- Get in.
Now there's lots of reasons why you'd want your dog
to move into this heel position,
whether you're training them to walk on a loose leash,
you're trying to stop them from jumping up on someone
or something, or you're just trying to get control
of them in a really busy environment.
Sure is busy here in New York City.
Lotta people here at the DMV.
Lots of hustle and bustle here in Egypt.
It's actually a green screen,
but you get the point.
Actually for those of you who are really
paying close attention, totally different dog too.
Today I'm gonna teach you guys how to do this exercise
with your dog
so that your dog moves into your side reliably.
I'm Ken Steepe, this is Funkee Monkee,
and welcome back to McCann Dogs.
(guitar music)
(dog barking)
Now our helper for this week is our young border collie
named Bee-Line,
and if you have a friendly dog,
Bee-Line's a little bit of a wiggle bum,
and if you have a friendly dog,
then you're really gonna wanna use
some very valuable treats, something that they really like.
If you're not sure what that might be for your dog,
then you should definitely check out our video
on the best homemade dog training treats.
We help over 500 dogs every single week
to be well behaved family members,
and there aren't many dogs who can resist
the temptation of the treats that we talk about
in that video.
But getting back to things,
I want you to be using a treat or some sort of reward
for your dog that they really like,
and for Bee-Line today I've got some
peanut butter Zuke's treats,
which I know that she really finds tasty.
So all I wanna do is just move her around a little bit.
You'll see me luring her around,
getting her really comfortable with the idea
of following the food.
And then we're gonna move to step two.
And if you're trying to teach your dog
to move into the heel position,
it's really important that they aren't already
sitting beside you.
You know there's no sense in trying to lure them
into that position if they're already there.
For Bee-Line I'm actually gonna use this treat
and I'm gonna move her from in front of me
in beside me.
And when I talk about getting into that heel position,
I'm actually gonna use the phrase get in.
And I'm gonna show you how powerful those two words can be
after a few repetitions of just showing Bee-Line.
So at first before we give her that command,
I'm just gonna show her this treat
and I'm gonna bring her in at my side.
Now there's a couple things, good girl,
good so she followed that really well.
And as she remains in position,
I can yes and reward her,
but there's a couple of really important things
that we need to focus on that happen there.
And Bee-Line moved into that position so quickly,
I'm gonna slow it down and show you exactly what I mean.
So have a look at this closely.
I'm using my hand, okay,
I'm using my hand to bring Bee-Line behind me,
and then I'm turning my knuckles around.
I'm bringing my knuckles to face forward,
and that'll allow me to bring her up
into my side and line her up really easily.
Good girl, good get in.
Nice job.
So I want you to focus on that.
A lot of people really struggle
as they bring their dog around and then
they can't turn their shoulders,
so the moment I get Bee-Line into my side,
I'll show you again, okay.
Okay Bee.
As I bring Bee-Line past the plane of my body,
I flip my knuckles forward, you see that,
and I bring her forward and ask her to sit.
Good job buddy, way to go.
Now we don't wanna have to depend
on having food in our hands as we're asking our dog
to get into that heel position,
so here's what I want you to do.
I want you to try that exact same thing
with no food in your hands,
but try to make it look like you do have food in your hands.
This'll present the same picture to your dog,
and you can have the same expectations of them
as you're working it.
So we're gonna tell Bee-Line to get in, good girly.
And sit, yes, good job Bee, very nice.
And you can absolutely reward them for a job well done
once they're there.
You just don't have food in your luring hand
as you're showing them how to get into position.
As we're working towards having this skill
on the verbal only,
we need to reduce the amount that we're actually
luring the dog.
So let's try this with Bee-Line, okay,
and I'm gonna reduce the actual hand signal that I've got.
I'm might use still a little bit more body motion
because I know she'll follow that well,
but I won't use quite as much hand.
And this is all working towards the point
where we can do this entirely on a verbal.
But I'm gonna tell her the exact same thing.
Get in, and then move back a little bit,
maybe a little less hand, ask her to sit.
Beautiful, yes good girl.
And when she moves into that position,
she gets rewarded.
Now as you're training your dog at home,
if there's a point where they just didn't seem
to understand it as well,
take a step back, make it a little bit easier for them.
But the most important part is that you lead
every time with that phrase and for us it's get in,
and then moving into that get in position,
until you're at a point where you can just ask your dog
to get in on verbal only.
Now if Bee-Line were to make a mistake,
after I've moved her into that get in position,
and Bee-Line were to get up and out of position,
it's really simple.
All I need to do is just move her back,
I'll guide her back with my leash, place her in position,
and then praise her.
You know I'm not mad about it, she just doesn't have
a clear understanding of my expectation of her
that she needs to remain in position,
and I'm gonna reward her after she's spent
a few seconds in that get in position.
Yes, good girl.
A really important thing to keep in mind
is that there's no tension on your leash.
A lotta people when they start this position,
they'll hold their dog there.
It's really important Bee-Line gets a chance
to make a choice, to remain in position.
That way I can reward her when she doesn't move.
The other great part about having a loose leash
when your dog is in this position
is that we can move to a leash dragging scenario
as she's in training,
maybe we're working in a tough distracting environment
and I'd like to have her leash dragging,
or we can go to a totally off-leash scenario
where she still remains in that get in position
and I can reward her as such,
but she's not dependent on that tension on her leash
for her to remain there.
Make sure you take your time with this exercise.
The progressions are relatively small,
but it's really important that your dog
has a thorough understanding of what you expect of them
before you take the next step.
And that way you'll have that really reliable
sit and start position with your dog
or your get in to heel position with your dog,
and you can know that they're gonna remain there
and you really know that they understand
what you're asking of them.
Now if this is your first time on the channel
and you consider your dog a member of the family,
make sure you hit that subscribe button.
We publish new videos very single week
to help you have a well behaved four-legged family member.
That video beside me is actually a playlist
of some of our livestreams where we've helped
some of our subscribers
to overcome their dog training challenges.
On that note, I'm Ken,
this is little Bee-Line, happy training.
(electronic music)