Heel-side

stdpoodad

stdpoodad

Experienced Member
This is in Home Depot. We go in there practically every day. I love the wide aisles and low distractions, I'm constantly teaching tricks in here.
Both of my dogs know this but Seamus is faster about it than Teaghan.
When I took this video, there were more distractions than normal. Seamus usually just JUMPS from side to side!
 
That's really good, especially with distractions :cool:. My friend has a standard poodle and I can well imagine Seamus jumping from side to heel and back again!

I have been doing left-side/right-side with Zac but getting him to cross behind me. I think it is a really useful cue as you can get the dog out of the way of problems before they happen. Your way (crossing in front) might be better because you can keep eyes on the dog - I find that eyes on is a good idea with Zac in a distracting environment. Also Zac has a tendency to lurk way back when we are training and this would be a way of encouraging him forward. I do use the cross in front but only for switching direction with reverse circles and to swing to heel from front... I'll have to review that and experiment a bit.

Thanks for posting... I love ideas like this that I can practice easily when we are out and about :)
 
I hadn't' ever thought of doing it having him cross behind me. He (and Teaghan), just naturally do it in front. I like it that way though, as you say I can keep my eyes on them. But sometimes a dog gets in the way. Seamus usually does it so fast thought, that getting in the way isn't a problem.
I do *some* "formal" training in the house, but usually no more than 5-10 minutes. On a walk, I'm always training. Sits, downs, nose touches, switches from side to side, twirls, spins, etc....

Joe
 
stdpoodad said:
I hadn't' ever thought of doing it having him cross behind me. He (and Teaghan), just naturally do it in front. I like it that way though, as you say I can keep my eyes on them. But sometimes a dog gets in the way. Seamus usually does it so fast thought, that getting in the way isn't a problem.
I do *some* "formal" training in the house, but usually no more than 5-10 minutes. On a walk, I'm always training. Sits, downs, nose touches, switches from side to side, twirls, spins, etc....
Click to expand...

Yes, I wondered about the dog getting in the way, I don't give way to dogs (we had trouble with them running into and flattening us until we stopped avoiding them) so Zac never chooses to cross in front. I think I'll start with it just standing still and give him really clear hand and voice signal before I start to introduce a bit of movement.

That sounds like how I train too - mostly out and about :cool:.
 
Oh, I don't wait for Seamus to cross. If he's in front of me, I walk into him. LOL He's quite good at getting on the correct side quickly.
 
I started training heel-side not as a trick per se, just as a way to walk both my dogs and have them not get tangled up. But rarely walk them at the same time now with Teaghan and her challenges, so it's turned into more of a trick. :-)
 
stdpoodad said:
Oh, I don't wait for Seamus to cross. If he's in front of me, I walk into him. LOL He's quite good at getting on the correct side quickly.
Click to expand...

No wonder he crosses quickly :LOL:
I could do that with Gus (the other dog in my family) but Zac is quite anxious about getting things right so I'll try to avoid it happening with him.
 
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