that when I stop, something uncomfortable is going to happen, so he sits right away.  Now at 12 weeks, Jack sits almost immediately when I stop, but it has been a struggle getting there.

As Jack has been better at sitting, I have begun to teach him that sit means stay until told otherwise.  To begin, while Jack is on sit I keep the lead in hand and I take one step in front of Jack, facing him.  The first few times, he will get up.  When he does this, again gently lift the lead until he sits back down.  Practice going back to him, back away from him, back to him, etc. until he has mastered it from here.  Next (probably a couple days later), practice taking a step to either side.  Before you know it (Jack picked up rather quick on this), your dog will stay sitting.

Two things to watch out for here.  One:  very rarely, if ever, call your dog to you off of sit.  Again this can develop a creeper (a post coming soon on this).  Two:  when returning to get your dog, don't walk straight to the dog, this will make him want to stand up to greet you.  Walk wide of the dog beginning a small circle, then hooking or circling back up to the appropriate side to call him off sit into heel.

Please feel free to comment and ask any questions or give any requests for what you'd like to know or see.  I hope to start doing videos soon and to post more pictures.

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