# Heeling ...



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I prefer the longer sessions at class. Because it's more like a show and tell thing and you are putting everything together. I like being able to work on his focus and I'll admit I love the feeling of having him gliding along next to me. 

At home, we just do bits and pieces. Generally these training sessions happen while I'm making supper just after coming home from work or just before bedtime. So I do quicky heels working on focus or rapid sits or wrap about turns. Or we doodle (pivots, etc) or weave around laundry baskets, or we work on other things (fronts, etc)....


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## The_Artful_Dodger (Mar 26, 2009)

Definitley short sessions - otherwise we would both get bored with it!


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

"it depends".

Mostly short, the exception being if I'm working on duration.... otherwise the math just doesn't work. We'll pick one part to work on and go do 10-20 some reps of that...then decide to do more of the same or more of a different aspect.


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## JDandBigAm (Aug 25, 2008)

I like to train short bursts of heeling too. I try to do a bit of heeling then on to what I want to work on such as jumping, retrieving dumbell etc. The last 2 times I took Jonah out to a parking lot to train I couldn't get him back into the van. I was so embarassed wrestling with a 70lb. dog who had all 4 paws pushing against the crate frame. I think he wanted to keep having fun.


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## Stretchdrive (Mar 12, 2011)

Definately short, and upbeats sessions. I used to heel my dogs to death, until I learned how it actually does more harm than good. Now I play then go straight into heel, then back to play, heel ect. I look back now, and wonder what my old Hank would have been like if I had known back then what I know now. I am actually having a lot more fun now too!!!


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

I do short, upbeat practices. I think I really harmed Casey by being too serious too soon, so now we play more, treat more and keep it quick. I was a newbie handler who though everyone else was training non stop (NOT). His change in attitude in the last few months has been amazing~!


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

I try to keep them short for the most part. This is actually why I don't like drop in obedience practices is that they heel FOREVER and it is so BORING. I don't want my dog to learn that. If I go I usually sit out for good portions of it. You will never heel that much in the ring--although I do think it is good measure to do longer sessions on occasion. As they say, train 110%, or beyond the exercise so the exercise itself is easier than what they are used to.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

How can heeling be boring? ! 

When we do the heeling at class, you are working against distractions, including the other dogs in the class, particulary those little biddy dogs you have to weave around. And the entire time you are both training for a flashier heel and having one of those dogs who does not take his eyes off of you for a second while you both are working. Heeling behind another dog, especially one in heat (which happens once in a while) is a lot more distraction than a dog will face in the ring. And our instructor puts dots on the floor and has toys and other distractions in and around the ring as more proofing. 

The one thing I hated about Jacks first year of novice classes was the lack of heeling. We'd start class off with 15 minutes of attention exercises which went into stand practice which took another 5 to 10 minutes. Oh and I forgot about pivots. Those took another 10 or 15 minutes. By the time we worked on straight line heeling, we still were not doing anything more than the bits and pieces. That's heel position, starting heel with attention and maintaining it for a couple steps, heeling forward and practicing turns, straight line group heeling where the class was divided into two groups heeling across the floor at each other and passing each other. All those things ended with us releasing our dog and cycling back to wait for our second turn. 

Now... as much as we benefited from all that practice, THAT was so boring. Jacks and I would be burned out and frustrated by the time we got to stays. *weeps*


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Grins - I am _so_ glad I am not in a minority  I read people saying they could heel forever, they love it so much and wonder if there is something wrong with me ...

My obedience instructor is always telling me to go to drop ins, but honestly if I am that bored with that much heeling, how can I expect my dogs to enjoy it?

I do need to start going to classes though, but perhaps switching off between all 3 dogs can make it more interesting; Casey needs to work around other dogs since they are a stress point for him (he has been attacked), Faelan and Towhee both need the distraction work and I need to get myself motivated LOL


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Happy said:


> I like to train short bursts of heeling too. I try to do a bit of heeling then on to what I want to work on such as jumping, retrieving dumbell etc. The last 2 times I took Jonah out to a parking lot to train I couldn't get him back into the van. I was so embarassed wrestling with a 70lb. dog who had all 4 paws pushing against the crate frame. I think he wanted to keep having fun.


LOL - yep been there  I now toss treats into the truck to 'help' them in. Plus the non-working dogs will be hanging out the windows and sometimes even barking to join in!


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

I'm not sure I know enough to say. Most people say that much heeling is boring and will make the dog hate it. But Boomer always likes heeling the whole time in drop in; maybe because there's food involved?

Do you think it depends on the dog? I was thinking today, Boomer always seemed to love obedience more than field work. I don't think Gladys likes heeling so much. I don't think she enjoys the half hour of heeling we do in drop in. I was thinking of taking time outs with her. She may be too young for that much heeling, although I see people doing it with even younger puppies.

