Many dogs quickly build an expectation of who’s really in charge – it’s that interesting person with the gun or the dummies .All of a sudden, the dog walks to heel with them instead of with you …
The heelwork is more than just a position – it is a feeling that the dog and I are connected and are walking together. Sometimes the heelwork from an outsider’s perspective can look really good, but my own feeling is that I could just as well have stayed in the car for the dog isn’t walking with my anyway. The feeling of walking together seems to me to be very much related to the dog’s arousal level and expectations. If it is in the emotional frame of mind, it is much easier to get a good heelwork.
Today’s exercise
- Think about who your dog is walking with and what distractions you need to train with your dog.
- Train heelwork at least once. (Note how many sessions and minutes of heelwork you do. Train what you and your dog need – it doesn’t have to be the training in the blog post of the day.)
- Feel free to tell us and others about your training by commenting on the posts on our website and/or Facebook page.
- If you haven’t participated in the challenge from the start, read here to find out how it works: Day 1: Heelwork challenge.
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