Teaching a proper heel...

[Jag]

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....

[Midnight12]

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

[onyx'girl]

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

[Meeka]

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]

Draven has learned everything but heel lol FRUSTRATING!


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[Jax08]

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.

[Bear L]

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....

[onyx'girl]

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.

[Bear L]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

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.

[Jag]

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.