Heeling Help!

R

ryanelguiri

Forums Regular
I know that heeling has been covered in class before, but it really is becoming a problem with Ella!!

She is extremely smart just like all shelties, and can learn commands no problem, but once she gets on the leash and outside, she refuses to heel. I've worked on heel with her in the house on and off lead, with her by my side with the clicker for weeks, and she does okay, but once outside its a different story (I'm sure everyone has heard this before).

She literally will start choking herself she pulls so hard. I had a harness but I don't want her to learn on that because if she pulls, she still isn't learning.

I've tried doing it with the clicker and treats, but it just excites her. I don't know what it is with her, but heeling she just cannot get a grip on.

I'm starting agility with her on March 28th , and even my trainer said, 'You aren't going to show her, why worry about heeling?'

But I won't have a shoulder left for long at this rate. I ordered Control Unleashed and it should be here in a day or two, so I'm excited to get under way with that, but any other suggestions you may have in the mean time would be helpful.

I also tried with a prong collar, but even though she acts tough on the outside, the correction was too much for her and really hurt her confidence as well as got tangled in her fur way too much.
 
Are you wanting a tight heel or are you just wanting loose leash walking? There is a huge difference and both have very different training methods. If you are just wanting her to walk nicely on a slack leash when outdoors, then there is no reason to train a tight heel.

For training loose leash walking she just has to learn that pulling does not get he where she want so to go. So start out walking, as soon as she hits the end of the leash, turn around and walk the other direction. Chances are, she will race ahead and pull again, at which point you turn around and walk the other way. There may be days when you never make it down the driveway, just keep turning back and forth for the whole duration of the walk time. That is fine, eventually she will learn that you are the one that chooses the direction and she has to pay attention to you in order to get anywhere.

This method doesn't necessarily need any treats, and certainly doesn't require any corrections. There is no scolding for hitting the end of the leash, and no jerking the leash as you turn around. Just a smooth movement that results in you walking the opposite direction than she is pulling.

A "heel" is a very unnatural movement for a dog to make and should not be done for extended periods like you would have on a walk. A nice heel requires that the dog be looking up at you while moving forward, this results in the dog craning their neck up and back, throwing off their natural gait. For brief periods (obedience or rally work, focus work through crowds, etc.) it is perfectly fine, but for long walks it is too much. A nice loose leash walk is all that is required if you just want to get from here to there without throwing out your shoulder.
 
Thanks GeeRome, I forgot to clarify.

I just want her to walk on a loose leash. Not heel right next to me. I don't even care if she goes out in front of me or lags a bit, just as long as she doesn't choke herself and pull super hard.

I'll try your method tomorrow and see how it goes!
 
GeeRome said:
Are you wanting a tight heel or are you just wanting loose leash walking? There is a huge difference and both have very different training methods. If you are just wanting her to walk nicely on a slack leash when outdoors, then there is no reason to train a tight heel.

For training loose leash walking she just has to learn that pulling does not get he where she want so to go. So start out walking, as soon as she hits the end of the leash, turn around and walk the other direction. Chances are, she will race ahead and pull again, at which point you turn around and walk the other way. There may be days when you never make it down the driveway, just keep turning back and forth for the whole duration of the walk time. That is fine, eventually she will learn that you are the one that chooses the direction and she has to pay attention to you in order to get anywhere.

This method doesn't necessarily need any treats, and certainly doesn't require any corrections. There is no scolding for hitting the end of the leash, and no jerking the leash as you turn around. Just a smooth movement that results in you walking the opposite direction than she is pulling.

A "heel" is a very unnatural movement for a dog to make and should not be done for extended periods like you would have on a walk. A nice heel requires that the dog be looking up at you while moving forward, this results in the dog craning their neck up and back, throwing off their natural gait. For brief periods (obedience or rally work, focus work through crowds, etc.) it is perfectly fine, but for long walks it is too much. A nice loose leash walk is all that is required if you just want to get from here to there without throwing out your shoulder.
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Thank you, Dayna! You have put this wonderfully! And a terrific training technique.

I've been bothered some by folk wanting to "heel" their dog, when what they really want is just a comfortable walk.

Question for you: I had Bacca doing well on loose leash until I brought Indy home. Now when I walk them, one or the other is hauling ahead. How does the technique work with two dogs, who take turns pulling at the leash? If I turn to "cancel" the dog pulling, the other dog gets turned as well, even if he was mostly loose leashing. Or do I have to take them out individually and train them individually! Yikes! I'll be exhausted (but very fit, I'm sure!) :eek2:
 
Hi Barb,

What you can try that may be less difficult than the turning around thing with two dogs, is just stopping when one of the dogs pulls. So instead of turning around, stop walking. Chances are, the dogs will pull a bit, then look back at you as if to say "YO! What's up? Why you stop?" Once there is some slack on the leash, continue moving forward. As soon as tension appears in either leash, stop moving again. This may be less awkward than turning around when you are dealing with two dogs.

Alternatively, something that may be required if the previous option doesn't work, is training them both separately. Yes, more work, but possibly necessary. You can even attempt to teach the basics in the backyard or basement with one dog on leash and the other dog off leash. So one dog is learning to walk without pulling while still having the distraction of the other dog around. And usually, when the family unit is moving, the whole family tends to follow along. So if you are walking around the yard with one dog on leash, chances are the other dog will begin to follow you around. With time, this can be moved out to the sidewalk for normal walks.

Good luck!
 
Great advice, Dayna!

Thanks so much!

Both ideas are very workable! The first technique, of course, I did when I first starting walking Bacca! Don't know how I forgot that.

And I love the idea of having one dog on leash, and another off. And getting them used to moving together and sticking together. This will be very helpful at the cottage this summer! I want the boys to stay together! Not having them take off in either direction when I let them loose!
 
I started walking Titan at about 10 weeks old and I found it really helped. He still bounces a bit on leash but is learning to walk quite nicely with a loose leash. I know he starts to pull when we get near to home and he knows it but since it's still full on winter around here, I haven't been pushing it too hard. He's also only four months old.

I'm going to walk him with Zoe a lot once it warms up as she naturally walks right beside me beautifully and that's how I want him to learn to walk - no pulling, no lagging. If he stops or hesitates for a second, the leash keeps moving and he doesn't let it jerk before he gets going again so it's looking good.

I like the idea of the back and forth but I usually walk more than one dog so the idea of stopping should work.

I also have to retrain Liz as I used to let her go on a zip leash and let her meander and sniff and such and I can't do that now unless I want to let Titan do that, too, which I don't. He needs to stay where I want him to stay - mostly to keep him from getting filthy. Minpins are a LOT quicker to clean than a sheltie!!! :yes:
 
Completely agree with GeeRome, I've been doing this with Cadbury and lately his progress has been really good.

My trainer also advised ensuring I go out the door first. She said do this by opening and closing the door so Cadbury doesn't know if its going to close on him or not. (I don't actually close the door on him, obviously:wink2:) After a time you can open the door and he just looks and waits, then I walk out the door and make it 'safe' for him to follow.

I only do this on the lead and he is clever enough to twig that he only need wait for me when we are going for a walk, rest of the time I can open the door and let him out by himself.

But just asking for that extra little respect or manners as my trainer put it, has helped and I noticed he was walking much nicer yesterday and even waiting for me to go first when we walked between parked cars.

Pulling seems a universal problem! I was hoping it was just a labrador thing!
 
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