Totally agreed.... but that is NOT a "heel" command. It's a Stop.
It bears no relationship to a dog walking beside a person on an urban pavement.

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Call it what you want but your everday dog owner calls it a heel command. One of mine is from working stock but doesnlt work so he doesn't understand the stop/heel command so I have to tell him. My farmer friends are a bit different. Some will only have to tell once and they will follow them all day no more than a foot away where as some don't say anything after "That'll do!", the dog just does it until gets back to the yard and then it take some time fo ritself but they all have at one point been taught to stay close and not leave the farmers side.

Mike the organic milk farmer I know has a dog that just wanders around behind him without a care in the world (takes after Mike) but as soon as Mike says anything that dog is like a primed missle "WHAT?". Its like Jekyll and Hide. Superb dog. He fetches cows so casually and peacefully it sets the scene for the whole farm "Morning. Once you've finished that mouthful of grass you'll be going in for milking if that's ok with you? No, no, take your time, I am not rushing you. Been up to much recently have you?" Just a joy to see such gentleness and a credit Mike and his stockmanship and husbandry. Top bloke.

Sorry OP I drifted off to the fields of Cumbria there for a mo.

Hi Hutch and Merlinsmum, thoroughly enjoyed the debate. Agree it is only with many, many hours of time spent with the dog (depending on the breed, of course! and not long spells of training) that will reap the rewards of walking to heel as Seven Pets seems to aspire to. And agree also to get rid of expensive harnesses and choke chains etc, better off with a loose lead and stop/go exercises.

Absolutely loved your stories about working dogs - they are so inspiring when you see a good dog doing its job, thanks Hutch!

Where's Seven Pets gone, though? Lucy

I have a very good friend who has taken two failed sheep dogs, from the same farm.

Both dogs hardly ever go on a lead- from the day she got them Jim had a 'heel' command taught by the farmer it wa ''close'' and he would not move from there unless told to.

I was told by one of my school friends dads who owned a large farm that had been in the family for years, that years ago when everyone walked their sheep/cattle to market, once they were penned in, the dog needed a command that meant heel, but it was to walk behind- a market was a very busy place and a wandering collie could easily get lost or trodden on. It might be their instinct to be infront and work the sheep.. but what use would alost/injured dog be?


Anyways back to the original question.. When I was training a young collie on the lead she was a bad puller and it took alot of effort to get her to concentrate to walk beside me so I did it in 5 minute intervals- 5minutes concentrating and heeling, 5 minutes ''free lead'' and keep doing each.
Then as she was getting it I incresed the lengt of concentrating but not 'free lead' and then decrease the 'free lead' time. By the time I had her 2 weeks she would walk for 10 mins concentrating with a 2 min free lead then back again and had a run in the park before crossing the road to go home.

Build up the time your dog has to pay attention to you and make it sohe wants to be next to you.

Have you thought about clicker training for heel?

x

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might be a bit hard now hes settled into it though at 1 year it not impossible to retrain id say. if you do it everyday for 15-30mins he should get the idea within a couple of weeks - he should really get it within a day or two really then just be testing you. having him sit a kerb sides for periods of time helps them listen and settle, i find if i say good boy when my lads heeling it sets him off so i usually dont say anything apart from 'heel' - if he gets infront i might give him a short 'hey' and he comes back. if hes good let him have some off lead play, if hes bad - enjoy the training untill you get home

you must realise that a gun/sheep dog heeling when your striding through brush/land is going to be a pretty imptracticle thing. the owner wants to know they are besides them and not out in the field chasing anything and everything. having them heel on uneven ground with so many direction changes would probably do them an injury they could do without.

Thanks guys. Wow, interesting comments. I had only started doing the training for heel yesterday, and he got it for about a minute walking up and down past my house, so once we stretch to other areas, we'll see how he goes, but he listens and is concentrating. I'm using the clicker and when he's in heel, he does look up at me for the click and treat.

One question, should you never allow your dog to sniff or should it always be looking up at you at heel?

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Just a point, if you only started the training yesterday it could take quite some time.

I assumed you had been training it for the last year and he just hadn't "got it" yet.

I have been heel training Oscar since i got him at 8 weeks, now it is difficult for me to do it all the time because i have pushchairs and children with me when i am out walking that demand more of my focus but it has still taken a long time. I could get him top do it perfectly in a training environment within a few days but getting him to do it when there is the excitement of a walk and the wind up his backside is another thing altogether.

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If a dog is at heel it should do nothing else but heel, no sniffing.
Obviously you will have to make sure that all toileting has been done before your regimented training.
If your dog feels that it can break heel for whatever it wants to do then all your efforts will be in vain.

Very true, however I think the point is that it isn't as a such a "heel" command, more of a "stop working and come this way".
Border Collies and many other working dogs are excellent distance workers, which I think was the original point by MerlinsMum and is very true. I can see this in my worky border collie- although I've not done sheepwork with him, in agility he drives forward and is very confident working at a distance from me- definately not a "velcro dog".

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