....that indeed is the question!! Background: Basically 100% of Simba's walks are on-lead. He has very limited opportunities to run around and explore an environment unattached from a leash, aside from his daily excursions out to the back yard and the very limited opportunities for the dog park (try to get there at least once a week but it doesn't always work). Given that, I hesitate to institute strict 100%, all-the-time MUST be at heel. Shouldn't he get some time to sniff and explore a bit on his walks? That's what I think, anyways, but maybe I'm wrong. So, given that he does NOT pull me most of the time and walks nicely with a fairly loose leash, or is out at front extended to the end of the leash but with no pressure on the leash, if that makes sense, I am fine with not having him at heel. EXCEPT: yes, he does not pull ME but I feel like I spend an awful lot of time pulling HIM. Away from sniffs, away from the direction he wants to go (feet planted, full stop). I give him a few moments when he finds a sniff, and then get going again, often with a little tug on the leash he's off again. But if he finds an extra-good sniff, he's planted. Sometimes he will even lie down in order to resist my pull and keep sniffing. Sigh. So, should I start to insist on a heel during our walks? But how do you train for a heel sometimes and an "okay heel not required now" at other times during a walk? I am trying to train a "let's go" to avoid me having to physically haul as hard as I can on the leash to get him away from something but it's not working that well. Hard to operate a clicker when you have to wear mitts for walks, for example. The whole winter thing is really setting this back. And even if I can do a clicker training walk, he really seems deaf to the clicker outside. I guess I need to up my treats? Right now I can carry kibble and other more interesting hard dog treats in my pockets for easy retrieval. To carry things like sardines or roast chicken, etc, I would need my fanny pack which I just can't wear over my heavy winter jacket. What I really want to do is set up training scenarios of tasty things planted by me outside in the yard and clicker train a "leave it/let's go" under those circumstances. Can't do it, though, too much snow outside, my backyard is impassable. Sigh. Anyhow, any suggestions/wisdom would be appreciated. I'll just add that I "think" it will be fairly easy to train the heel. Like I said, he's quite happy to be loose-leash "ish" most of the time anyways. It would just be a matter of positioning. Just getting tired of this hauling on the leash stuff.
Re: To heel or not to heel..... I'm kind of with you on that Lisa. Lilly gets off more than Simba, but I always feel at this time of year I have so many on-lead walks (lost my confidence letting her off in the dark with wildlife around here) that my morning dark walks are always on the end of a flexi-lead - and she is always at the end, out in front, sniffing in the hedgerows. I would feel I was depriving her if I made her walk to a boring heel. We haven't got a good walk to heel off lead at all, but we haven't consciously worked on it - she is always just ahead of us - like I think David said before with Lady, its almost like she likes to feel us at the end of the lead. We have the *wait a minute mum til I've finished sniffing* too : But I am relatively happy with our arrangement on this. Still looking for a couple of weeks off life in general to concentrate on the recall : And maybe the "leave it" though this is less of a problem.
Re: To heel or not to heel..... There's no need to have your dog walking to heel all the time, if we're talking a 'pet going on a walk' situation, which is what our walks are. Of course there's nothing wrong with walking to heel too. It's up to you to decide on the 'rules' for walking. The freer approach requires more attention and management which some (or most) might not want. I just like to let a dog sniff a bit. For me, the rule is 'walk on the left or right but don't pull'. It is very helpful to have a heel cue as well though, as there are usually times when you want your dog close - bikes or people passing, walking past shops, crossing a bridge or road, a narrow path etc. So I think it's a good plan to teach 'heel' and a release cue so you can get a heel when you want and then go back to 'normal loose lead walking'. As you've mentioned a 'stop sniffing, let's go' cue is also important. I allow sniffing for 5 seconds or so, then we go. I usually don't have to cue this anymore - he knows he doesn't get forever. But at times I still need to drag him away from the odd, delectable dead fish etc : Another one that we've taught Obi is how to unwind himself if he walks past a pole or tree on the opposite side to us - we stop and he reverses direction and then walks on our side of the pole - that's very handy. We also have a 'wait at the kerb' rule. If using a clicker is awkward with winter gear than choose a marker word instead and charge it up like the clicker and use that to teach your heel and let's go etc. Sniffing is very rewarding so you need to build up to being able to call away from a sniff. Just think of it as a mini recall that you are proofing against sniffs. First you'd teach your 'let's go' cue without any distractions and, when you are getting a good response, add small distractions. Train it just like a recall only on-lead and with a new cue. When you start to add real world sniffs you may need to initially lure him away from sniffs with food treats at his nose. Put your treat at his nose, use your cue ('let's go') and, as he turns to follow your lure, mark (with your word, as you would with a click) and reward. Repeat, but move from luring to producing the treat after he's responded. You will need to practise this a lot without any sniffs first, just as a 'pay attention to me and come to me' kind of activity. I hope that makes sense. For teaching heeling I'd check out the articles on the main site about heeling, but teach it as a cued activity with a release cue, as if it was an obedience exercise. You'll need to proof this past distractions too, first at a distance and with great treats handy.
