As a trainer, the one training request I receive most frequently is "I just want my dog to walk nicely on leash"!!! It's also the easiest thing to teach your dog to do well. A command or instruction is not taught well unless it is finished to the point where your dog can deal with the distracting situations of everyday life. This includes:
- Cars passing by
- Neighborhood cars
- Small children screaming in the neighborhood
- Dogs being walked by
- Off leash dogs perhaps rushing at you and your dog in play or with other intentions. (you would rather not be worrying about what your dog is doing in these situations. It's better to have your dog trust your judgement and caregiving).
- Squirell running up a tree in front of you
- Bikers, Skateboarders, Joggers,
There are two directions that I give my dog for walking nicely on (and off) leash. There is "let's go" which means do not pull on the lead (or it means comes towards me if they are off lead). Then there is the command that most owners think is "too fancy" or an impossibility, which is the heel.
The heel is no harder to teach than walking nicely (ie not pulling) on a "let's go" command. The "let's go" command is used for informal walks where you don't mind that your dog sniffs the dandelions or marks the tree. You only mind that the dog does not put pressure on the leash. The heel is a position that the dog must take. This command is great for getting a dog to focus on what they are doing (as opposed to the dog walking directly towards you for instance) or for when you are holding or handling something else, and really don't want to trip over your dog. Heel is also great for city type situations so they don't wrap their leash around everything and everybody.
Below is a video of me and dog/human reactive American Pit Bull Terrier, Gigi, taking our first city walk in the town of Portsmouth NH. She walked by two dogs and did amazingly well
Not the best heel I have ever seen, but Gigi was just beginning to learn about distractions (especially ones that she wanted to attack) vs walking well on leash and trusting me to keep us safe.
This video of Jackie and I doing a run thru, is a better example of what a more fully trained heel (complete with auto sit) should look like.
http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=+%22Jackie+Run+Thru%22&emb=on##
Jackie was a dog that I despaired of ever being in public off leash, never mind competing off leash! He earned his Companion Dog last 5/2008 (which means he had to have an acceptable heel, among other things, both on and off lead), and is now being readied for open competition. Whether this is in a ring or on the street, a well trained heel should look essentially the same. You may need to make allowances for an unexpected elephant in the middle of the road LOL, but the dog should be prepared and trained for any expected distractions.
The first week of training should be all about space and staying in the owners space. This is done with posted on this blog called "sit on the dog".
The second week begins with a dog walking with the owner between two points on longe line from days 1-3. I go into this in more detail in my training manual, but simply all the owner needs to worry about is walking between the two points without speaking to or paying much attention to the dog. I change this up a bit for puppies and some other individual needs. Until I mention it, this is all in very mildly distracting venues.
The second week days 4-6, you have notated some things that distracted your dog in your immediate area. You probably know of some without even observing your dog during this process (open doors, open gate, end of driveway, cat, kids, neighbors, food). Now it's time to set your dog up with these distractions, but the owner moves in the opposite direction every time the dog is not paying attention. This sets the dog up for the need to learn to pay attention to you, because "Dog Knows" where you might go next. Your dog needs to keep an eye on you now, so he doesn't loose you
The whole point of this is you are getting your dog to think this is THEIR great idea. Staying near you is the only way to keep tabs on you.
The second week on day 7, you begin preparing for heel work but still on the longe line (15-20 feet of line that you have kept completely slack this whole time). This means that you move in the opposite direction as soon as the dog starts to get anywhere near five feet away from you. At this point, and for most dogs, when they see you move they will go towards you immediately. Most dogs do not get to the end of the line at this point.
Exercises like this can be modified in a bunch of different ways to the needs of your client. My mastiff client, Baby Bella, has a spidery toy that is dangled to have her dash up. Treats work as well. For the right temperament of dogs, a knowledgeable and well trained correction helps them right along. For corrections, the point is that it needs to be done well, it's not appropriate to nag or choke on the dogs neck.
The next week, you are working on the heel. If you are going to be sloppy on easy things like position and leash handling, then this will be a waste of time for you. You also want a trainer that knows the importance of these things. It is not hard at all to do this correctly, and it confuses me every time why someone would not train a heel in the correct manner, whether for competition or a walk down the street. It's just not that difficult, especially if you are a knowledgeable trainer.
These directions take up pages and pages with good information, so I won't print them here. Plus, if you don't know what you are doing, it's best to have a knowledgeable trainer guide you through the process. At some point, you are rotating locations that you are practicing your exercises which have built a language one word at a time for your dog. I pick four different outdoor areas and two different indoor areas that I do my training. You are working your dog about an hour a day 6-7 days a week while you are doing this. Someone who will be successful will do this cheerfully, patiently, consistently, and enjoy the process.
In the end, the most awesome gift and reward that you will give your dog is increased time with you and increased freedom. No treat or toy in the world trumps that:)
You will notice in my pictures AND video that the leash is completely loose. This is how it should looke with a dog in the midst of training or a trained dog. Any tightness of the leash is manipulating an untrained dog.
Regarding equipment, I personally do not like head halties or harnesses that cinch under the arm pits, as the correction never stops even if the dog is walking correctly. These tend to rub sensitive dog's skin raw and make it uncomfortable to walk!! Not my personal goal for my or my client's dogs.
Regarding classes, I prefer to offer private classes first, and only group classes to my students who have done the work. The reason? Well an instructor is not going to know all dogs in their class really well when they meet them for the first time, which could lead to some unexpected and not safe situations. Beyond that though, the human and canine do not get the one on one attention that they deserve to work with this issue. You are starting with maximum distraction which makes it hard for everyone to learn.
This particular posting was inspired by a question on mainpets.mainetoday.com.
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