My A-HA! moment...

Two, actually. After neglecting to work with Lotte on heeling for a couple of weeks, I finally spurred myself back into it, so we aren't progressed as far as we ought to be. That's of no matter, however. We're working on again, and a couple of A-HA! moments from the past couple of days have me feeling optimistic that we've successfully taken our "first steps" towards heeling.

Yesterday: When we stepped outside to start working, I noticed that our neighbor's dog was out (off-lead). Lotte's focus went out that fast, and I beat a hasty retreat back into the house intending to quit. Then, it occurred to me that maybe if I can keep her focused as we go through the door, I can keep her focused long enough to move far enough away on the other side of our driveway, where Lotte is less likely to react. Since I've been using treats/toys for the Find Heel exercise, I popped a couple in my left hand, and lured her at heel down the walk. From there, I took my hand back up - no more luring - and continued the exercise as usual. We worked where she could see the other dog, with a combination of about-turning when she started to forge ahead towards him and rewarding when she found heel (as well as for staying in position while moving closer to the other dog, though that's not really the goal of this particular exercise for us). She did wonderfully.

Lesson of the day: There's no need to postpone a training session every time an unexpected distraction pops up. Take advantage of the opportunity!   Also, focus is easier to maintain if you have it before it's lost. 

Today: A sort-of repeat. Find Heel again with treats and a couple of playing kids as a distraction. After I used up the small handful I had set aside, we dashed back inside to grab a toy. Here's the cool thing: Lotte caught on quickly that finding heel and keeping up with me for several paces produced the toy (which I alternated between tossing directly to her and tossing ahead with a "go get it!"). It definitely felt, for the first time, like she's really really caught on to my find-heel game. I probably should have been using toys in the first place - I know she's more toy motivated than anything else. 

Anyway, the coolest thing of the night... after a toss of the toy and Lotte grabbing it up, I about-turned and started to move away, and Lotte came trotting right up along my left side, in heel position, carrying her toy. 

Looking forward, I need to figure a couple of things out about the next steps I take (like: do we learn heel-starts, or do we introduce the command via find-heel first and let the heel starts form naturally once she understands that? Or, better yet, are we even ready for that step yet?). In the meantime, I have plans to take our Find Heel game on the road this week. Should be fun.