Category: K9 Competition

Heeling Handling Cues – For PERFECT Communication

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Watch to the end for a NEW Training TIP

THE HANDLER’S (YOUR) JOB WHEN HEELING:  For your dog to be able to heel well with unwavering focus, your dog needs to know where you are going.   Since heeling is a TEAM SPORT and both members of the team must be able to do their job, I have developed the following handler cue guidelines for myself and students.

Straight Line Heeling – Your goal is to keep your footwork as simple as possible.  Hit that “EASY BUTTON”!

• Eye cues – Look on the floor about 2 feet in front of you when heeling in a normal pace.  Look where you are going.
• Head cues – Relax your head and slightly tilt it downward so you can see the floor and your dog’s nose out of the corner of your eye.
• Walk a straight line – Use a line on the ground to walk on for practice.

Halts, Head and Eye Cues

• When doing a Halt, look to your toes.  Yes, it is that easy.  LOL
• As you hear Halt, think halt and then slowly look towards your toes as you stop.
• Relax your head and slightly tilt it downward so you can see your toes and your dog’s nose out of the corner of your left eye.
• Always be confident and don’t worry about where you are or where you are stopping.
• I find it helpful to stop on my LEFT foot with a new or inexperienced dog.  The left foot is closest to the dog and will be easier for your dog to pick up the cue.
• Keep your shoulders pointing forward.

Pace Changes

There are four speed transitions you will need while you are heeling.

NORMAL TO SLOW TRANSITION: Use a rolling break step (slowly roll from heel to toe) to transition from normal to slow pace.  Move your eyes to about 1 foot in front of you or where your next step will be. Keep shoulders and weight slightly forward (do not lean back or your dog will think it is a halt).

SLOW TO NORMAL TRANSITION: Slow pace should be about half the speed of your normal pace.   When you transition from slow to normal, you want to make the pace change in 1 or 2 steps.  Keep your shoulders slightly forward.

NORMAL TO FAST TRANSITION:  When you transition from normal to fast, move your shoulders slightly forward, and push off with your foot.  Look about 2 strides in front of you during the fast.  In FAST pace, ideally, you need to actually RUN.

FAST TO NORMAL TRANSITION:  From fast pace, use a break step to go back into normal pace.  Focus your eyes back to about 1 stride in front of you.  Move your arms back to proper heeling position, keeping your shoulders and weight over your hips.

When heeling think HEAR IT, THINK IT, DO IT!

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😉🐶🐶🐶 *****Next video – 27 – Intro and Teaching FAST PACE for Heeling 

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Heeling Progression
Teaching the SLOW PACE

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Watch to the end for a NEW Training TIP

Pace Changes – There are four speed transitions you will need while you are heeling.  When teaching each pace change, I reward a lot going into as well as coming out of the individual pace change.  In the long run, teaching these changes well now will help my dog speed up and slow down when we start teaching pivot, turns, Figure 8, etc.

Spend time rewarding going into each separate pace change and break off and play often. NOTE: My dogs LOVE toys so I often have a toy to drop up under my left arm. A treat or treat bag/pouch may be used in the same way.

TEACHING the SLOW PACE

• There are 3 main skills to teach on the slow pace. Break Step into slow, Maintaining focus through the duration of slow, and the POP out of slow.
• Start to heel your dog forward at a Normal pace, do NOT start from a sit!
• After a few normal steps, do a “break step” into a slower pace AS you rein backward on your leash.
• Praise your dog for slowing with you while maintaining focus and reward him at your left side. It is important to reward your dog’s effort to slow his pace as well as keep focus up on you.
• Release and play before repeating.

SLOW TO NORMAL TRANSITION:

• Start with your dog heeling at a Slow pace.
• Break into a normal pace and drop the toy from under your arm.
• If your dog is NOT DRIVING off rear to speed up quickly, reward by bringing the reward in your right hand up and forward. This will encourage your dog to drive off his rear end in order to get the reward.
• This extra drive off the rear is what will help your dog stay in heel when we do turns, and different drills including the fig 8.

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😉🐶🐶🐶 *****Next video – 25 – LEFT ABOUT Pivot – Handling Foot Work & Building DESIRE 

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Heeling video 20 Teaching
 
First Step Of Heeling With FOCUS!

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The First Step is the beginning of your heeling.  It can make or break a performance.  Take Extra care in training the first step!

When heeling, my goal is to have heads up attention from my dog.  This criteria implies that my dog’s head remains up when we do the first step off into heeling.  It is for this reason that I like to practice the first step of heeling separately from other skills.