Re: To heel or not to heel..... If you look at your regular routes, are there any bits that are particularly interesting, spots that Simba always wants to sniff? The only thing I can think of is making some parts of the walk permitted sniff zones, and other part brisk, no-nonsense walking. I think you are having to contend with quite enough anyway, what with the restrictions of your winter... it would be too much to get a strict at heel all the time. If Simba knew he could start and end the walk with a looser leash, slower paced sniff, and then shorten the lead and walk really briskly for the middle section?? It's very different for us, because my two get off-lead every morning, but the afternoon walk is on lead (largely because I want them both to be really used to pavements, traffic and lead walking!!). However there is a particular grass bank where I decide it's easier not to fight it, and I slow right down, and Brew can have a good sniff there. At the end of that section, we go back to no-nonsense. She very quickly accepted that that is the sniffing zone, the rest is for walking. Don't know if it would work for you at all. I couldn't cope with your winters. I'd hibernate under a heap of quilts ad crawl out sometime in late spring... Clare
Re: To heel or not to heel..... I'm not going to reply any more as Rachael's beaten me to it and done a far better job of what I was going to say ;D So I shall just wish you good luck and some fair weather
Re: To heel or not to heel..... I have a command for my Lab "have a sniff" and he is allowed to sniff to his heart's content, until I decide he then comes to heel again, it works well for us.
Re: To heel or not to heel..... I'm sure Simba and Charlie are related... (although Simba is missing the mad jump up and down in excitement thing, thankfully for you). I had ambitions for no sniffs, no markings walks...I think he thought he was being route marched. Well, we are super relaxed now. On lead is all he gets, so we make the most of it. No pulling, no lunging, no pooing in gardens, no walking across in front of me. Apart from that, anything goes. I reckon we'll do heel separately, later. He was always fine for short periods, so I think we'll be able to pick it back up. We're a bit better at the leaving sniffs thing now. I taught "click click" (with my tongue) means turn to me, if he doesn't, I gently pull him (very gently, I can't pull him onto his bad leg). It is not the same as "let's go", it's more of a warning - and I use it both if he is too far ahead, and if he has his head in a dustbin or something. He responds well to let's go - usually. Click click would follow let's go, or be used immediately instead of "leave it" for something disgusting - leave it has always been my weakest command outside of a no distractions clicker session (where it works fine).
Re: To heel or not to heel..... Hmmm...thanks for all your suggestion! Rachel, that's a good idea to train the "let's go" without a distraction first, and to use a marker word or sound (I like the click click, Julie!) instead of a clicker! I ultimately would like to train the heel, I think. With my previous pooch I had a heel semi-trained, he was never great at it and I had to use a halti during walks because of pulling. But what I did have down pat was to train him to circle around to heel position with a hand signal, and that worked great! So I would do that when I wanted him close, like when people were approaching on a walk ot whatever. Would like to get that with Simba, too. Eventually. Clare, I want to snuggle under a blanket tonight up instead of going for our evening walk....getting really cold again after our lovely mild break. -30c with wind chill. Ick. Short walk tonight, methinks.....
