canine freestyle moves database

heel work…putting it all together

the heel dance

Nothing looks more spectacular than a dog and handler working as one unit, heeling. If the heel work looks stunning without music, it will look magnificent to music and absolutely spectacular when the music matches the dog and handler foot movement.

Heeling is not developed in a month. Allow at least one year to develop beautiful and accurate heel work. Of course this will vary depending on the dog and the handler, but on average one year is recommended, so that every part of heel work is built on the dog’s success and is made fun for the dog.

The following points are extremely important:
·       patience,
·       consistency,
·       clear information for the dog,
·       clean training,
·       splitting behaviors into smaller and smaller criteria,
·       high rate of reinforcement,
·       high value reinforcement,
·       start work with “Are you ready?”
·       end work with “All done”
·       short training sessions,
·       don’t skip steps or accept sloppy work,
·       train each element in at least 6 different locations,
·       never “punish” the dog

The basics of heel work is teaching the dog the “position” and maintaining that position through all the elements of heel work. When the dog can do all the elements well, you are ready to put it all together and start the “heel dance”.

Heel work can be done on or off leash.

·       If on leash the leash must be loose at all times and it is important that the handler not “jiggle” the leash.
The hands should remain calm and rest against the body somewhere.
The leash should be held in the right hand and the left hand should be placed comfortably somewhere between the top of the left thigh
and the left hip.

·       If the dog understands “position”, no leash is required.

Make sure you are not wearing anything that is going to flap in the dog’s face, eg an open jacket or coat or a scarf that will fall into the dog’s face when you bend down.

In the beginning keep training sessions very short, 30 seconds max. If something good occurs before the 30 seconds are up, stop there and jackpot. Always play a game (toy/ball) after a training session. And keep moving forwards in a straight line. Keep the dog moving forwards to give the dog something to look forward to. In the beginning stages do not work in a circle or “up and down” as is done in dog clubs. In dog clubs this is done for convenience of the instructor and space limitations, but when training your own dog, keep moving forwards.

In the early stages do not use all the heeling components in a training session. Make a plan so that you know what you are going to do and what you want to achieve. Vary the order of the components practiced in the training sessions so that the dog does not come to anticipate what is coming next and it keeps the dog interested and guessing. Keep the distances short.

Remember to use consistent footwork on the turns. Practice this footwork without the dog to get it correct and to develop a rhythm that is most suitable for you. Your dog will learn to work to your rhythm. If you are at all hesitant in what you are doing, you cannot expect the dog to get it right.

Gradually as you can see the dog’s confidence building, you can ask more of the dog, but make sure the dog is always happy and enjoying the task at hand.

NEVER train your dog when you are in a bad mood.

Dogs also have off-days. Be aware of this and preferably avoid training on those days. You need to be able to discern between an “off-day” and when the dog just does not want to work. If it looks like the latter, play ball with the dog for a few minutes, ask for one behavior, reward and then play more ball. Never force the dog.

Keep heeling fast so that the dog trots and has more natural enthusiasm for it.

Once you are happy in the knowledge that the dog is ready to be proofed in heel work, you can increase the distance and the number of behaviors you cue. If you do this too early you will get sloppy heeling and a dog that is not confident. A dog that is not confident looks uncomfortable and you need to then go back to basics. This is referring to a dog that has not been trained enough, as opposed to a dog that is inherently nervous and insecure.

When proofing heel work, keep it short and always stop on a good note. Don’t stop all heel work on a halt. You can end your training session by praising the dog and then tossing a ball or treat out in front to start your play session.

If training in a park, a lap around the park or running off and playing with another dog is most likely a better reward than chasing a ball.

As the dog becomes more and more confident in heel work you can also cue the dog "left turn", "right turn", "left about turn", "right about turn" as he is executing the turns so that he learns the words. This is very helpful in agility and freestyle and distance work. After a period of time, with an advanced dog, you can cue these words and the dog will execute the turns on his own, but this is not important for heel work.

Once you start proofing, it is important to do more “training” than “proofing”, else heel work will become sloppy.

Remember to train in at least 6 different locations and always stop on a successful note and make a big deal of it.

When a dog starts to lag, do not call him up into heel position and reward him for attaining heel position. This will teach the dog that if he lags, he will be called into heel position and will be rewarded, hence he will lag on purpose.

Increase the difficulty by working the dog in a large right handed square or in a right handed circle. Only ever reward in heel position.

If the dog begins to lag and you have trained all the elements properly, the dog is giving you a calming signal. Shorten the training session and work on motivation and generalization. Try and work out why the dog is lagging.

For the dog that begins to forge, work in a small left handed square or an anti-clockwise circle. The left handed circle forces the dog to slow down a little as do the left turns of the left handed square.

At all times keep it fun for the dog and do not drill heel work.

 

Proofing

If mistakes occur, go back to training and rewarding.

Examples of proofing are:

·       Walk in a left hand square, squares of varying sizes
·       Walk in a right hand square, squares of varying sizes
·       Walk in a left hand square followed by a right hand square, again varying sizes
·       Figure 8 of varying sizes: start with a large one and gradually make it smaller and smaller until you are practically doing it on the spot.
·       Walk forward, left turn (90, 180) and halt immediately
·       Walk forward, right turn (90, 180) and halt immediately
·       All of the above at varying paces
·       Forward 4 steps, left turn, right turn and forwards
·       Forwards 4 steps, right turn, left turn and forwards
·       These last 2 make a nice dance effect.
·       Spiral in left hand circle
·       Spiral in right hand circle
·       Turn (90, 180) and forwards (vary pace)

The variety of what you can do is only limited by your imagination.

Proof in several different locations, eg in the house (in more than one room), on the street, in a few parks, shopping centers, beach, etc. With most dogs you may need to teach each element from scratch in each new location.

You can use different toys to play with the dogs before and after training, but you must be the custodian of the articles so that the dog will look forward to playing with it again and he knows it comes from you.

The bottom line of good heeling is that it takes LOTS of repetitions. MANY short training session and in MANY different locations. Depending on the dog's demeanor and maturity you gradually increase the length of the training sessions and demand more from the dog for less (ie not constant) rewards. The longer the dog works, the better (higher value) the reward should be at the end.

 

Motivation

It is always important to keep the dog motivated. You don’t want him to shut down on the cue “heel”.

When working in a right hand circle, ie with the dog on the outside, he has to work harder to maintain heel position. He pushes off the back legs and pushing off the back legs usually gets the dog trotting, which increases his motivation. Don’t overdo this. Keep the sessions short and when you stop have the dog jump up and get his treat while on his back legs.

Work like this requires muscles to be built up so that the dog can maintain the endurance of the work. Again build up slowly. Give the dog time to develop his muscles and stamina both physically and mentally.

Advanced heel work

All of the above on the handler’s right hand side. Suggested cue for right hand heel work is “side”. Right handed heel work can be taught at the same time as left hand heel work, just make sure that YOU, the handler do not get hand signals and cues mixed up.

 

Advanced heel work includes:

·       moving backwards
·       side stepping left
·       side stepping right
·       270 & 360 left turns
·       270 & 360 right turns