# Walk time and "heeling"



## JLeigh (Jul 15, 2012)

It has been many years since I've had a dog, so I'm not always confident on how well I'm balancing training with fun time. One of the hardest things I'm dealing with is training her to heel on a walk. She's coming along VERY well, but it's hurting my heart a bit to keep her in the heel position when she obviously has so much more fun zipping around and sniffing everything when the leash (retractable) is extended. She's a hound mix, so she's very scent-driven. I'd like to occasionally allow her more freedom on the leash, but I'm thinking that sometimes making her heel and sometimes not will confuse her, so I've been sticking with keeping her in the heel position on walks. Am I correct in thinking that, or is there a way to occasionally allow her more freedom that won't derail her training? Any guidance you can give me would be great. Thank you! :smile:


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## creek817 (Feb 18, 2012)

I would teach her a release word, to tell her when it's okay to go smell things and stuff, and when it's not. Another option, if you have certain walks for heeling, and others for play time, is to use two different leashes. Use the retractable for play time, and a standard leash for serious walks. She will be able to tell the difference. =)


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## bernadettelevis (Feb 2, 2011)

to be honest, let you dog sniff and be a dog .
I would teach to not pull on a leash and heel if you really need it. However on normal walks, why don't just let her sniff as long as she is not pulling?
I don't see any point in your dog having to heel the whole walk, as long as she will heel if you really need her to (an you can slowly extend the periods of time she will heel with positive training).


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

To me there is absolutely no point in a walk if the dog has to stay in a heel. They don't get stimulation from sniffing and are forced to stay at your slow pace. If you were jogging or something then that'd make sense, but if it's a walk just let your dog enjoy it, it is for him. Make sure he isn't pulling of course, but walking on a loose leash and walking at heel are two different things. Although if pulling is something you are worried about I'd ditch the flexi leash.


If you are worried about you dog tuning you out make sure to ask for the dog to follow obedience commands every once in a while during the walk. As for a hand touch, sit, down, heel, whatever other tricks he knows, reward him, and release him to continue the walk. If he is too overstimulated you can just stand and wait (with the leash short) until he reorients to you and try again.


I carry treat on all of my walks and so one day tucker saw my hand go into my pocket and started offering heel (something he was learning at home) and because it was so cute I tossed him a treat. Now he always randomly offers some heeling while on the walk and I always give him a treat and release him. It's great because he is reactive/aggressive and that has become his default when people go by. But I would never want him to stay there for the whole walk, to me walks are more for stimulation than exercise, unless it's one really long walk. If I just wanted to exercise him I'd play with him in the yard. But walks allow for him to sniff, mark, and stay used to seeing dogs, people, and other "strange" things like construction, which is very important for an anxious reactive dog like mine.


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## JLeigh (Jul 15, 2012)

Thanks for the replies! The problem is that she is a MAJOR puller, and I live in the city where there are lots of other people walking around with and without dogs, and there is an unfortunate tendency around here for people to train certain breeds to be very aggressive. There were a couple of close calls which is why I started really focusing on heeling. She also wants to chase cars. She nearly pulled me into oncoming traffic once because she saw a squirrel. I can control and protect her much more easily in the heel position. If she was to the point where she would willingly heel on command, I would try to allow her more freedom. I think I will work on the release command.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

JLeigh, 

Keep your heel but add a command for loose leash walking a little later when she has a nice reliable heel. We use "walk" that means just a relaxed walk where they lag behind, lead, switch sides, sniff but they are not allowed to pull. Once they know both commands then we generally have "walks" and "heel" maybe three - five minutes then back to a "walk". Hounds are hard work to teach heel to and it sounds like you are well on your way. Make sure she is getting other exercise that is just plain fun.  you will get there, you are doing good. Learning is hard work but soon you and she will reap the benefits.


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

As others have said here, a heel or a switch heel should be for situations where you do not want her to move from your side, not even a bit. On a normal walk she should be able to walk not under command but in a loose mode at the side or slightly behind you. An equivalent to "free" would be the retractable. In a loose/walk mode pulling should be corrected immediately and corrected *every time* Some use hands, some use their feet. Retractables are fine but only at a later stage where you can introduce a command, or a mode if you like, for the retractable. Sadly most never do this so the retractable leash turns out as a big hinder for proper training.

Keep on truckin' she will get there :smile:


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## JLeigh (Jul 15, 2012)

Thank you Liz and DaViking! I really appreciate the advice. :smile:

DaViking, the retractable leash has a button where I can lock it in place at any length (even as short as a few inches), so I haven't had any issues with using it during heel training. I am correcting her every single time she pulls. She's actually doing much better than I thought she would be at this point. 

Liz, I will keep working with her until she has a solid heel. When we get to that point, I'm not sure how I will make her understand that "walk" (etc.) means that she can have more freedom without pulling. Is there a protocol for this? I make her stop every time before we cross the street, and I've then used the word "okay" to let her know we can resume walking, but I'm not sure if I'm doing that right. I guess I'm not sure how to teach her what a release command means, if that makes sense.


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## instagator (Aug 15, 2012)

Hello,

Glad to see that you have had some sort of success with training your dog! There is always that one trick/thing that the dog doesn't learn. I would suggest looking up the kikopup series on youtube, they are a pretty good way of teaching your dog new tricks because they are step by step videos.

If you need something a little more in depth, I would suggest a good ebook. thegreatdogs.com is a good resource where you can pick the top rated ones, they come with photos and videos. It's how I taught my dogs all their stuff

Keep us updated on how it goes


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## smaughunter (Apr 27, 2012)

What kind of corrections are we talking about here? In my experience hounds don't respond very well to corrections, especially not frequent ones. If Kiora is pulling the kind of correction I use is to stop walking and ignore her until she lets the leash go slack and sits. The correction is that she doesn't get what she wants...which is to continue walking, smell something, go see someone...etc. Therefore it is in her best interest to do what I want, which is for her to walk on a loose lead. Verbal or leash corrections get flipped the metaphorical bird.


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## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

I have used three commands on walks. First is heel which you're already doing. Once heel is in place, I use "let's go" which is for loose leash walking, they don't have to stay in place but do have to stay fairly close. I use okay as my release word and give a little finger flick along with the command. Then I have "walk on" which means no pulling but they can wander. I do the release word then wave my hand along with the command. I always wait for the pups to have a strong understanding of one command before going on to the next with walk on being the last taught.


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## doggiedad (Jan 23, 2011)

i taught my dog to heel on either side with or without a leash.
i can release him from the heel by saying "go on" or "ok" with a pat
on his body. how's your dogs recall? is there a place you can take your dog
so she can run freely?


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