Training for Off lead Heeling

[Luvs]

When training for obedience competition, how often do you practice off lead heeling? My daughter and I were having this discussion the other day and I wanted to find out what you guys thought. At the show last weekend Akasha did better off lead than on (I think my nerves played a huge part in this), while Keil on the other hand did just the opposite.


I rarely work Akasha off lead. I want to be in a position to correct her if needed and if she is off lead, I can't do that. I have a shark line that I attach to her collar along with her leash when I am working on lead heeling. After a little bit of heeling on lead I take her leather lead off and then work with just the shark line.

Should I be doing more work without any type of lead or is working with the shark line ok? How often do you work off lead with your dogs?

[spoteet]

I never practice off leash heeling with Sajan. I have talked to many schutzhund trainers(World level competitors) and their dogs never do the off leash heeling except in a trial. That way the dog never learns(hopefully) that you can't do anything to correct them. If you always practice heeling on leash(I sometimes try to hide the leash behind my back so it's not so obvious) and the dog never makes a mistake without a correction then eventually it should become the way the dog always heels, leash or no leash.

Funny thing is, Sajan's off leash heeling is far better than his on lead in a trial.

[Brooke&Ryan]

Originally Posted by spoteet

I never practice off leash heeling with Sajan. I have talked to many schutzhund trainers(World level competitors) and their dogs never do the off leash heeling except in a trial. That way the dog never learns(hopefully) that you can't do anything to correct them. If you always practice heeling on leash(I sometimes try to hide the leash behind my back so it's not so obvious) and the dog never makes a mistake without a correction then eventually it should become the way the dog always heels, leash or no leash.

Interesting Sharon. I had never thought of it that way....

[Judi W]

Depends upon the dog. Some (like yours) become dependent upon the feel of the lead and actually pay better attention when they cannot feel a telegraphing from the lead.

The rule is - which ever your dog needs.

[Rott-Wiley]

I would hazzard a guess that around 90% of my heeling work is done off lead. Almost all of the corrections are verbal. For a sever correction, which is rarely needed, I do have the ability to reach over and snatch the ring of her chain collar. I should add that this is the only dog I've ever had that truely does enjoy working with me and I take full advantage of that.

[MARYDVM]

I tried something new with Bliss when we started training. We went out to my vacant horse corral with just a kong, and no collar or lead. I used her intense toy drive to teach her all the exercises. Her beginning heel work developed with her head up and watching the kong, and her body guided into a straight line by our walking along the fenceline. The only correction was a verbal "ahh" when she didn't acheive the perfect position. We still practice out there with no collar or leash almost daily. Away from home or at classes, she wears the leash, but I have to watch myself so as not to give an automatic collar correction, since she has no idea what this is. I also use food in these instances, since I can't throw a kong as a reward. The result of this training so far, is that she responds very quickly to verbal or body cues, and she has never been taught "watch me" because the attention is automatically part of every exercise. We hope to be in the novice ring this fall, so we will see how it all turns out in competition. I am happy with what I see so far.

[Luvs]

Thank you guys for taking the time to respond to my post. I feel better about keeping her on lead. She is doing well, and just I don't want to do anything to mess her up now. So, we will keep on as we have.