# I need heeling advice - how do you guys do it?



## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I'm also going to add the frustrating part is that Ranger knows where he should be walking. If I have food (even in my pocket), he walks perfectly by my side even though I didn't incorporate food into heel work hardly at all. If I don't have food, he happily walks just a little bit ahead. I'll correct him, praise him for walking at my side and three steps later he's back ahead of me. I'll do an about turn and he'll walk perfectly at my side until we turn around again and start walking in the original direction. I spent 45 min one night walking up and down the street, doing 180 turns anytime he got ahead of me. We never made it off the original block. Again, he's not pulling at all and has stopped lunging after squirrels and rabbits. But I'd like him to be focused and heeling beautifully like i see other dogs doing...and what my old border collie used to do!


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Hmmmm....you sure you aren't walking my Austin??? He's the exact same way...so looking forward to some suggestions as well!!


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## C's Mom (Dec 7, 2009)

Me three. If I let the leash loose C will always walk out ahead unless its after his exercise and he is tired out.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

K......is this a Canadian dog thing??????


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## C's Mom (Dec 7, 2009)

Laurie said:


> K......is this a Canadian dog thing??????


LOL. Maybe its something in our water?


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Sure would like to figure it out by tomorrow!!! Taking Austin and Lincoln out with the walking club for the first time....that means a bunch of other dogs (which they love of course). The good thing....the couple heading it up are both dog trainers (also the ones who dogsat for me in March) so maybe they can be of some assistance.....


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Hmm, Ranger doesn't walk ahead even if I drop his leash to the loop. He just stays in that little spot slightly ahead of me. The funny thing is if I slow down and he doesn't notice and gets out too far, the second he realizes, he turns around prances back to my side all excitedly...where he will again walk slightly in front of me. I just hate having to correct him all the time when it's obvious it's not working!

I has to be the water...come on heeling gurus! Us Canadians need your help!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Here's what I do for forging:

Put the dog on a prong collar. Hold the leash behind your back in your right hand. Gentle pops back when he tries to go forward. Everything depends on the handler and the dog, but generally when giving a correction on a prong collar all you need is a flick of the wrist.

Hold a treat in your left hand. When he is in the correct position slide your hand down your leg to deliver the treat. It is very important that the treat is given to him exactly where you want him. If he gets a little ahead DO NOT reach forward even a tiny bit to give him the treat.

As a note, the only time I require our competition style heeling (with the dog looking at me the whole time) is when we are working on obedience competition work. When doing field work, they have to remain in heel position, but don't have to look at me. When walking, all I require is a loose leash.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

oh and heel position is having anywhere from the dog's head to shoulders lined up with your leg. You have to decide on the exact spot within there that you are happy with.


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## rappwizard (May 27, 2009)

Loisiana said:


> Here's what I do for forging:
> 
> . . .As a note, the only time I require our competition style heeling (with the dog looking at me the whole time) is when we are working on obedience competition work. When doing field work, they have to remain in heel position, but don't have to look at me. When walking, all I require is a loose leash.


Agree, agree, agree. I took privates when I was getting a CD on my senior--who strained at the leash wheezing and bucking during our walks until I knew I had to finally get serious about obedience with him. My trainer said that I should not expect "obedience competition" style heel work from him during our daily walks (although a loose lead is a must). Precise heel work is just that--for the competition. I also use two different leashes--one collar and leash is for competition (and training for competition) and the other is for the routine daily walks.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Hm, I should clarify that I don't expect Ranger to be looking at me constantly on our walks...but to focus on me or pay attention to me more than he does. Tonight we had one of our worst walks in a long time. There was no pulling, but he'd be walking ahead of me and i'd turn around and he was totally oblivious until his collar tightened. Or we'd be walking and I'd correct him and it didn't phase him at all - he'd go right back out ahead of me again. I felt like I was correcting him the whole walk and that's not pleasant for him (or for me). 

He does have a pinch collar but it's the same thing about the correcting. I feel like I'm doing it more than I should have to. If I give him one major huge correction (which makes me feel like b****) then he's pretty good for awhile. How can I get him to heel without a big correction? I'm worried he'll eventually tune out the big corrections as he already doesn't have a lot of sensitivity there.

I tried using treats and rewarding using my left hand but he doesn't look at me and doesn't even realize I have them. So we stopped, he auto sat and i gave him a cookie. We walked off again and he didn't even care about the cookies anymore just walking. 

