# Heel help?



## Finkie_Mom (Mar 2, 2010)

So we've been doing tons of "heel" work, and it's going well thus far. I have no intention right now on competing in formal obedience, but I would like to get in to rally-o if possible. With that in mind, I'm not sure how to progress as far as heeling goes. I am hopefully going to get in to a class focused on competing in obedience this summer, but for now I want to keep working. 

She's come a long way, but she's still sort of far from me most of the time, and her turns are super wide. Now, keep in mind, we have had so many issues with her focus so this video alone is a lot better than we were a few weeks ago. And of course, she's a bit closer to me in my house, but there's nowhere to really record that so outside will have to do for now. 

Any help is appreciated! 

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAgilitytraining?feature=mhum

She's super food motivated, so that's why you see me giving her a piece of cheese a couple of times. Keeps her with me if she knows that I do indeed have something yummy for her to work for. Any treating during will be phased out pretty soon 

ETA - There were people outside in their yards being loud (this is right before the Super Bowl started, and it was a very nice day out) so that's why she keeps looking in random directions, LOL. And at the end we definitely lose it, so I just have her finish with a jump before she totally blows me off and starts sniffing around hahaha.


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## petpeeve (Jun 10, 2010)

My suggestions:

If you can bring yourself to do it, discard the bait bag. For obedience, the dog should ALWAYS be on left side, so hold the treat in your closed left hand at waist level / belt buckle area. As you walk, the left arm should remain still while the right arm swings freely. Having the treat already in your hand will mean a faster and seamless delivery of it to the dog, rather than wasting precious time and energy reaching into the bag each time you wish to treat. You can keep multiple treats in your left hand or a couple of extra treats in your right hand for faster reloading of the left, if you wish. As long as the dog is consistently paid on the left, that's where he'll learn to be. 

Practise walking and mock feeding at the same time (in motion), without the dog.

Practice footwork without the dog. For about turns I like to do a "half step > T - L > half step", or similar. You can (should) feed the dog DURING the turn, at or about the "L", and deliver the treat VERY close to / AT your pant seam to prevent him from going wide.

Be careful when you start from a halt, that you are not stepping in towards the dog (even in the slightest) with your first step. Practising clockwise circles will help, and feed right at the first step, .. again in close to your pant seam.

Randomly feed DURING the heeling (in motion), and occassionally feed the halts as well. 

Don't be too hasty in phasing out treats quite yet. For the time being, RETAIN that motivation by using a high rate of reinforcement.

Also ... I noticed that your dog's attention was FANTASTIC for the first 14 steps, then you lost his attention. So, be aware and try feeding at thirteen steps etc BEFORE he loses focus.




Otherwise ? ... looks GREAT !!! :clap2:


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## RedyreRottweilers (Dec 17, 2006)

It is very important to get the bait off your person as soon as possible. I teach the dog to target my left palm, and I do NOT lure with bait for heel, heel position, or front position. Until the dog is PERFECT I don't do more than a few steps of heeling. I work up the length of the heeling very gradually, and make sure I am keeping attention, enthusiasm, and work continually on perfecting position.

I play all kinds of finding heel and finding front games with puppies. 

I agree with a high rate of reinforcement, cutting down on the length of heeling you expect, and reinforcing correct position. I have found that using the clicker is very very helpful with precision things like heel and front position.

I strongly encourage you NOT to lure with food, but to teach the dog to target your palm, and keep the food off your person. It is also helpful to vary widely the number of steps before you stop and reward. 2 steps, 8 steps, 1 step, 4 steps, 5 steps, 9 steps, 2 steps, etc.


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## dantero (Feb 2, 2011)

I can't watch the video right now (will try to watch it tonight) but when I'm teaching heeling I don't take more than a step or two until my dog understands their position very clearly. This means I can pivot in place on my right or left foot, both forwards and backwards, take 1 step back, 1 step to the side, 1 step forward, 1/4 turns, 1 step at an angle (any direction) etc without the dog loosing position. When we have that, then we start actually walking forwards and doing patterns. 

I also do not like to lure, I teach my dogs to focus on my face, regardless of where the reward is. This is how I teach focus http://www.dantero.com/focus.php 

The one time I will lure is when we are working on that first step, many times the dog will be sitting in heel giving focus, then as you take that first step they will drop their head as they are standing up, then go back to focus once they are walking with you. I will lure here, so they learn how to go from a sit to a stand/walk without dropping their head.


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## Finkie_Mom (Mar 2, 2010)

Thanks so much for the advice, everyone!

The bait bag was my fault... We usually don't train with one in my yard, but we came in from being on a walk in my neighborhood (the bag holds my keys and cell phone as well LOL), and, well, it stayed on me 

I will continue to work with lots of treats, and not phase them out too quickly. I guess I'm always nervous that she will become too dependent on them, ya know? But since this is a relatively new skill, I will keep them going.

OK so basically, just work on a few steps at a time when she's super close, reward, do a couple more, reward, maybe do one, reward, etc. Should she literally be touching me with her shoulder, or is a bit of space allowed in a proper heel? She's good at looking at my face (we've used that focus game you mentioned in your link, dantero, since she was a baby ), but I think maybe I'm trying to do too much too soon. Story of my dog-training life, hahaha. I will take a few steps back (literally!), and make sure that she's in a good position before moving on.

As far as finding her position if I move, she's pretty good at it (now, you have to remember I've never even owned a dog/puppy before her, let alone trained one, so I'm totally new at this!), but how do you work this? She tends to sit going backwards, rather than bringing her rear up, so she always ends up a bit behind. This also impacts her front, because she ends up about 6 inches away. She knows how to target my hand, so do I just make her target until she moves her rear up then reward once she gets it perfectly? Basically, let her get frustrated until she figures it out on her own?

And where exactly should your hands go? I like the idea of her targeting my palm like Red suggested, but I want to make sure I'm even doing that correctly, hahaha. If anyone has a good video, that would help, too! I'm so clueless


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