Re: To heel or not to heel..... Lisa,you are doing marvelously coping with the weather.....I will never moan again about my challenges ( yeah right,you all say!) My 'heel' position on the lead is just loose lead walking on my left side ( that's a problem I have created that I'll come back to)...I'm probably foolish on my sniff management but if Dexter tries to pull to a sniff,we change direction and he doesn't get that sniff,if he comes along one when he is walking nicely,he gets to sniff as much as he wants :-[.....this works generally as he doesn't hang around for a long time before he moves himself along and he does respond mostly to 'let's go' if he's lingering..I say mostly....this doesn't work for sniffing where the cats toilet...but I know these parts now so we use a brisk,cheery ,let's go Dex.......and stomp past there as quick as we can ,he still gives the area a whistful look as I charge him past!i haven't been brutal about him not being allowed to sniff because I've felt if he's got to have a lead walk,at least let him have a bit of fun,same for my heel position,he doesn't need to be tight on my leg,just loose on his lead. I'll go back to my earlier mention of Dex just being On my left side.....I should have gone Rachael's way and taught him to walk both sides of me.......this throws up problems when I'm doing an anti clockwise walk of the perimeter of our estate!all the hedges are on my right and he gets himself on pickle when he surges forward and I correct him......bless him,he comes back to the sit on my left but I can see him wrestling with himself to want to get himself onto my right so he can have a sniff!ill work on that when I get home...it's not fair....it's been my mistake going the Gundog way rather than the pet way! Nothing to add in how you can achieve this as you've had great advice already....I'm thinking about it now and my 'let's go 'seems to have just come through osmosis into dexters brain if I'm honest : I think I've just always said it and rewarded him when he came away then unconsciously I've dropped the rewards .....that is most amazing for me as I'm very guilty of not reducing rewards too well...Dexter still gets something ,if only a piece of kibble for every recall :-[ ......bribed dog.com ! ;D
Re: To heel or not to heel..... [quote author=Dexter link=topic=4244.msg50909#msg50909 date=1391066990] I'll go back to my earlier mention of Dex just being On my left side.....I should have gone Rachael's way and taught him to walk both sides of me.......this throws up problems when I'm doing an anti clockwise walk of the perimeter of our estate!all the hedges are on my right and he gets himself on pickle when he surges forward and I correct him......bless him,he comes back to the sit on my left but I can see him wrestling with himself to want to get himself onto my right so he can have a sniff! [/quote] For us, relaxing this made a big difference to peaceful walks. The only thing I care about now is the transition from left to right etc. It has to be controlled. Dashing across in front of you is a disaster. Charlie pauses and looks behind me to the other side - I pass the lead behind my back into my other hand, and this is his cue for "ok, cross over then". We've got it really smooth now, almost like we are a team! "Walk" though still means "on the left" and he will go back to the left (again, behind me).
Re: To heel or not to heel..... I agree Lisa, you certainly are brilliant going out in that terribly cold weather, people round here won't walk their dogs if it is chilly or raining : I like a slack lead and I don't mind sniffing, after all they are dogs, and a "lets go" if it takes too long. I walk Charlie on my left and when he used to criss cross I would say "this side" with my left arm extended and he would come back to my left, now I just have to say it. I find it difficult to walk Hattie on my left though so she is on my right. I personally feel with the amount of work we have had to do with Charlie sniffing is the very least of our concerns
Re: To heel or not to heel..... Harley walks on both sides of me, depending on which side the road is. Generally she will walk on a loose lead, but pulls if she catches a scent. When this happens I give her a slight tug, say let's go and walk of briskly. If she is walking nicely I will stop for a few seconds if she wants a sniff. I use rewards still quite a lot for walking nicely (40-50 steps nicely then reward), and this seems to be working still as her attention is often on me wondering when she will get her treat I hold my hat off to you walking in such low temperatures, you are definitely a brilliant mum to Simba
Re: To heel or not to heel..... Well, thanks again for the advice, will try to implement some of these and see how it goes. Thanks for the hats off, too, but really, don't be too admiring. It's either we go out or stay inside for 6 months, so not much choice. Although I do wonder at times....the VAST majority of times that I'm out walking Simba we do not see anyone else. And I'm out 3x a day, so you'd think I would come across someone else at some point!! There is a lady with a very grumpy dog that does a brisk walk Round the block at noon, so I sometimes see her. But at night, especially, I feel like I'm in a ghost town, except for the occasional car. Or deer, which makes things interesting....
Re: To heel or not to heel..... Im afraid I've only just caught up with this thread but thanks Lisa for asking about it I have a similar problem with my two. They walk nicely just not exactly at heel and like you and Simba the main pulling is done by me to make them move on from smells. Even harder with 8 paws planted firmly to the ground. Think I will try and train a 'let's go' cue sounds a good idea. Hope it's warms up soon Jen