I'll admit to feeling very frustrated right now since it was such an awful walk. We haven't had such a bad walk in months and I know he can't always be good...I just want to get him to the point where I can walk with him PAYING ATTENTION to me!

Right now I've got him on umbilical cord since he's usually better at walking after spending a few hours on the leash attached to me...where he has to focus on me.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Rule #1 for polite walking. If your dog is not where you want him, stop. Dogs pull because they want to get to point B. If pulling/being ahead makes you follow, they'll pull.

For comp obed heeling I start with teaching a dog to be in (move and maintain) front position while I move backwards and we do an exercise where the dog puts his front feet on a book and spins around counter clockwise. Exercise 1 helps the dog to learn that following you= good things happening and exercise 2 helps to develop good hind end control and the "parallel" aspect of heeling. There are a ton more steps before we get to final behaviors.

I love teaching heeling and polite walking!


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

RedDogs - that book exercise sounds interesting. Ranger doesn't pull at all anymore; he just walks slightly ahead of me. When I was teaching him not to pull, I tried the stop and wait...and he kept tension on the leash once for 20 min while he stared ahead at something. The pulling we stopped - it's the walking ahead and not paying attention part. 

I've done the left square box exercises, about turns when he gets ahead, etc and nothing is improving the heeling aspect of it. If I was less picky, it wouldn't matter to me too muchI since he does walk politely as in no pulling. I guess what I'm looking for is like a step by step plan to get Ranger heeling at my side consistenly without me constantly correcting him. I don't know...am I making sense?


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

If a dog keeps tension on the leash for that long, two things are going on. The team is working in too distracting of an environment and the dog has not 'learned how to learn. Or the third option is that eventually the human will walk and the dog has been trained to pull... but for that long of a duration 'dogs trained to pull' typically will try other ways to engage the human.

The "not moving when the leash is tight/dog out of position" is not the sole method but part of a larger plan to prevent the out of position behavior from being reinforced. The other activities are to help develop a strong desire to be in, and maintain, heel position.


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## Mighty Casey and Samson's Mom (Jul 16, 2008)

I have a lagger, not a forger, so I might not be the best source of advice. However, I have done a lot of work on attention with him in heel position. I have him sitting beside me and teach him to watch me. When he watches me, I click and treat. Once he understands this exercise, I correct with a collar pop and a "good BOY!" when he is looking again. I also work on teaching exactly where heel is. There are lots of things that you can do to teach this. "Doodling", where the dog is in heel and you pivot to the right, left or slide to the right, step forward a step, go back a step...and rewarding when he is following along with you. I would do a lot of this before expecting him to be heeling when I am walking. When I begin heeling with walking, I talk alot when he is with me and watching me, and stop talking when he looks away. Before I introduce any corrections at all, I make sure that he really understands what/where heel is--many dogs don't, especially if they have been lured and the lure has not been faded. I also like the suggestion of using a particular leash and collar for training. I use a halter when walking, and Casey understands that heel position is not necessary unless I ask for it. When he is on his "training/trialling" collar and I put my left hand into my heel posture, he knows that he needs to go straight there without a verbal command.
Trial/competition heeling is a long term project. Keep working him and be patient and positive--all dogs are different. Many, many trainers would rather have a dog that forged than one that lags! Good luck.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

I am a big believer in "choose to heel games", and all of our goldens definitely win points for heeling above all else. Here is a basic video, and there are a zillion ways to innovate on it and make it more sophisticated. I forget the flexi, and just toss a treat out saying "find", then I walk/run away, or anything silly and reward for the dog returning to heel position and resuming his/ her heel. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-85w2-fsKg

Targeting is also a good skill for heeling. Warming up the dog by teaching him "touch" for touching the palm of your hand with his nose can become a great warm up. Tally will go high, go low, go five in a row- whatever. He thinks it is a blast. Once the target hand is established, you can use it for heeling. Keep your open palm in position, and reward the dog for touch. 

I agree with Casey's Mom about the doodling. Humans are slow, boring, and predictable. A phrase like "with me" can help remind the dog to hustle up. Practicing left turns around four chairs is helpful for teaching the dog to move his back end with you. Pay attention to your shoulder. The only time Tally lags is if I tell him to unconsciously by turning my upper body to look down at him and push him with my shoulder. For a dog that forges, that social power in the shoulders can help. 

