# Teaching a proper heel...



## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

I've never had an issue with teaching 'heel', but I've never gotten a heel where the dog's head is wrapped around and the dog is looking at you the entire time. How do you teach this? I'm waiting on a lot of things until we get to this trainer, but I really want to move forward with something....


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## Midnight12 (Jan 6, 2012)

I just posted on Mrs K video post that I can't get my dog to do this either


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

There are several threads on the subject. Do a search with the words focused heeling and many will show up.


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## Meeka (Sep 24, 2012)

I'm working on teaching my 14 weeks old pup to heel. No luck yet. Any tips would greatly be appreciated!! 


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## TrentL (May 10, 2011)

Draven has learned everything but heel lol FRUSTRATING!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

It's actually pretty easy once you break it down.

1) Teach your dog eye contact
2) Teach your dog to walk with his head up by luring him. Hold a treat right above his head so he has to look up at it and walk. When he takes steps without bothering the treat but looking up at it, reward him. Add steps as you go.
3) Teach him the position. I taught this by teaching Perch. It's fun for the dogs and as they move faster and faster, they will swing around into the heel position.

Once they have mastered all three steps, then put it all together. Get 2 focused steps, then 5, 10, 50.


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

My problem is my dog won't do it if she knows I don't have treats with me! Even with corrections, her focus heeling is very brief. Look at you for 2 seconds, then look away. Tell her to do it multiple times again, then 2 seconds, away. With treats, she's actually pretty good. Why? Maybe I should start a new thread.... other things I can wean her off treats. But this darn focus heeling....


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

build up the drive by first circling asking for different positions(ups, turns, backs) then go into heeling at a quick pace, and use uh-uh or some leash jingling or light collar pops(have the leash under the chin for this) when the dog turns eyes off you. As soon as the focus returns, reward. Ball/tugs are good for building drive too. My dog is flat when he works for food, so I use and change up his toys often to keep him engaged. But ultimately I want him to work for ME and my praise/interaction.
Bridget Carlsen has some free vid clips on her site that shows how to get enthusiasm.


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

onyx'girl said:


> build up the drive by first circling asking for different positions(ups, turns, backs) then go into heeling at a quick pace, and use uh-uh or some leash jingling or light collar pops(have the leash under the chin for this) when the dog turns eyes off you. As soon as the focus returns, reward. Ball/tugs are good for building drive too. My dog is flat when he works for food, so I use and change up his toys often to keep him engaged. But ultimately I want him to work for ME and my praise/interaction.
> Bridget Carlsen has some free vid clips on her site that shows how to get enthusiasm.


Thanks for pointing that out. She is pretty flat or bored looking when I ask her to do it without treats. Will try to be more interesting.


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## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

We'll be working more on this. I just ordered a martingale collar for him, as well as that "ultimate leash". I've had him on just a flat, leather collar... but he's stubborn and correcting him on that is like trying to stop a train with your bare hands.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

my dog doesn't look up at me when he's heeling but
i think he has a solid heel. the side of his head stays
near my knee. he heels on either side with or without
a leash. if i want him to switch sides i say "other side".
i get a step ahead of him and goes behind me and comes
up on the other side in a heel positon. when my GF an i
are walking hand in hand our dog will walk between in a heel
position. we can also walk straight, do figure 8's, serpentines,
circle right or circle left. so, if your dog isn't looking up at you 
when heeling does that mean it's not a proper heel? when we're
walking down the street or wherever we are i'm not sure if i
want him looking up at me.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

For competitive obedience(including IPO), judges want the dogs attention on the handler. For walking about town, I would never expect or want that.


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## Bear L (Feb 9, 2012)

Jag said:


> We'll be working more on this. I just ordered a martingale collar for him, as well as that "ultimate leash". I've had him on just a flat, leather collar... but he's stubborn and correcting him on that is like trying to stop a train with your bare hands.


Not sure if you are directing that at learning the focus heel. In case you are, when my dog first learned the focus heel there was no corrections but lots and lots of happy tone and treats. The correction didn't come till much much later, after he knows what focus heel is and I'm trying to lengthen the time of the focus when I knew she could but she is just distracted. It was similar to the method that Jax described. The hard part for me is keeping that focus for a really long time without breaking any focus, or when someone passes by, especially a dog! I think part of that will come as my dog (almost 1 now) matures. Have you seen the engagement video from Michael Ellis? That was how I started and my trainer helped me to take it further. I'd run around with her as a puppy with treats in my hand and treating her as she runs next to me. We did circles, back and forth, all over the place kind of play run in the yard. That made her super happy - running next to me and the treats. This is before she learns how to walk on the leash. When she was old enough to learn to walk next to me, that's when she was taught the focus heeling. 

