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WALKING
THE STRAIGHT LINE!
Obedience exhibitors frequently loose points for lags, forges, heeling
wide, etc. Heeling can be one of the
hardest things for a dog to do and one of the most boring for a dog that has not
learned to focus - but that is another subject.
What we will concentrate on today is walking a straight line to aid the
dog in the performance of heeling. If
you start this concept with a young puppy, or in the very beginning of your work
with your new obedience dog, you will be miles ahead as you progress in your
obedience training.
In classes, we teach our students this concept first without their dogs
on the end of the leash so that the student can learn without distraction of
their pooches to contend with.
The first step is to find your spot on the mats.
Start with placing yourself in the center of the mat and take one step to
the right. When heeling on mats,
this allows your dog partner to have the entire left side of the mat to heel on.
This is important when at a show, especially in novice where the ring is
not fully matted. This right hand
side of the mat is where you will always want to be when heeling with your dog,
so when you do a right or left turn, or an about turn, you will end up on that
right side of the mat after executing your turn.
The next step is to pick your focal point - where your eyes will be when
heeling. Just as the dog's rear
always follows the head position, so do your eyes determine where your shoulders
will be. If you are not looking
forward your shoulders will be tipped in one direction or the other.
Picking your focal point is done by extending your right arm horizontally
to the ground and pointing your index finger.
Stare at where your finger is pointed and look there when heeling.
Now, practice heeling while looking at your focal point and maintaining
that position on the right side of the mat.
You will naturally walk a straighter line which will be an aid to the
dog.
Some additional aids that you can practice to develop a straight heeling
position is to put masking tape on your straight mat and practice keeping your
left foot on the masking tape line. In
your driveway at home, practice keeping your left foot on the line of a cement
driveway - they all have them to prevent cracking, or use a chalkline to put a
straight line down for you to work with on a blacktop drive or grass.
Chalklines can be bought at all building supply stores.
To emphasize the difficulty of how hard it is for your dog to follow you
if you do not walk a straight line, try heeling with another person.
You be the dog, have the person be the handler who weaves around and is
not consistent in their walking pattern. It
is a fun demo to try!
Happy heeling! |
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