I make it a point to hike off leash with the goldens every day, and never to be in no man's land with leash work. If there's a leash, there's precise healing. Past CD and RN, the heel needs to be there with no leash. I want it crystal clear what heel is, and so no "ballparking" it ever happens even with a baby pup over 6 months. Copley is five months, and he gets heel position. By next month, he will only be rewarded for precise position and attention. The only exception to this will be in show handling class. If I did have to leash walk dogs daily around a block or neighborhood, I'd definitely change collars/leashes from working ones as was suggested above.

Give the dog very clear signals with your footwork as well. Step off with your left foot for heeling. If you need to leave the dog in "wait/stay" and keep walking, then use your right foot to step away.

I have seen people use an actual target on their pants leg, but I have never tried it. 

These are just ways to make heeling joyful and beautiful- it should be like ballroom dancing- in synch, not forced.


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## Enzos_Mom (Apr 8, 2010)

Since Enzo is named after a Ferrari, my fiance wants to teach him to "brake" instead of "heel". lol


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

Ranger, what exactly is your goal here? It sounds like you've already got loose leash walking down OK (when going on your walks it doesn't matter that he's a little bit forged). If you want to work on competition heeling position you will do that totally separate from your walks and it won't matter what your dog does on a walk.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

IowaGold - that is a good question. I guess right now what I want is a dog who is attentive to me when out walking. Yes, he walks on a loose leash and doesn't pull or lunge. But if I ever have to slow down suddenly or turn, I need to correct him because he won't have noticed. At that point, there will be tension on the leash as he'll still be walking at the same pace we were 5 seconds ago and not paying any attention to what I've done. So I'll correct, he'll be at my side for a few minutes, then he starts to forge ahead again. That's a GOOD walk. A bad walk, like last night - he wasn't paying any attention at all to me even when I corrected him. 

I saw someone walking their dog the other day and the dog matched their pace all consistently. Dog kept looking up at owner every 20 feet or so...it bugs me because I used to have that with my old border collie and thought it was "normal" and now it's been a year and I can't get that with Ranger even on a good day! He's such an intense dog that when he walks he just keeps looking in the distance and that's where he wants to be. I want to be able to channel some of that focus on me. Does that make better sense? I'll give up on the competitive heeling if I can at least get an attentive dog on my every day walks.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Do you try cueing him before stopping and turning? Have you taught him to do those things with you?

Do you reinforce him with a high value reinforcer when he offers attention on walks?


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Become very unpredictable. Get Ranger thinking "I better pay attention cause that lady gets a little crazy when we go on walks." I've read that you do a lot of about turns when you walk to get his attention back. Mix it up more. Walk a few feet, then run to your right. Walk a few more feet, then start backing up. Walk some more, then go a different direction. Sometimes randomly break into a run. Other times suddenly freeze. Make all of these changes very sudden, don't give him any warning at this time that it's going to happen. When he gets back in heel position big time praise (and treat if wanted).


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## C's Mom (Dec 7, 2009)

LJilly28 - thank you for that video. I really never tried giving treats (Cocasse says I should only listen to people who suggest we use treats in training). I hope this works as I'd love to get the halti off him.


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

It's great if you do give him treats right at the seam of your jeans/ pants, or even heel against a wall to keep him straight the easy way. You want him to start understanding what heel position looks like from his perspective. Dogs are smart. He'll figure out where he gets a treat and start being there more and more. We can talk about how to wean him off once you really love his position.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I used to cue him with the command "heel" before applying a correction and in anticipation of turns or pace change. He tuned me out completely and seemed to better once I stopped giving him the cues and just did it. Now he's back to ignoring where I am or at least, giving me the the least amount of attention he can. 

Loisana - I do that at the start of each walk, changing everything up as much every few feet. I can bump into him, do 180's, cut him off by sudden left turns and he still rarely looks at me or pays attention. Though I should be fair and say when I do 10 minutes of that, he is usually more responsive to a correction later in a walk. We're not in a busy area either! Just the neighbourhood where nothing happens...

So with the treats, what do I do when he doesn't care I have one? I had some little cookies last night and he sniffed it one oncewhen I had it in my hand by his nose, then ignored it the rest of the way. When he sat, I gave him one and then once we started walking, he ignored it again. Do I need to find tastier treats for heeling? 

