Heeling Handling Cues – For PERFECT Communication
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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!