Follow Me
Follow me is an important introduction to loose leash walking and it also teach your dog to pay attention to you, especially when you are moving. Begin by standing still and C/T the dog simply for looking at you. To feed the cookies, toss them down on the ground between his legs so that he will have to look up again to see you. When he is readily looking at you for 7 out of 10 cookies, it is time to move on to the next step.
Toss your cookie as normal and as your dog looks at you, take a step backward. C/T for him moving with you, even if it is just a foot. Here are the steps you will need to follow:
1. C/T when dogs takes one step with you
2. C/T for 2 steps
3. C/T for 3 steps
4. C/T for 4 steps
5. C/T for 5 steps
Next, take this behaviour on the road and try it in various locations with a variety of distractions. If your dog stops moving with you, simply reverse directions. When the dog takes notice and moves toward you, C/T. Your criteria should be moving with you, not necessarily looking at you.
Once you can readily get 5 steps in a four or five different places, you must build duration by rewarding variably. Remember, he must get 7 out of 10 trys right before you move to this stage.
To be variable, you want to vary between 50% of the mean to five steps above it. By yo-yoing up and down around an achievable number of steps, you can increase the demands on the dog without him knowing that the work is getting harder. Stay at each level for three training sessions and try to do them in different places. If your dog is not sparkling, don�t proceed until he is!
Level 1: (Mean = 5 steps)
5 steps, 2,6,3,7,3,5,1,7,4,3,5,1 (52 steps)
Level 2: (Mean = 7 steps)
7 steps, 3,10,5,8,4,7,2,5,10,3,7,2 (73 steps)
Level 3: (Mean = 10 steps)< BR > 10 steps, 5,8,4,12,6,10,3,7,10,5,12,1,10,3 (106 steps)
Level 4: (Mean = 12 steps)
12 steps,6,10,4,15,7,12,6,15,8,12,2,10,4 (124 steps)
If your dog stops following, quickly reverse directions and click and feed when he once again follows you.This will be the only correction you will need for loss of attention or heel position. Once you have gone through the above steps, your dog is more than ready for loose leash walking!