Part of the problem is he is very stoic about corrections and unfortunately, learned to obey out of fear and punishment, not praise for the first few months of his life. I've worked really hard to change that and his will to please has doubled in the year I've had him but...he'll still correct to negative reinforcement than to positive. We had a super bad walk to my ex-bf's slowpitch game last fall where Ranger stayed ahead of me and didn't listen to my corrections the ten minute walk there. On the way back I carried home a few slowpitch bats and Ranger stayed at my side in perfect heeling position the whole time and kept looking at me. Finally it clicked on me; he was heeling because he thought he'd get hit if he didn't obey. It sickens me. How do I get the same focus and obedience out of positive methods?? I need to turn his thinking around. Like I said, there's already been so much improvement in his "I want to please you" attitude...I just want to get that worked into his heeling.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Ranger said:


> So with the treats, what do I do when he doesn't care I have one?


Upgrade to higher value treats. And work before he's eaten so he's hungry.

I would also reduce the time you work him. It's better to have 20 seconds of success than 10 minutes of frustration. The first few weeks my dogs are heeling, we do one step reward and release, one step reward and release. After a couple of weeks of that we'll do two or three steps for awhile. And we just slowly add to it when they show that they are consistently successful at the length we are at.


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## gabbys mom (Apr 23, 2008)

Loisiana said:


> Upgrade to higher value treats. And work before he's eaten so he's hungry.
> 
> I would also reduce the time you work him. It's better to have 20 seconds of success than 10 minutes of frustration. The first few weeks my dogs are heeling, we do one step reward and release, one step reward and release. After a couple of weeks of that we'll do two or three steps for awhile. And we just slowly add to it when they show that they are consistently successful at the length we are at.



Agree. If he doesn't care, you're not using the right treat. You need like chicken, hot dog with garlic on it, meatballs, something juicy and gross. 

What collar are you using exactly?

And frankly, he sounds bored. Its a lot to ask a dog to pay attention for a long time - even semi-attention.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Success this morning! I took Ranger outside for a 20 min walk/training session before work and he was amazing! Loisana, I did the "changing-it-up" every few feet and praised the heck out of him everytime he was in the heel position (didn't have any treats - it was a spontaneous thing). Way back when I got him, I had tried praising with voice and, simply put, he didn't care. He'd never known what praise WAS and didn't know what it was back then so I had stopped using verbal praise so much and just kind of pat or scratched him (even that sparingly, I'll admit as it didn't seem to affect him at all).

Anyway, I'd read something that said praise only counts if the dog's tail is wagging which was a lightbulb moment. So today when changing it up, everytime Ranger got himself back in heel position, I praised, praised, praised! He just LIT UP. It seems so silly, like why wouldn't I be praising him before? But the last time I had tried a training session like this I hadn't gotten ANYTHING out of him. Today he was so happy and he heeled beautifully, I praised, we'd take a little break for "play", then back to heel and repeat. We never went off the block, just squares and turns and circles. By the end, our left turns were amazing! Instead of bumping into him/cutting him off or correcting him in order to be able to do it, he was just perfect. Yay! 

gabbys mom - I'm a little confused. Do you mean it's a lot to ask for a dog to be in the heel position for the length of a walk? How do you walk your dog? Or do you mean it's a lot to teach the heel position in a long training session?

I have a "choke" chain (correctly put on) and pinch collar for Ranger. I choose one or the other depending on the day, where we are going, and the mood he's in. Today was the choke chain since we were doing more training than walking and were in a quiet neighbourhood. When we do more walking than training, it's usually the pinch collar, especially if we're by the river or near a lot of activity.


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

I get really frustrated (and quit) with Penny. She pulls slightly at first, then matches my pace but in front of me. I can get her to pay attention and heel with treats but she gets so excited about the treats that she ends up dancing backwards in front of me, sitting every couple of feet.

I've tried walking a bit and stopping, usually at every driveway. I tell her to sit and then give the treat. In theory. Here's how it usually goes: I walk a bit constantly making leash corrections to keep her near my leg. I say sit and then have to lift her chin to back her into a sit. She doesn't get a treat when I have to do all the work. :no: She'll eventually do it right a few times, then zone out and refuse the treat. I use hot dog bits mixed with Cheerios so the Cheerios smell and taste like hot dogs.

When she was younger and in school, I'd walk her along a busy street with a lot of driveways. As I approached a crossing, I'd slow for the last couple of strides and she'd slow too. When I stopped, she sat. When I walked on, she walked. I'd stop on the other side and she'd sit. That's when she got the praise/treat. Even then it was a struggle to keep her from pulling. Now she could care less about walking at my side or treats or sitting.

She is so perfect off leash that most places I just let her go rather than deal with it.

What do you suggest for a dog that gets so excited so easily? Even at 8 years old.


