Training walks vs Destination walks

[Sara & Trix]

I’m still hard at work with teaching Trix how to heel (and I mean heel, not loose leash). She is now 7 ½ months old and has been improving slowly, but consistently since I started formally training her at 4 months. So far, every walk has been a training walk; therefore it’s rare that we go any further than 2 or 3miles. I am aware that you can’t expect a puppy to heel for 5 miles straight, and that you have to slowly work up to that, but I am really wanting to take longer walks with Trix. It would help greatly with her excess energy! We’ve had a few iffy experiences at the dog parks in my area, so I’m a little hesitant on going there regularly.

Now for my actual question:

Trix wears a flat collar on our training walks. I also have an Easywalk Harness, and I was wondering if I could take her on longer walks with the harness without conflicting with my flat collar training. Would it hinder the progress we’ve made? Could I put both harness and collar on her and switch while on the walk so we can train and then switch to the harness for a fast pace energy burning walk? Would she be able to make that connection? My next option is to get a prong collar, since again; the progress is evident but very slow after over 3 months of daily training.

Thank you!!

[BG and Gavin]

I mix loose leash walking with heeling all the time.  Does Trix have a good release?  When I heel, we stop, the dog is told to "get in" and commanded to heel.  When heeling is over I stop, the dog is expected to sit by my side and then I release him with "okay" and I trot forward with him and then let him have more leash and have more freedom with no correction unless the leash gets tight.  He seems to "get" the difference.

[Sara & Trix]

Yes, she has a pretty good release - that sounds simple enough!  What type of correction do you give when you are loose leash walking and the leash gets tight?  I do the "back away" whenever she gets even a few inches ahead of me, but that's for the heel.  Should I use the same correction for loose leash or have a different correction to not confuse her in what I'm correcting her on?

[BG and Gavin]

I just give his a leash correction (a little tug).  I am working on not being so wordy and letting him read my body actions instead.  He tends to check back over his shoulder a bit more when I am being quiet lol.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

When I was doing heel training I did it consistently on all walks so that Murph wouldn't get confused.  Once he understood the command and was heeling well even in distracted situations I then allowed him to "loose leash" walk with a command of "walk" versus "heel".  I use this on really long walks where I think it's unrealistic to expect him to hell the entire time. Even with our loose leash walking I never allow him to get ahead of me and the leash can't get taut or I give a correction, which at this point is just a tiny tug on his collar.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Oops "heel" not "hell", although it probably seems like it to Murph.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I laughed out loud when I saw this in your original post.  I thought the same thing ... probably seems like it to Murph.

[Sara & Trix]

Jane & BruceGirl - do you guys use a regular flat collar? Just curious.

[BG and Gavin]

We used a prong collar but have since graduated to a martingale.  However if I am going to work in a heavy distraction area I use the prong for extra control.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I heel trained using a choke collar and now I just use the Gentle Leader.  I was not able to heel train Murph on a flat collar...he needed the motivation of knowing he would be corrected.

[Adina P]

Sara when you mention the progress is slow...what aspect are you referring to?  Are you having trouble teaching her HOW TO heel -- defining heel for her and helping her do it correctly (smooth turns, quick halts, able to heel at fast and slow speeds, ability to heel around obstacles, etc)...so the TECHNICAL aspect of heeling? OR is the trouble you're encountering an issue with heeling around distractions?  Or are you simply trying to get her to heel precisely for a long length of time?

 

A TRUE heel is extremely precise and tiresome ... I wouldn't expect a dog to do it consistently and well and not get super sick of it for even a full mile without at least some interesting turns and halts and breaks to do other obedience exercises.  That's a lot of pressure to do it for 2-3 miles.  Are you SURE you want a TRUE obedience heel for that full length of time or simply a dog who will walk by your side politely without constantly trying to go sniff everything, etc?  My trainer is a very 'tough' trainer in that she is as consistent as they come and very capable and has titled more than one dog and one through utility with very good scores.  When she takes her airedale on off leash hikes for 5+ miles...it is NEVER in heel except for short segments that she uses heel either for safety or just for quick practice.  And yet he still walks by her side.  So I guess I want to challenge you to rethink your goal or redefine heel because 5 miles of heeling for ANY dog is not very realistic.