Once adding starts or the first step from a sit into a heeling sequence, I randomly reward just the start to keep my dog energized, focused, and ready to heel.  When training, if you start heeling from a sit, you must make sure your criteria are being met, OR instead play with your dog and then fall into heeling without doing a sit.

Footwork for the First Step

• Start with your weight slightly on the balls of your feet. The left foot will start the step off to heel. This is the leg closest to your dog and is easiest for him to pick up the cue.
• As you are stepping off, present a treat in your right hand saying “get it” for your dog. Your dog will jump up and slightly forward to the toy/treat.
• Bringing the toy/treat forward and up will encourage your dog to drive off his rear end in order to get the reward.
• NOTE: watch over rotation of your shoulders as you present the dog’s reward.
• Play and engage before repeating the “start”.  DESIRE first.
• Commands for the first step – Say your command and THEN step off with your left foot.  When showing, I actually like to take a breath and then step off.
• When working on starts, watch your line-up to start your training.  That is, a sit in heel is still a sit in heel and should be to your criteria and with heads up focus.
• Keep your weight on your toes and step straight forward on the first step. NO rocking back on your heels before stepping off. Rocking back on your heels can delay your step off and a responsive dog will seem to anticipate commands.
• Make sure to say your command, take a breath, and then step off.  This gives your dog a second to process the command and react accordingly.
• Keep starts FUN! Add games and upward releases on your first step of heeling randomly throughout your dog’s career.

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😉🐶🐶🐶 *****Next video – 21 – Heeling progression – raised hand and wean off of treat in hand

Visit https://debbyquigley.com/classes/  for Free classes on foundational skills. 

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Heeling video 19 – Left Pivot
 
Handling & Teaching
 
Note in photo you can see Poe’s right rear leg behind me. GREAT REA at work!

 

HANDLER CUES: LEFT PIVOT FOOT WORK
When doing a Left Pivot:

• Shift your weight to your left leg, look left, and move your right foot perpendicular to your left foot.
• Your dog will learn that this shift indicates a left pivot/turn is going to begin.
• Step 1, move your right foot perpendicular to your left foot and place the ball of your right foot against your left toe (Similar to a T-step).
• Step 2, place your left heel against your right heel making sure to point your left foot in the direction that you will be going or sending your dog.
• Step 3, bring your right foot up against and even with your left foot.

Teaching the Left Pivot

• Have your dog on your left side. With your leash taut and hand low on the leash close to the snap hook with the palm of your hand flat on the front side of the leash.  Leash Reining ….
• Small dog? Use a solid leash.
• To start the pivot, shift your weight to your left leg and rein leash.
• Reward your dog up to a treat or a toy that is under your left arm. Build desire!
• Make sure that your dog is looking up and always watching you when making the turn.
• Play and interact with your dog before trying the pivot again.  This play takes pressure off your dog as well as builds desire in training.
• When training the Left Pivot, reward randomly on the different steps in the turn. I.e. move your first foot and reward, before completing the turn reward, and so on.
• Only add a sit to the pivot once your dog understands how to move on your weight shift and turn while keeping his head up and focused on you.
• Spend extra time working and rewarding the leash pressure skill before putting it into Pivots.

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😉🐶🐶🐶 *****Next video – First Step of Heeling & FOCUS!

Visit https://debbyquigley.com/classes/  for Free classes on foundational skills. 

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Heeling video 18
 
REA Progression
 
Move To Ground

 

REA reduce to flat ground & starting left circle

• Review where you left off on your last session before replacing box with paper.
• Replace your reduced box with a piece of paper on the ground.  This is a marker more for you than your dog.
• Continue to have treats in the left hand, palm up.  This is how you would hold your hand/arm when heeling.
• Restart your dog and as your dog gets onto paper, and reward your dog a few times for getting on the paper.
• Once ready and your dog is anticipating going to your side, move hand next to your side and step forward with the foot furthest from your dog.
• With your dog next to you, slowly start to move in a tight circle rewarding and praising your dog in heel.
• While weaning off the box, take your time and do not reduce or eliminate box too quickly.
• Make sure your dog is OFFERING rear end movement before progressing.

PLEASE add YOUR comments Below!

😉🐶🐶🐶 *****Next video – Left Pivots – Handling and Teaching

Visit https://debbyquigley.com/classes/  for Free classes on foundational skills. 

Please leave comments or email me with future article ideas at Ask DebbyQ. 

Visit my Youtube LIKE & Subscribe, and watch training videos at https://www.youtube.com/@DebbyQuigley