Heeling Training Video – Lower the Drive

There are two interesting points in this video.

First is that some dogs will go into a high drive if we use a ball as a reinforcement. Sometimes, we have to lower the drive to keep the dog thinking. This is critical for the learning process. The Handler in this video had to keep the ball in the back pocket and use food under the arm as a focal point.

Second, the Handler was used to holding his left arm very rigidly (hard for many of us to hold something under the arm and swing it at the same time). The moment the Handler started to swing the arm, the dog lost his reference point for heeling and had to refocus