Now if she knows I've the treat bag with me, she'd do focus heeling without being asked for treats. 1/2 the time I give in because I felt bad not rewarding her for straining her neck for that long. :laugh:


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

so, a dog is trained to heel for the ring. what kind of
heel does the dog when you're walking around town?
is he looking at you or looking straight ahead or wherever?



onyx'girl said:


> For competitive obedience(including IPO), judges want the dogs attention on the handler. For walking about town, I would never expect or want that.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I would say walking around town should be a pleasant experience for the dog and handler...so the dog should look around and check in with the handler often(GSD's should be aware of their surroundings instinctively!)
The dog shouldn't pull or be reactive, just walking casually at the pace the handler sets. 
This thread is geared towards the obedience style of heeling, not the 'lets walk'.


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

got cha!!



onyx'girl said:


> I would say walking around town should be a pleasant experience for the dog and handler...so the dog should look around and check in with the handler often(GSD's should be aware of their surroundings instinctively!)
> The dog shouldn't pull or be reactive, just walking casually at the pace the handler sets.
> 
> >>>>This thread is geared towards the obedience style of heeling, not the 'lets walk'. <<<<


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

Actually, there is a difference between luring and them pushing into your hand and driving for the food. 

With the luring, I have not had much success, however, with them pushing for the food, they not only learned the muscle memory to keep their head up over long distances but they also started to collect themselves earlier. 

I basically have all the videos from the very beginning until now, how we started off with the training, like from how she learned sit, down, stand etc up until now. The reason it took so much longer for us to get where we are now is because off all the breaks we've had in between. Now that we have a regular training group, it's like "BOOM BOOM BOOM!" you can see the progress. 

This is from the early beginnings of how we started heeling. Including crate games, formal re-call, perching, etc. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5lWxHHaF2M&feature=relmfu

This was a little after that
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--pyhuUJg1U&feature=channel&list=UL

Than to this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rk_Kdx8J0U&feature=channel&list=UL

After that I switched from DZ to Marcus Hamptons Training Group (ps: not because I don't like DZ, she is absolutely amazing but because I needed a regular training group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AohgGLfVdg&feature=channel&list=UL

Basically last training session before we switched to the ball, you can already see how we mixed the ball with the food
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kg0i3nYTmJE&feature=channel&list=UL

However, it also depends what kind of toy you use. Those rope balls are fun but I don't like handling them in obedience. I like the hard balls with a short rope much much better. 

First steps with the ball instead of the food and you can see that I used my right hand instead of having the ball underneath my arm pit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ5EqF5G6eo&feature=channel&list=UL

And now it is like this. Much easier with having the ball underneath the arm pit. Believe me, it was a trial to switch to the ball because she is so driven and I believe I sent like a message to Elisabeth, Liesje etc. because she tore up my hands and I was green and blue and almost walked crying off the field because of it. LOL
Now, with the right ball, the right technique... OMG SUCH A DIFFERENCE!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haJtYYHeKeo&feature=channel&list=UL

Anyhow, not sure if that helps, but that's how we started out, and I believe, a solid foundation is the key. The right trainers or a good spotter and a solid foundation.


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## Jag (Jul 27, 2012)

Yes, sorry! I've had all previous shepherds heeling just fine, but this guy I plan to take to trial. 

No, I haven't seen the vid, but I've seen clips (I think) of it. I was trying tonight to get some good loose lead walking going, but Grim is just nose to the ground and plowing on forward. No, I don't plan on using correction for focus. Sorry, I am skipping all over tonight I guess! I'm going to stop thinking about focused heeling right now and just work on focus. However, I see no reason why we can't have a nice loose lead walk other than he's the most STUBBORN pup I've ever seen! :crazy:


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## Mrs.K (Jul 14, 2009)

onyx'girl said:


> I would say walking around town should be a pleasant experience for the dog and handler...so the dog should look around and check in with the handler often(GSD's should be aware of their surroundings instinctively!)
> The dog shouldn't pull or be reactive, just walking casually at the pace the handler sets.
> This thread is geared towards the obedience style of heeling, not the 'lets walk'.


Ditto! Even though Nala is always ready to explode when we walk. She's like "Come on, this is boring, let's do something else." and jumps in circles. But a lot of that is just her personality.


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## Midnight12 (Jan 6, 2012)

Mrs. K Thanks fpr posting videos seeing them helps alot.


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