Focused Heel vs Regualar Heel - Page 1

As some of you probably know, my background is with CKC style obedience rather than schutzhund. I hear the CKC and AKC obedience ring is getting a more focused style of heeling these days, too, but until recently, the acceptable heel is the dog walking by its owner's side, with the dog's shoulder roughly in line with the owner's hip, and the dog looking forward. Most dogs have good enough peripheral vision to be able to follow their handler properly in this positon.

Now, those of you who do the schutzhund style heel, with the dog's eyes riveted on your face...do you ever do an UNfocused heel? You know, where you just do what your average joe pet owner does....take the dog for a WALK?

And how do you make it clear to the dog that it doesn't have to do the extreme focus thing, and can relax and actually sniff around a bit?

This is REALLY bugging me. I want to train the focused heel, but I also want to be able to take my dog for a regular stroll along the streets of town, without having to stress over whether she's looking at me all the time.

But I find myself remembering what my old riding instructor used to say: every moment you are on your horse, you are either training it or untraining it!

I do both with my dogs. "Fuss" means to focus heel, I expect you to walk and watch me. "Heel" is my command for just regular heeling on a walk or something like that, also do it through my house. Means you stay by my left side in a AKC type heel, you don't have to watch me, but you have to pay attention (if I stop you stop, if I turn you turn, etc.). I do the same with the down. The "platz" is a schutzhund down, "lay it" is a relaxed down. 

My dog walks however she feels when we just go for walks, but when other people or dogs are coming to walk past us, she knows to reel it in, and "heels" un-focusedly next to me. Gets tough though when the idiot other dog owners let their dogs race over and get in her face... anymore if I see another problematic-looking dog coming we will go off into the grass and I will get her to sit and focus on me while they pass.

The AKC style of heeling has not changed. "The dog must walk next to the handler's left side without swinging wide, lagging, forging or crowding." That's all the AKC OB regulations say about heeling.

I use English commands when walking or hanging out, German for training. That's how I was taught to do it, & it works well...the dogs definitely get it! jackie harris

The dog is always focused,the question is what is the dog focused on when looking away?  probably not really on the heelwork when looking away, so actually no heel work at all ;-)
The focus mirrors the state of mind, so if there is no focus on the handler you can not just define it as a "regular heel work", whatever that means ;-)
All the best
Ulf

Well you can bust out the Barbra Woodhouse and use "Walkies!" for just walking around the block. And use Heel for a looser style working in the CKC/AKC ring. And when on the Schn field you can use Fuss! Dogs are not dumb. Mine also know Plotz means fold backwards into the spinx down. And down means line on the floor and chill out. I also use comands like Here/Hier! for recall but i use "Front" when heeling in motion and i want the dog to sit in front of me as i back up. (Very short recall).
I've seen some dogs that know dozens of commands and tricks. You just have to remember which word means what?!

My dogs have no problem with this.  "Fuss" is heeling with their attention/focus on  me.  When we go for a walk they get no command... they are allowed to be a dog and have a good time.  Obviously they cannot be unruly and pull me down the road lol  They learn "easy" if they start to pull too hard.... also, when we go to cross the road or if another person is passing us and I want them next to me instead of infront of me, they also know "with me" which is basically unfocused sloppy heeling (staying next to my leg but not necessarily eyes on me).