Lecture 1.5 - Heeling Components

The heeling pattern is a chain of complex behaviors. Each link or behavior in the chain requires the dog to perform a series of movements independently after perceiving the cue from the handler. Each maneuver: left turn, right turn, halt, about turn, fast, slow, etc, has its own set of actions the dog needs to perform. There's a lot going on there!

Not only that, the handler needs to be able to move in a way that is consistent enough that the dog knows what to expect and can change his or her movement accordingly. The handler's movement serves as the set of cues that drive the behaviors.

The good news is that all heeling patterns are composed of these components:

• Halt

• Forward

• Left turn

• Right turn

• About turn

• Fast

• Slow

• Normal

So while each of the components has a lot of moving parts, there is a set number that you need to train. So it's not as bad as you think! You may run into a number of variations, but here is an example with some common combinations.

I love thinking of it in this sort of modular format, because while there are variations, there are a limited number of skills we need to teach to build these pieces. That lets us be systematic in training for them. And with a training challenge as complex as heeling, a systematic attack is the best way to avoid overwhelm or accidentally skipping something important.

To perform each of these components successfully, your dog needs these skills:

• Line up on left side (shoulder-hip alignment)
  
  Of course, your dog needs to be able to target himself into position at your side, with proper alignment, and find his focal point independently (with no prompting, luring, shuffling, or fidgeting form you to induce or tweak it). You need to be able to stand completely still and quiet, and your dog needs to be able to fluently, and confidently find his way to heel position. This is especially important for when you get in the ring, where you are limited in the number and types of cues you can give, you need that really strong, confident knowledge of where to go and how to get there.

• Turn away from you (the source of reinforcement) to access reinforcement
  
  Your dog likely has a long history of turning toward and orienting to look at the source of reinforcement, and that usually means the front of your body, pocket, treat pouch, and/or food delivery hand. This directly conflict with the actions he needs to complete to pivot fully into straight heel position and stay back there. So we need to build the ability to turn away from your source of reinforcement into the training plan from the beginning.

• Pivot counterclockwise at least 180 deg (past your leg)
  
  This is the one movement that really isn’t supported by anything else that we do in our training. We need that rear end awareness and control to be able to line up straight and maintain that straightness while traveling as well as adjust for left turns. We start teaching this early in the process, and will build an understanding of heel directly from this skill.
  
  

• Move laterally toward you
  
  Most dogs tend to move away from your personal space, and moving forward while looking to the right will tend to increase this effect. So to counteract this, you’ll teach your dog to move laterally (sideways) toward you, so that even as body pressure and centrifugal force pull him away (for example during a right turn or about turn), he can smoothly and confidently push back to stay in a nice, close heel position.
  
  

• Step back/back up short distances
  
  Being able to move smoothly backward (since forward usually comes installed) in small increments helps the dog adjust his position to stay targeted at your side. Left turns, especially for larger dogs, also have something of a “back up” flavor to them, because the dog’s track is so much shorter than the handler’s that he must slow down, shift back, and sometimes even step back to stay in position (rather than the handler walking around the dog to make the turn happen).
  
  

• Walk/trot forward with head up
  
  The degree of “head up” is really up to you, and there is room to train for a more neutral position or a more exaggerated position, depending on your preference (within the limits of your dog’s body). A good starting point is to look at where your dog holds his head when he’s just standing naturally (not sniffing something). For our purposes, we’ll consider that a “neutral” position, and it is usually above his topline. You can train for a higher position than that, but that neutral position should be the minimum bar. Like heel position in general, the main thing here is to decide on what you want and then train for consistent position.
  
  

• Move from sit to stand/walk without head drop
  
  This is a specific movement skill that directly affects that first step into heeling at the beginning of your pattern and after any halt. It is not how most dogs naturally move, so this is a skill we will break out and train separately.

• Accelerate and decelerate to stay with a target
  
  As you turn right or left, speed up or slow down, your dog will need to adjust his speed to maintain a consistent distance from his target (his focal point on your body). He needs to be able to make those adjustments with pretty fine control to maintain that distance seamlessly.
  
  

•  Tuck into a sit with front feet planted
  
  We won’t go into the action of teaching a tucked sit in this class, but I am happy to direct you to other resources if this is a skill your dog needs. Because heel position is judged based on the position of your dog’s shoulder relative to your hip, his shoulder needs to stay in one place as he moves into a sit (like during a halt) in order to stay in position. If he rocks back into the sit, even if his heel position was perfect while he was standing, he’ll end up sitting too far back.