Heeling video 16
Handling cues RIGHT Pivot
Footwork & Intro Teaching
PIVOTS are the foundation of ALL turns in heeling whether you are doing Rally or Obedience. I have found that most teams have difficulty performing turns because the handler’s cues are incorrect or inconsistent. These difficulties in turns show up big time when I ask my students for a pivot. When my students do pivots correctly, their turns improve about 90%.
Right Pivot consists of 3 steps. Always start with your foot OPPOSITE to the direction of the turn. I.e., if you are going to pivot to the RIGHT, start with your left foot.
Your pivot should always start and end in the same place. A small dot on the floor will help you to make sure that your pivot remains in place.
- The weight shift is the first cue your dog receives so it is VERY important.
- The second cue is my eyes/head turning to “LOOK” where we are going on my second step.
- The third cue is the first movement/step I take.
Building desire – When I begin to teach the RIGHT PIVOT, the first thing I want to do is build a DESIRE for dog to LOVE the skill. Same when wanting to improve a skill. When you are building desire, you want to use something the dog loves. In other words, pair what you want them to love with something they already love.
NOTE: If you are wanting to improving turns, first work on your pivots and add loads of games to all steps in the pivot to build DESIRE. In other words, do NOT just reward the end of the pivot or the sit.
Teaching the Right Pivot
- Have your dog at your left side and place your hand low on the leash close to the snap hook with the palm of your hand flat and your hand on the backside of the leash. This enables you to use a forward reining action.
- Small dog? Use a solid leash. This is a leash that is attached to a stick or dowel rod. Using a solid lead will aid in the forward pressure.
- As you think about the weight shift to your right foot, apply reining pressure forward on your leash. Your dog should start movement with the weight shift/leash pressure and BEFORE your left foot leaves the ground!
- Turn your left foot to make an angled T-step with your right foot. This step will turn your shoulders to the right.
- NOTE: Make sure that your dog is always watching you at all times when making the turn.
- Reward your dog by releasing up to a treat or toy to build desire.
- When training the Right 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 to move with your weight shift and turn while keeping his head up and focused on you.
- Remember to break and play with your dog during each “step” when teaching ANG training. This will build desire and keep your dog’s head up.