Right Side Heel. Oops.

[MelissaHoyer]

I think it is great that to teach heeling on both sides. Otherwise, you might end up with an agility dog who only wants to run on your left side lol...that's what happened with my Grace

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted By: 2SableGirlsI think it is great that to teach heeling on both sides. Otherwise, you might end up with an agility dog who only wants to run on your left side lol...that's what happened with my Grace

Yep, if you take agility classes they'll make you practice everything on both sides. I think competitive obedience is the only thing you need a left side heel for. As Bonnie already mentioned, not only do you not need a formal heel for a CGC, it doesn't matter which side the dog is on as long as the leash is loose and the dog is under your control.

I need to start working with Halo on my right, so far I've only walked her on my left and I think she may be a fine agility dog as she's small, fearless and extremely agile, so I may as well start getting her comfortable with being on my right side now.

[JerzeyGSD]

Originally Posted By: MaggieRoseLeeBTW, don't you walk 'facing' traffic along the road? I thought that's the way I was taught just for people in general. If you then add a dog to that, the safest place is the dog on the left.

YES! I was just about to say this. The rule is ride with traffic but walk against it. I think that this is why the heel side is generally on the left because then the dog is on the inside of the road while you're closer to the traffic (and a driver is more likely to see you since you are standing vs. a dog that is on four legs and, thus, lower to the ground.)

[doggiedad]

teach her to heel on both sides. i use the commands "heel right" and "heel left".

[Ucdcrush]

I use "heel" for the left, and "right" for the right. Riku, my older dog, walks on the "right" and he knows that's his position when we are walking with Tuki, who is on my left. He now goes there almost automatically, and if not, a gentle reminder with leash pressure gets him there..

I have also tried walking with Riku on the left and Tuki on the right, and since there is another dog where they usually are and I don't let them cross over, they just kind of go with it and walk no matter what side they're on.

I would echo what the others say, and walk against traffic with the dog towards the houses and yourself towards the cars.

[Dainerra]

also, if you have no sidewalks, you need to be walking on the LEFT side of the road. that way, cars closest to you will be coming from the front, where you can see them instead of flying up from behind. much safer for you and the dog!

[LisaT]

Originally Posted By: Wisc.TigerI was taught Heel traditional left side and "Side" for right side heel.

Hey, that's how Indy was trained -- I never knew I was being traditional!!

I like reserving "left" and "right" for actually turning in those directions, and, for Max, I use "about" to turn around.

[GSDElsa]

Well, like I said before, the going with traffic thing was my own faux pas I guess from years of biking. This is my first dog in this area of the US. All the previous dogs were exclusively hiking and mountain biking dogs, so literally almost never were on surface streets. I was just going with the biking mentality--which is most definitely going WITH traffic.

So I guess we'll be coming up with a new command for left heels and walking on the other side of the street! Despite my mistake, I'm glad that I taught her right side first anyway since she'll be biking a lot with my husband and I, and that inherently has many more risks than walking/running does. It's much better that she's got the right side down pat.

HOPEFULLY we'll get her into agility. We really want to, but I know it takes a lot of time! We can to teach her and get her more comfortable with basic commands.

[Dainerra]

I agree completely Rayden knows to heel on either side from his time working as my service dog. I never taught another command though, I would just say "heel" and indicate with a point where I wanted him. guess it's a good thing he's smarter than me!

[Effie325]

I teach my dogs both. I don't do formal staring-at-my-face heelwork unless I am training trick heeling or trying my hand at musical freestyle, though. But any dog I work with learns to walk nicely on either side without pulling or lagging, and to sit when I stop.