How long did it take you to train your dog to heel nicely?

[jennyp]

So Brody is 8 months and is coming along really well in training but we're still having a hard time with heel. He's always trying to keep ahead of me. I've tried treating him when he heels nicely, turning around abruptly when he pulls, stopping and making him sit, correcting him with the leash. He just doesn't seem to be getting the concept and I feel like at this point after months of work he should be getting it. He not pulling me around or anything drastic, it's just that he's always trying to stay slightly ahead of the heel position. Ideally, I'd like for his shoulder to line up with my thigh but he's always trying to stay a foot or so ahead. My mom says "Oh he's still a puppy, he'll learn" but I feel like this is an issue. Am I expecting too much of him at this age? Does the concept of where to be in relation to my body take time to sink in or should I be trying something else?

[Cassidy's Mom]

Are you planning on competing in obedience? If not, is it crucial that he be in that exact spot? If he's not pulling and he's still next to you, even if some other part of his body is lined up with your thigh rather than his shoulder, is it really that important to you? (You can say yes, I'm just asking!) How fast do you walk?

Keefer has a naturally fast pace and his positioning is much better if I keep up with his pace rather than having to fight with him to slow down and walk with me. Since our walks are for MY exercise more than his (I consider leash walks for my dogs to be more about training than exercise), a fast pace is fine. Halo walks fine on leash at any pace, but I've spent many months and hundreds of hours walking hundreds of miles with her, and it wasn't until after I taught her to walk nicely on leash that I went back and started working with Keefer, who is over 3 years older.

I don't need a perfect competition heel with either dog, so I have more relaxed criteria for a loose leash walk, but I am consistent in what I expect.

[doggiedad]

i taught my dog to heel on either side with
or without a leash. i try to keep his eyes
aligned with my knee. i don't remember exactly
how long it took to teach him to heel. i worked
on it night and day, indoors and outdoors.
i work in sessions. each session last 5 to 10 minutes.
i had many sessions during the course of a day. i think
heel is harder to teach than somethings because
it's a moving position your dog has to hold. i don't know why
but it seems like a dog always wants to be ahead of you.

keep working on heel. make it fun. i wouldn't
do leash corrections or any other kind
of correction at this point because your dog
doesn't know what you're correcting him for.
when you're teaching your dog to heel work
on it in short distances. end the session
on a positive note. as your dog learns make the distance
longer. then start doing circles left and right, figure 8's
and serpentines.

when i was teaching my dog to heel
i held him position by shortening the leash.

[Jack's Dad]

I agree with Cassidy's Mom that if your not competing and he's not pulling no big deal. I happen to be more comfortable with his head closer to the established heel position but it has more to do with me than a problem with him. My wife likes him more where you say your dog walks. What I did to have him where I want him is take a light piece of PCV pipe and just put it in front of him. It only took a couple of minutes of repeating putting the little cane like pipe where I wanted him and he picked it up fine. Nobody freak out I did not hit him with it. Just placed it where I wanted him. Now he has a heel in one place for me, one for my wife, and everone is happy.

[PaddyD]

I have taught other GSDs to heel in as little as 30 seconds, depending on the dog.
I have not taught Abby to heel and she is 2. I have found no occasion or location
that warrants it. She is good on the leash or off.
It depends on your circumstances.
30 years ago when I was training heel we used training (choke) collars but they are
no longer politically correct. That is because most people don't know how to
use them without hurting their dogs.

[Emoore]

I'm a bit confused on what you want. The true "heel" position you're describing-- exactly at your left side-- is more of a competition heel and is difficult for the dog to sustain for very long. It requires a lot of concentration on his part. It's like expecting your husband or wife to waltz with you through the aisles while you're grocery shopping but you keep turning around and going different directions and stopping to grab soup.

Most people, when they're out for a walk, are content with the dog just being on a lose leash at their side, not zig-zagging around too much.

Teaching a good loose leash walk at teaching a formal heel are two totally different things.

[jennyp]

No, I'm not doing competition, it's more that I feel that he's dictating the pace of the walk by wanting to rush ahead. I can't really walk slow with him at this point, I'm just keeping up with him. I've even gotten shin splints from going at his pace. So I just want him to be relaxed at my side and to be in tune with me. And go at MY pace. But now I know I should ease up on where his head is exactly, I didn't know it was so difficult to maintain. Thanks everyone!

[paulag1955]

Shasta settles into the same position, too, with her waist aligned with my thigh. I'm trying to get her to drop back a bit, too, if only so that she doesn't keep walking until she hits the end of the leash when I stop. I'd like her to maintain a position where she can see what I'm doing. But I'm not complaining too much...yesterday was the first time I've been able to walk her without the prong collar since she was 6 months old.

[Jack's Dad]

If he is rushing you to the point of getting shin splints then he is pulling you. That is not loose leash. You should work with someone who walks their dog loose leash to see what you are or are not doing correctly. Treats are about timing and so are corrections. If you use corrections they should be done quickly and back to loose leash. I really think it is better demonstrated. Maybe a class. If it's just the heel maybe just one individual lesson would be enough.

[Emoore]

Originally Posted by Jack's Dad

If you use corrections they should be done quickly and back to loose leash. I really think it is better demonstrated. Maybe a class.

Yup, exactly. It's easy to teach if you know how, but like many things, you have to learn how. A class or lesson might be in order, even if it's just with someone you know who knows how to teach it.