I would like to get some ideas you guys may use to prevent forging. the dog's overall picture when he heels is beautiful, the focus is excellent and he prances like he is dancing, but the dog continously forges about 12 " (1) we have tried checking him with a long line, on the prong, coming from the rear as the handler heels the dog. (2) We have tried heeling him backwards when he forges along with the verbal "heel" command with uncomfortable simultaneous e-collar corrections until the dog gets back into position on his own. The electric stimulation stops only when the dog returns to the correct position and the handler then moves forward releasing him from the electric stimulation. This seemed to work until the e collar was removed. (3) we have tried having the handler whack him with a reed stick on his muzzel if the dog forges. This worked up until the handler did not have the stick to make the correction. Any ideas would be helpful as this is the only thing that is costing us points. thanks in advance
and where is the reward being offered at? I think mine and chris's question,(correct me if i am wrong chris) is, is the dog anticapting getting the reward or forging to look at it. IMO your dog is doing exactly as he has been trained. This is why the corrections are not working. The dog thinks he is being correct, and the correction is not viewed as a correction, it's viewed as getting checked or popped on the face just for the sake of it. The dog is not making the connection between the correction and the forging.
What I would do is reteach the behavior, at home with food as a reward, along with verbal encouragement. and using verbal non reward markers. i would start by, asking the dog to heel taking one or two steps, and rewarding for correctness. if the dog forges. stop, say no, no, or ah, or too bad. and take the dog back to the starting point and do it again. do not correct the dog, get him back into position and then continue and then reward, no good. in order to earn a reward the dog must do it right the first time, not be rewarded for heeling good, then bad, then good again. after awhile increase the number of steps. this might be painful at first...but it will reap it's rewards. Now that is not the end all and say all. Someone else might have much better advice.
Once a dog has been taught a heel position it can be near impossible to change in my experience.
Have you tried correcting the dog from the front? You can take a 2 foot wooden dowel and put a leash clip on one end. Use the dowel like a leash. When the dog forges you correct the dog with a forward and down motion. This plays on the dog?s opposition reflex and many dogs will move their fronts up and body back..
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