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## elisabeth (May 3, 2010)

Loisiana said:


> Here's what I do for forging:
> 
> Put the dog on a prong collar. Hold the leash behind your back in your right hand. Gentle pops back when he tries to go forward. Everything depends on the handler and the dog, but generally when giving a correction on a prong collar all you need is a flick of the wrist.
> 
> ...


I use the same method when teaching young dogs to heel. I also only ask for a "fuss/heel" when training or in trial.


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## gabbys mom (Apr 23, 2008)

Ranger said:


> gabbys mom - I'm a little confused. Do you mean it's a lot to ask for a dog to be in the heel position for the length of a walk? How do you walk your dog? Or do you mean it's a lot to teach the heel position in a long training session?


I suspect I define heel position differently. I require heads up, eyes on me, animation, etc. Heel is WORK. That is a lot for 3-4 minutes for a young dog- under 2 years- 20 minutes is crazy. 

Oh, and how I walk my dogs is how a lot of trainers walk theirs....Walks are their time--- as long as they aren't being crazy rude they can sniff, go within a certain radius of me, etc- my dogs spend enough time working (for example, my golden competes in multiple venues) that I am not going to force his walk to be work time too.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

gabbys mom - thanks for clarifying. I guess what i'm trying to say is that I expect Ranger to stay in heel position for the duration of the walk, not necessarily doing heel work. I don't think it's too much to ask him to stay focused and stay next to me for an hour at a time...since I'm not asking him to be animated or keep his head up, etc. All he has to do is not get ahead of me and pay attention when i turn or slow down.


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## elisabeth (May 3, 2010)

I think the term you want to use is "loose leash walking" and not "heeling".

To me, a "heel/fuss" is a position in which the dog needs to be in. This means (to me), the dogs shoulder is level with my knee/left leg, not forging or lagging behind, eyes up and alert on handler, head slightly turned into watch handler.

My dog is 1 year old and we have been working on heel/fuss since he was 9 weeks old, he still can only do about 1-2 minutes of this without being distracted. He is only required to do it for short stints of time. This has a lot to do with maturity, training and paitence and understanding on the handlers behalf.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

elisabeth said:


> I think the term you want to use is "loose leash walking" and not "heeling".


</p> 
No, I think the poster does want the dog in appropriate heel position. What I think they are searching for is a heeling dog without heads up position. Which you can find all the time in the obedience ring. Some very very nice obedience dogs don't heel with their heads up, but they are still paying complete attention to what the handler is doing.For me, along with many others, heel = heads up, but it doesn't have to.


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## elisabeth (May 3, 2010)

Yes, I just read through the entire thread - should have read more closely the first time around.

I think the OP needs to work on this without distractions first and foremost. 

Work on "find the leg" which is a very basic but difficult thing to teach.

I find that teaching "find the leg" first, before asking for a heeling walk works wonders because it gives the dog a understanding of what is being asked.

I know this person isn't a GR person, but Michael Ellis has some great videos and DVD's that explain this.


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## elisabeth (May 3, 2010)

Not sure if we can post links (please remove if we can't) but here is a great link of a dog who understands "finding the leg".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Em57CqUZ2bE


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

]


gabbys mom said:


> I suspect I define heel position differently. I require heads up, eyes on me, animation, etc. Heel is WORK. That is a lot for 3-4 minutes for a young dog- under 2 years- 20 minutes is crazy.
> 
> Oh, and how I walk my dogs is how a lot of trainers walk theirs....Walks are their time--- as long as they aren't being crazy rude they can sniff, go within a certain radius of me, etc- my dogs spend enough time working (for example, my golden competes in multiple venues) that I am not going to force his walk to be work time too.


I agree with this completely. For me, heel is always animated and engaged; walk time is off leash. Yes, they will/do occasionally walk on a nice loose leash, but I wouldnt call it "heel". I want "heel" to be electric and precise. I have to find a video of Neil and his baby golden Flame at Crufts, bc they have a quality I really admire in their heeling even though it's not perfect. It is joy, I think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JbPdkKOA0Y

This video of DeeDee Anderson and Dream is how Tally and I studied for our CD and now our CDX. . .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41lYXu27las&feature=related


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## gabbys mom (Apr 23, 2008)

Ranger said:


> gabbys mom - thanks for clarifying. I guess what i'm trying to say is that I expect Ranger to stay in heel position for the duration of the walk, not necessarily doing heel work. I don't think it's too much to ask him to stay focused and stay next to me for an hour at a time...since I'm not asking him to be animated or keep his head up, etc. All he has to do is not get ahead of me and pay attention when i turn or slow down.


