What are Your Expectations?

Our dogs need clarity to eliminate confusion and increase success in training and in life. While many obedience skills are black and white, heeling is very ambiguous. My expectations for my own dogs are as follows:

Free: This means the dogs is free to sniff, explore and do what with wants within reason. Pulling on the leash is never allowed. I generally only give my dog this level of freedom when MY feet are frozen to the ground. I'm not wandering around. I'm not on a walk. I'm still. I may be giving the dog the opportunity to potty or I may be allowing them the privilege to sniff, relax and explore. 

 

Walk: Walk is my verbal cue for our casual walk. I require my dog to stay on my left side with their feet by my heel and their shoulder by my knee. The leash remains loose and relaxed between my dog and myself. Sniffing leads to pulling therefore I do not allow my dog the opportunity to sniff when we "walk". That would be setting my dog up to fail and setting my dog up to be corrected. That would be unfair.

 

Heel: When I cue my dog to heel or foose (German cue for heel), I am telling my dog to maintain focus on me while in the heel position both while we are stationary and while we are in movement. A focused heel is a very complex behavior with many components and takes extensive time to build well. I personally also create a fancy prancey movement in my dog's heel position. The purpose of focused heel is generally thought of as only necessary for competition obedience. However, I use and recommend using your focused heel to tune out distractions. Imagine the power of walking through a crowd or local farmers market, cuing your dog to focus on you while you heel past every distraction imaginable. It's a beautiful thing, especially if your dog is on the road to overcoming reactivity or aggression.