# Improving heeling



## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

I am not sure of the style of ring obedience heeling is popular in Australia. But I would look into Bridget Carlsen - Competition Obedience Training and Leerburg Dog Training | 17,500 pages of dog training information, 750 free dog training streaming videos, free eBooks, podcasts, by Ed Frawley and Michael Ellis for expert heeling advice and videos. 
You might want to re-post this in the Obedience forum since that is more geared for competition. Do you have some videos we can critique?


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## Sarah_85 (Dec 5, 2008)

thanks for the links, ill be sure to check it out and to post in the other thread..

i dont have any videos but i could easily get someone to make a video of us


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## Ljilly28 (Jan 22, 2008)

Choose To Heel by Dawn Jecs is a very fun and effective heeling game that works. Another great resource is Denise Fenzi/ Pocket Hand Heeling. Denise has a few books and online courses on heeling.


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## ellisda1 (Jul 24, 2013)

If it's fun, and rewarding, heeling can be a great game. Start with rewarding lots of constant eye contact, especially while walking. Luna still tends to get a little distracted when we train, but I've learned a couple of tricks that helped immensely. I use small training treats from Trader Joes. I put one on my lip (it sticks there) and start heeling. Luna LOVES treats, and she'll end up in perfect position while watching that treat. I'll encourage her as we walk, stop, turn, etc. When we stop and she sits, I drop (spit...) the treat and she catches it. I've learned that if I treat from my hand, Luna watches my hands instead of me - that's a problem both for obedience and for agility. Once correct position is learned, you can fade the treat (but you can always bring it back if your dog starts to tune out). Luna got her AKC CD at 12 months at her first weekend show. Even at 16 months, I still carry a loaded treat bag whenever we're out so that I can reward learning. FWIW...


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## SwimDog (Sep 28, 2014)

Can you find a video to share what you want your heeling to look like so we know what style you are working towards?

Some of the ones listed here are very, very different in appearance.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KvDUapBQbU

^ This should help. 

More than what she's specifically training Saucy to do here, the important take away is "HOW" she's training Saucy to do what she wants. It's not asking for heel and walking 10-40 feet with the dog starting in heel position and then losing it. It's revving the dog up and building the attitude and position that you want. 

With my Jacks - drove me nuts how slowly we worked to build heel back then. It was literally weeks before we made it across the room doing straight line heeling. And then it was more weeks as we trained turns and footwork separate from heeling. 

But I've learned that the whole point of all that was he never learned to "get bored" while heeling. That's why his heeling was one of his strongest areas. And in obedience, majority of people lose points on heeling. And when you have novice (I'm assuming it's similar over there) being mostly heeling, that's a big difference from a high scoring run and one where you may have lost ten points on heeling alone. 

*** Should mention, I was cringing watching Bridget's video because I did know better with Bertie, but still trained heeling in a fairly slipshod way. I did not build the bits and pieces of heel position and attitude with him and it was something I had to concentrate on this year. I'm getting it now training with somebody who was very influenced by Bridget.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

I second Denise Fenzi and the "pocket hand" method - she has online classes that cycle every 8 months or so. Precision heeling is running right now and I'm very happy with the results I've gotten using this method with both of my dogs - one who is a driven, crazy boy puppy who will try, try again until he gets it right and one who is a sweet and sensitive girl who worries about being wrong and shuts down. 

Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - OB200: Precision Heeling

Then she has heeling games and advanced heeling classes coming up, but the precision heeling class is a prerequisite.


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## Sarah_85 (Dec 5, 2008)

We always have treats on hand when we train. I had been using martingale style collar both full material and the chain ones and I went on to a flat collar today and it helped. He is just a pretty relaxed dog. For our beginner level of obedience trials only requires a short heeling pattern. Just as long as you have a loose leash is the main thing. I think I do just need to make it more fun for him and don't over do the training. Don't give him time to get bored by it. Thanks everyone for the links etc. I'll be reading up in the morning


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