Ha, I still think that's a fair bit of work for a young dog- humans walk BORING. I think you either need to shorten your walks a lot or loosen your standards until your dog gets older.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

Ranger said:


> gabbys mom - thanks for clarifying. I guess what i'm trying to say is that I expect Ranger to stay in heel position for the duration of the walk, not necessarily doing heel work. I don't think it's too much to ask him to stay focused and stay next to me for an hour at a time...since I'm not asking him to be animated or keep his head up, etc. All he has to do is not get ahead of me and pay attention when i turn or slow down.



I will have to agree with others here and say in my opinion you are not being fair to your dog - regardless of age. The "walk" should be a time for the dog to explore, sniff, sight see and take in the surroundings. Noow if during that "walk" you decide that you want him to "work" for a minute or two so you can use those surroundings as a distraction - fine. JMHO


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Interesting to see the different points of view about walk time. I've always been taught, and trained other dogs accordingly, that walk time is about paying attention to the person, not a free for all. 

To be honest, I don't see how expecting my dog to walk next to me and pay a minimal amount of attention on me is too much for him. Off leash parks and 8 hour weekend hikes are when he gets to sniff around and be silly. 

Maybe if I was training him "obedience heeling" and seperating that from our walks, I can see letting him relax during walk times. Unfortunately, he'll never be an obedience dog since he's a rescue and unregisterable. 

I was just curious to learn and looking for the different ways people have taught their dogs to walk next to them since the training I'd done on other dogs isn't working to the same effect on Ranger, for whatever reason. Thanks to those with suggestions - I've tried using a few ideas and I think we're making progress! We were for about an hour last night and he was with his head at my knees almost the whole way with few corrections.


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## AmbikaGR (Dec 31, 2007)

Curious what the exact "purpose" of the hour walk is? 
Is it training?
Is it exercise?
Is it to go "potty"?

And I can't recall any book I have ever read on training - for competition or just on how to raise a pup - that preaches the dog should be at your side and pay attention to you and nothing else when on leash walks. But of course it is your dog and you can have whatever standards serve you best in your situation.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

We walk for a multitude of different reasons - mostly exercise, both physical and mental. Our long walks are more for for physical exercise so we go in a quieter area where there's less distractions. Our short walks are more mental and that's when we go through high traffic areas/by roads/lots of people. I don't like combining the two as I think too long of a walk expecting his best behaviour is too much for him at this point in his age/training. But on both walks I expect him to use his brain and pay attention and respond appropriately. 

Not to say he can't pay attention to anything BUT me on a walk. If he sees a bunny or a squirrel of course he's going to look at it and get excited and walk faster, which is acceptable. Trying to lunge at it or trying to get ahead of me to reach it and acting a fool/ignoring me is not acceptable. 

The whole time we're out walking he's looking around at things which is why I think it's good for him mentally AND physically. I don't think it's acceptable for him to get so interested in something he forgets there's a person holding his leash and start doing whatever he pleases. 

Again, I'm not expecting a "competive heeling position" with head up and eyes on me at all time, etc for an hour walk. I obviously used the term inappropriately (and later clarified it) that what I meant was having my dog AT MY SIDE for an hour walk. I don't care if he's looking at bunnies/looking at the sky/sniffing the ground occasionally - but I expect him to be in place and focusing on me more than he currently is. 

Maybe it's from having a background in horses where we're taught constantly that at ANY time you're spending with your horse you're either training it or untraining it, that makes me think an hour out of Ranger's day having to do what I want him to do isn't unreasonable.

Just to add: I don't usually consider our training sessions walking - yes, we work on (i'll use this term loosely) "heeling" exercises and other commands but I don't consider that a walk. I do expect him to carry out some of what he learns into our walks, though.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Ranger said:


> Unfortunately, he'll never be an obedience dog since he's a rescue and unregisterable.


</p> 
Sure he can, as long as he's neutered. AKC has accepted dogs they determine to most likely be purebred to compete for a long time now. They just started accepting mixed breeds this year.</p>


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

Crazy, I did not know that! I was always upset my little border collie X couldn't compete since he was SO good. We did the obedience school's mock trials (judged by an actual CKC judge) and he only got 5 pts knocked off his "CDX" score. At the time it seemed so easy but I guess I never realized how easy he was to train, with his willingness to please and his intelligence.


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