Training Video: Heelwork, Apport, Down, Recall

Elliot and I just recently started enjoying training Obedience after moving to Spain. We've been doing it for two months now, and Elliot really likes it.

Last week we had a Seminar with Obedience Wordchampion 2008 Mads Møller and here is some footage, if anyone is interested:

Excellent work ... you can just tell you are the centre of his universe !

Very nice work. By the way, someone told me that the dog would no longer be allowed to touch you when heeling (at least in France and Belgium). Have you heard of that ? I don't practice any activity in a club. However, I have decided to work on heeling with contact just for fun and for trying a bit of dog dancing. So that's very different from what you do but I'm surprised we got that far.

awww you can tell you are best buddies Fly !

Nice work, Fly! I wouldn't have come that far without a trainer. Before coming to my dogschool in Austria I knew nothing about heeling. I was satisfied when he was walking on a loose leash. We started to work on heelwork when Elliot was already over a year old. (he is 2 right now)
But she doesn't have contact to your leg, or does she? I heard that in Obedience people prefer it if the dog doesn't touch the handlers leg during the heelwork. It could cost you points.
Generally I would say that in Obedience the heelwork is done less arrogating then in the IPO, what we tried to work for back home in Austria. In Austria we always tried to make him more excited about the heelwork, and here in Spain they wanted a really calm and concentrated work. (That's why we went back from rewarding with toys to food)
I'll see where we get onto when we're back home.
I tend to be bored about a lot of heelwork easily, and so does Elliot.
So I don't know if I'll find the motivation to get him into a OCI competition one day.
But the other exercises in Obedience are fun too.

I have to figure out how to teach heel like this.... I also find heelwork boring, but it looks sooooo great!!
I just went through the rules for obedience and the dutch obedience(G&G), but I can't find anything about contact while heeling.
I know in our G&G program there is no contact, simply because we don't teach it that way, but in obedience the dog is supposed to be closer to the handler. Now I want to know!!! Hate it when I can't find an answer straight away...
I haven't been doing a lot of training lately, but watching this, makes me want to go out and do something... But it is well after midnight, so I'll have to wait till morning

AWESOME HEELWORK!! Just beautiful!! Buddy can off leash heel, but I have never taught the kind of heelwork where the dog looks up at you, i'd love a "how to" on that, too!!

I am actually teaching her to be in contact with my leg. That's what I want. We do not enter obedience competition so I don't fear points But someone told me that in Belgium and France, leg contact was not allowed in obedience competitions. For those who want to give this heeling work a try, the "elephant" trick is useful.

THANK YOU FLY!! Is that how everyone began teaching the kind of heelwork where the dog touches you and looks up at you, is by beginning with elephant trick???
then you add cue,
and then,
remove the box? is that it?

(i'm always interested in the HOW of anything, lolz)

The elephant trick is great for the turns, but you would have to start with the heel position,
aka the dog sitting with his shoulder beside your leg, clicking/rewarding eyecontact.
If you have that stable, you can try your first steps. Take one step, and then again reward the sit.
After a while you would start with turns, this is where the foundation with the elephant trick helps, because the dog has to be aware of adjusting his back legs.

The elephant trick helped us to build shoulder/leg contact (that's what we wanted). Fly understands that, whatever direction I go, her shoulder should keep in contact with my leg.

Good job with Elliot! Love the attention at heel photo too

Couldn't see Fly's video

My video is further up in this post.

Elliot and Fly, I love both your videos.
Elliot is so stately and Fly is having so much fun!

Okay, i am going to begin trying to teach Buddy some of this heelwork. I've just been studying Elliot's and Fly's videos, very closely, over and over, to see what heelwork is even supposed to look like, lolz...

now,
are either of you giving a command? or using body cues? I can't spot any hand cues, etc, so, you give a cue to get your dog started doing their heelwork with you,
and then at that level of skill,
and then your dog just continues in heelwork? NO ongoing signal is in use?

just curious.

also, Fly's mom, all those turns, and reversing direction, how does Fly know to turn or back up? Are you giving some cue that i can not detect,
or, Fly just watches you soooo closely, he realizes you are about to turn?

It's all so amazing to me. It really is. No idea if i can teach this cue, but wow, it sure is impressive to watch.
so i guess i am going to try for even 1 step, lolz.

Tigerlily, I have one cue to start. I use the word "left" to have her walk on my left side. On this cue, she comes and sticks her shoulder on my leg and then she just follows. If she looses contact, I say "left" and there we go again. Of course, you can use any cue you want.

I taught her to turn before teaching her to walk aside me, on the bowl (elephant trick). And then we did it without the bowl.

Backing up had to be done gradually by lurring and having one step back at a time. I had to do it along a wall so that Fly would back up straight. I only reward straight backup. I have no cue, she just has to be concentrated on my walk.

You actually have to be fair and correct in rewarding. Only contact and good steps. A clicker (or voice marker) can help for accuracy.

Have a good time with Buddy, I'm sure you'll get it.

THANK YOU, FLY! It's just very amazing to me, this heelwork. It is amazing to me, that when you back up, or turn, you are not using some verbal cue or some signal, and yet, Fly follows you in perfect time, as you back up, or turn!!!
amazing..... I really thought, you'd write back, and say, "Oh, yes, i say turn or back, is how Fly stays in perfect timing with my steps." but nope, that was not it. WOW.


I just can't imagine i will be able to teach this like you have...lolz, i can't picture it. But i am going to at least try.

So based upon your reply, i am thinking, i need to first teach the elephant trick, and THEN begin to attempt to teach heelwork, does this sound like a good plan to you?

I found this thread on how to teach elephant trick, so i guess i will imitate that method to teach elephant trick, right?
http://www.dogtrickacademy.com/memb...d-a-go-at-rear-end-awareness.4093/#post-29215

That's it ! Teach him to turn on a bowl like the elephant trick. When this is ok, get in his way and ask him to do the elephant trick. When he bumps into your leg, reward. And turn with him by pushing him with your knee or the other way round so that he comes and bumps into your leg, your dog is still standing with his front legs on the bowl at this stage. Always reward contact. When this is ok, get rid of the bowl and turn as if the bowl was still there. Don't try to walk yet. This way, turning will be no problem later. When this is ok try and walk and reward any leg contact.