Get her heel solid and precise and impervious to distractions in short work segments and then use it when you NEED it but use a different command on long walks and lower the requirement by a bit. In 45 minutes you could do heeling at different speeds, with left turns, right turns, lots of stops, figure 8's around two objects about 8 feet apart, about turns, etc...and in between heeling you can do stays and recalls and that would be PLENTY of work for a pup.

 

But yes, a harness would be a good way to distinguish between 'heeling' walks and casual walks.

[Sara & Trix]

Adina, the progress is slow in terms of how often I have to correct/praise/guide her. When I say “heel”, she gets in the correct position, when I stop, she sits, she often watches me for cues, but one blowing leaf goes by and her focus is gone! Again, it is getting better, but I find that she still loses interest/focus very quickly. I do make the walk interesting and walk in zig zags and loops but I know I could make it even more entertaining still with a little more effort. We are currently taking Level II obedience, which is basically all heel training, and although she is by far the youngest one there, she is doing well in class. I know you often suggest prong collars and I think I might look into that after we have completed Level II.

I guess my real goal is probably an 80% perfect heel. I want her to walk beside me, never in front, and I want her to look at me and follow my every move (example, we come to an intersection, I want her to look at me in order to know where I want to go next and looking at me for cues – we are getting better at this).

I haven’t taken her on off leash walks yet as we are still working on recall, and she being my first dog – not having her on a leash scares me! (I’m probably holding her back on that one). But my preference would be to have her stay close to me when she is off leash as well (I’ll cross that bridge soon enough)

Your 45 minute exercise makes a lot of sense and it would help with the other aspects of her training.

[Adina P]

I would seek out things that distract her and result in her learning to discern black and white out of gray areas.  Once she understands heel position and you're sure she 'gets it' well, then you want her to have opportunities to learn what heel is not so she can try to avoid the 'wrong' answer and choose the 'right' answer.  Don't know if that makes sense. 

 

As for praise, it's really important but obviously some amount of weaning is important too so you don't have to forever praise every 10 steps, right?  So figure out specific areas/distractions that are a bit tough for her now and really work her around those in short segments.  Like if precision and keeping up with you during fast heeling is hard...then give praise every 5 steps or so for a bit.  Then stop frequently for praising something easy (halts).  Then repeat and each time maybe extend it to more steps before praise..as long as she is progressing. Do other attention requiring exercises, too, though.  Recalls from behind, sit stays, down stays, and other things around those same distractions to break it up.  Also if you repeat something for long enough the dog can start to lose confidence... "Well I've been heeling this way for 5 minutes...obviously I'm NOT getting it right cuz she's STILL making me repeat it MORE!"  I'm anthropomorphizing a bit, but not too much.  Dogs sometimes have to feel there is a purpose to their work and the repetition.  And it's very attention taxing so it's a lot to ask for heeling for extended periods...IF you want heel to be a true heel.

 

I would keep heel the precise thing it is because it is useful to have at your disposal.

But then come up with a different command like "Let's Go!" and make it clear the requirements are different--use a harness if you want.  But a casual walk really shouldn't require a dog to look at you the whole time.  I also, personally, dislike the heel that requires staring upward.  It's not required for a heel, but popular.  I don't like it because to me it's unnatural.  My dogs can heel quite well when we're practiced without neck craned toward my face.  They have good ears and peripheral vision...they don't NEED to look up intently to be attentive.

 

I gave my trainer's off leash hike only as an example that a dog doesn't have to be in heel and my strict trainer doesn't require it and she can still train him to walk close to her.