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Hi there! Glad to see another person with a small sized dog! There is nothing different about having a small dog rather than a big dog. With “heeling” the trick is trying to walk smoothly while crouching low enough to feed the treat in your dogs mouth without her taking her front laws off the ground. Here is some steps to get you both started:
-Stand still as you lower the treat to the ground. If she jumps on you it’s okay, just release the treat into her mouth the moment she puts all four paws on the ground. Repeat several times.
-Standing still: as you are lowering the treat to the ground if she takes any of her paws off the ground then immediately bring your hand back and stand straight up again. The key is to respond very quickly. If she keeps all four on the floor, she gets the treat! Repeat until she knows this very well.
-Start doing the heeling and if she brings a paw off the ground then do not give her a treat. It’s difficult to walk smoothly while doing this, it’s sort of like doing repetitive lunges while walking in order to get low enough to the ground.For all of her obedience, always withhold the treat if behavior you don’t like is being performed 🙂
The corrections are all the same except when I use the starmark I use one finger as a correction. Very gentle. 🙂
