# Training Heel



## frillint1 (Sep 2, 2010)

So I have 2 things I want to teach Chief. One to not go to crazy when the door bell rings. This will be fairly easy just take practice. The second thing I want to do is teach Chief heel. This is something iv never done before. I never tried it with Smokey. I want to do it to broaden my ability and to teach chief something new. This won't be for any kind of competition or anything so it may not end up totally perfect. I plan on watching videos tonight but would love tips ir any really good videos or articles you know of. Chief is not clicker trained. I tried when I first got him but he was super scared of the sound. 

Things he know now: Sit, Down, Speak, close kitchen cabinets, bow, roll over, shake, high five, jump, beg, turn in circles, go to bed, stay, down/sit at distance, two paws up on my arm and probably some that I can't think of. 

Thanks for your help. I very excited to try something iv never tried before


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## gsdlover91 (Jul 21, 2012)

I would first work on clicker training - makes training everything else SUPER easy. For the heel, I start with a good foundation with eye contact from the basic position. I also teach rear end awareness with a perch/spins, and work on getting the dog to go to basic while on the perch, then moving around the perch/bowl with them next to my left side...and I lure with food to teach them the correct heel position while moving. After that foundation is solid, I use a toy and a lot of repetition... and eventually fade out the toy. Reward when heeling good, reward often. Keep it upbeat and happy. Its a lot of work! Easier if you break it down into steps.


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Will he chase a ball ?


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

You can replace the click with a marker word like "Yes!!!" and follow the same protocol as for clicker training. Heel is fairly easy to train. Every time he happens to walk next to you, you say "Yes!!" and give him a treat. He will quickly figure out which behavior gets him the good stuff. But try first without distractions around.


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## frillint1 (Sep 2, 2010)

gsdlover91 said:


> I would first work on clicker training - makes training everything else SUPER easy. For the heel, I start with a good foundation with eye contact from the basic position. I also teach rear end awareness with a perch/spins, and work on getting the dog to go to basic while on the perch, then moving around the perch/bowl with them next to my left side...and I lure with food to teach them the correct heel position while moving. After that foundation is solid, I use a toy and a lot of repetition... and eventually fade out the toy. Reward when heeling good, reward often. Keep it upbeat and happy. Its a lot of work! Easier if you break it down into steps.


 I would like to clicker, but the sound and the object itself scared him for some reason. He had a very abusive past so some stuff seems to make him really anxious. Iv never heard of a perch?... Upbeat isn't a problem for me. Thanks for the tips this is totally new for us but I'm extremely excited to start. I want to get to be able to move around any direction and have him follow. 



Steve Strom said:


> Will he chase a ball ?


 No. He doesn't have a ball drive. He is extremely food motivated though



wolfy dog said:


> You can replace the click with a marker word like "Yes!!!" and follow the same protocol as for clicker training. Heel is fairly easy to train. Every time he happens to walk next to you, you say "Yes!!" and give him a treat. He will quickly figure out which behavior gets him the good stuff. But try first without distractions around.


 That is the maker word I have been using actually . I would like to get to be able to move around any direction and have him follow.


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Before you try moving, just have him sit and you step into heel position. Keep rewarding him for looking up. Try building up the time he'll stay interested right there first. Then release him and let him move around. See if he feels pressured by that and if moving around helps him.


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## Jake and Elwood (Feb 1, 2014)

Our trainer taught us the following: Flat buckle collar….dog on left side…..treats in left pocket, leash in right hand. Use left hand to give treats. Have dog sit and reward with treat. Start on left foot and walk at a brisk pace…treat often at first at left side…encourage dog's head at left leg. When dog pulls just stop and be patient. Eventually dog will look at you……reward the look and lure with a treat back to your left side….start walking again. Every time dog pulls….just stop…don't say a word….he will quickly learn to come back to your left side in order to walk again. It's working pretty well with our 6 month olds.
Good luck!


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## Lilo_vom_Haus_Weislogel (Oct 26, 2014)

Whatever you do teach them that heel is a position, not a movement. If you teach them healing means to sit at your left heel then you can always add movement later. If you just want the dog to walk close to you use something like "close" for a command. Or if you don't care about the heeling position just use heel for them walking close.


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## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

I recently taught captain "heel". I say that in quotations because it is not an actual heel, nor would it win any k9 sporting competitions, but it's good enough for me. It's more of a "walk close to my left leg". He is just a family dog that I wanted to train to never walk in front of me, and stay close by my left side for safety reasons when walking in the neighborhood. If this is your situation then read on:

For Captain I never used a clicker. I didn't use an e collar, a prong collar, choke chain, etc... What I did use was, my chuck it, a flat collar, a 6 ft leash, my hand, my voice, hand signals.

I am going to explain to you how. I did it but please know that Captain is an easy dog, that pretty much does anything I say and is even tempered. If your pup is higher energy, and more difficult this may not work for you. 

First step:

Take your dog out and exercise him. Make sure he is nice and tired. Get him some water and a little break.

2. Take him out to the front if your house with a flat collar, leash on the collar.

2 and a half. Lol. Keep training sessions short the first few times. 5-10 minutes. As he starts to get it, you can increase to normal walks.

3. Start walking him slowly. Have a confident body stance, look ahead, walk with confidence. 

4. Have your dog on the left side. The moment your dog pulls ahead, give a verbal marker like "uh uh!" While simultaneously touching his neck or side with your finger. Once he stops for a second to look at you and find out why you just touched him, put your hand (like your doing a stop hand signal) in front of his face. Not touching his face, just in front. 

5. With your hand in front of his face, say slooooww and start with your left foot walking slowly with him. The hand should block him from moving in front of you. After a few seconds, go ahead and take your hand out of his face, and continue walking.

6. If he pulls ahead again, say "uh uh!" Touch with finger, then say slowww, putting your hand in front again if you need to. If he walks calmly next to you, say in a calm voice/ soothing voice "good boy". Possibly even a gentle pet on the head. I personally dont use high pitched excited voices to praise the walk because I don't want him to think its fun time and he can pull ahead! 

7. Keep practicing this, in a place with very little distractions at first. Eventually you can phase out the hand in front, and the touching. Just a verbal uh uh! Should be enough. In the beginning I walked with a chuck it so if he tried to pull ahead I would block him with it like a (do not pass go! Do not collect $200!) haha! , and he couldn't move forward. 

8. When you get to a certain point, verbal praise and petting will be unnecessary unless you really want to? The reward will be that he gets to walk without stopping or being reprimanded with an uh uh!

9. Every now and then tell your dog "okay go!" With a little nudge so he can get out of a heel and go sniff and smell and have fun. Heel takes a lot of concentration for a dog, and they need a break every now and then. I give captain a break every few hundred feet. When I do, I don't walk with him pulling ahead in front of me. Instead I stand still but give the leash slack, so he can go around and sniff in one area.

10. Make him sit at intersections.

11. Practice pivoting. While you are walking with him on your left side, stop. Then with your left foot first, do an about face and start going the opposite direction. If he gets too far away from your left leg, pat your left thigh and make kissy sounds so he gets close again. Say good boy and continue walking like normal. Eventually you can phase out the praise once he gets it in regards to turning.

Phew!! That was a lot! That was my very basic/simpleton way of doing a sort of heel. Captain so far, does not have a perfect heel, but I am okay with that, we won't be competing in anything. To the untrained eye, most people think it looks like a heel because it is close enough.


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