Dominant Alpha behavior on the heel??? - Page 1

Question for the community as I fear I may of misinterpretted past behavior in my Dogs.

When on heel, if the dog wraps it's head around the front of your leg, such that your leg is contantly bumping up against it...

- Isn't that one of those subtle alpha dog behaviors? 

- I had a very dominant dog who tested me every day in very subtile ways. Off lead he always was in front.. whether we be hiking or mountain biking. On heel, he HAD TO BE IN THE LEAD... He was bull headed and while I could eventually correct it with a simple "no lead" reminder... every heal, every day, till he passed... he'd alway wrap. Was I wrong to correct it?

- If it wrapping the head is a sign of "I'm the boss" and is  wrong to allow... why is it allowed in the champion ship qualification.

Just trying to learn.
thanks;
-Paul

how did you teach him to heel?

balabanoff's method (obedience without conflict - the game) helps to teach the dog to be at your leg without "crabbing"

I don't care much for that style myself.
My dog is aware of me without being in front of my leg staring at my face or a toy in my pocket.
It is all about how you train and what your training for.

I don't want to call out a specific dog or owner, but there have been some recent posts with links to videos on the qualification tests and rather than the dog walking with eyes forward and surveying the upcoming lay of the land while on heel

They're... I guess the word is crabbed and only looking upward at the handler. I'm not talking about now and again... 100% of the time on 100% of the on-heel walks during the test.

Just seems... wrong.

But then again I'm new to all of this.

The odd thing for me was I trained my dog to "Bike-UP"... which puts the dog on a heel on the right hand side. Reason for this was to protect the dog and keep myself and bike between the road/traffic. and he NEVER would exhibit the "I just got to be in front" attitude.

I can share thou... if you hook the retractable lead to your hands or handle bar... you're dog will in mid run... mid-air... will assume the Poop-position... your front wheel will turn 90degrees... and you will immitate a Doodo bird trying to fly...

Don't worry though.. as your gasping for air after slamming onto your favorite rocky trail... with the arroma of fresh dog poop... you're trusty companion will rush up and lick your paralized face as you're taking inventory of your bones..

:)))

Hey, well he had to go! LOL At least your best friend was quick with the clean up.  The experts will have to answer your question though. Hide your retractable quick, they were deemed dangerous a few threads ago .