I don't mind it, I don't find it boring, I like it. That's why I wonder if it depends on the dogs, just like us people, some of us like it and some hate it.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Just back from the Thu drop in; I brought Faelan and Towhee and switched them in & out. I was going to bring Casey as well but he went rabbit chasing yesterday and is feeling the effects today. It was actually kind of fun since there were frequent reward your dog breaks. And there was the greatest unplanned distraction!! While doing the Figure 8, a post had an dangling, recently played with, tug toy hanging at Faelan's nose level; LOL 

BTW: Jim was heeling Fealan for a bit while I took a break - he seemed taken aback at how well a swamp collie can feel while heeling LOL 

I think Boomer just loves doing anything with you; food or not  While Gladys is well, a hunt goddess; why settle for heeling when there are birds out there somewhere!



boomers_dawn said:


> I'm not sure I know enough to say. Most people say that much heeling is boring and will make the dog hate it. But Boomer always likes heeling the whole time in drop in; maybe because there's food involved?
> 
> Do you think it depends on the dog? I was thinking today, Boomer always seemed to love obedience more than field work. I don't think Gladys likes heeling so much. I don't think she enjoys the half hour of heeling we do in drop in. I was thinking of taking time outs with her. She may be too young for that much heeling, although I see people doing it with even younger puppies.
> 
> I don't mind it, I don't find it boring, I like it. That's why I wonder if it depends on the dogs, just like us people, some of us like it and some hate it.


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## FlyingQuizini (Oct 24, 2006)

Guess it depends on what you consider a lot of heeling...

Just now, I went outside to work on gloves, but I'd heel in between each glove since I was the one putting them out. I'd leave him in a sit, go place the glove, start walking away, call him to come do catch up heeling, we'd heel for 20 seconds or so and then set up for the next glove pivot.

Some days I'll do 2 continuous minutes of heeling, but with some crazy turns in there so it's not just the traditional heeling pattern. Some days I'll just work on heeling starts, making sure I'm keeping his attention as we step off.

I think I manage to get in a fair amount of heeling in each training session, but it's rarely all together.


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## JDandBigAm (Aug 25, 2008)

FlyingQuizini said:


> Guess it depends on what you consider a lot of heeling...
> 
> Just now, I went outside to work on gloves, but I'd heel in between each glove since I was the one putting them out. I'd leave him in a sit, go place the glove, start walking away, call him to come do catch up heeling, we'd heel for 20 seconds or so and then set up for the next glove pivot.
> 
> ...


At my obedience lesson last night we started crazy turns and stops at wierd intervals. I'm setting up jumps, gloves and cones before training then heeling, do something else, heeling, fronts, heeling, glove work and so forth. I think Jonah will find the change fun and I won't get bored.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I mostly do short bits of heeling, with longer sessions thrown in occassionally. Flip just had his first full length heeling pattern a few months ago, and he's only done that a handful of times since then. I guess I probably use the same ratio of short to long heeling practice as I do on leash to off leash heeling practice. A lot of the first to keep them sharp, a little of the second to make sure it's not something "new" to them in the ring.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> I guess I probably use the same ratio of short to long heeling practice as I do on leash to off leash heeling practice. A lot of the first to keep them sharp, a little of the second to make sure it's not something "new" to them in the ring


This is off topic, but you hit on something I somewhat discovered when I stopped using the leash for heeling at home. I prefer being offleash with him because it's easier - he pays more attention off leash. <- Considering how neurotic he is, it's probably because he thinks I'm the one on leash instead of him. And when that leash isn't there he suspects I'm going to get away from him. 

But I did start to get a little forging and sloppy heeling from him, so I had to go back to at least doing a little work each training session with "me" on leash to keep him sharp and paying attention to what he's supposed to do.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I like to heel mostly on leash because it is really hard to fix, or even feel, the small deviations from where they should be if they are off leash. If I have my dog on leash I put little to no slack in that leash and I can immediately feel when there is a problem and I have a quick way to get them back where they belong.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Loisiana said:


> I like to heel mostly on leash because it is really hard to fix, or even feel, the small deviations from where they should be if they are off leash. If I have my dog on leash I put little to no slack in that leash and I can immediately feel when there is a problem and I have a quick way to get them back where they belong.


I never take my eyes off of Jacks while heeling. When first teaching him to heel, we did a lot of those sits and "heel starts" and first ten steps and straight line heeling with a lot of focus on him learning to stay in heel position while moving. 

And a lot of that was me learning the sight picture of a good heel. So I have a mental picture of where his head and right shoulder need to be while we are heeling. If he's not right there in that space, then he's either forging, lagging, or wide. 

Whether I have the leash on or off, I try my best to make sure he does not know the difference until the correction happens. 

^ I even have a knot on my training leash from my Danny days to make sure the leash always stayed loose. <- That was the way I was taught though, and a lot of it was to correct ME. I was a compulsive puller during heel work back then. :


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