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Old 01-26-2004, 01:37 AM
spidey spidey is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Snyder, NY (via Toronto)
Re: Obedience Vs. Conformation

Personally, I don't like focus heeling (the term I've heard for that wrapped-around, staring up at you heeling) for obedience. I know it looks impressive and lots of people do it, but it's not required and I think it looks awkward and uncomfortable for the dog - they can watch you just fine with their peripheral vision, I don't think they need to be staring up at you the whole time, and heeling is difficult and unrewarding enough already, in my opinion, without making it physically uncomfortable as well. So my answer is, just don't insist on focus heeling and you shouldn't have a problem :D. If you must do focus heeling, since you give a command for heel, it's likely just a matter of practice (you could even start using a separate command for conformation - I use "showtime", since I've been clicker training an extended trot for conformation and that's the cue I use for it).
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Amanda
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"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx
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