Off Lead Heelwork

A few issues back I was talking about training your dog to be happy walking on the lead. Today I want to touch briefly on the subject of walking to heel off the lead.

I've just got to that stage in my pup's training. He's nearly 5 months old now. Normally I teach my puppies to walk to heel off lead a lot sooner than this, but as I've already explained before, he's quite immature and his temperament just doesn't suit being pushed too hard too soon.

So it's very much a case of 'all in good time' with him.

I walk him on a rope lead. And as you know I have one other, much older dog, Bracken. Where I live I'm surrounded by open fields I can walk across, many of which are less than 2 or 3 minutes walk from my house.

I put him on the lead as we walk to the fields, then let him off once we're off the road. I don't bother putting Bracken on a lead for this short stretch of road - she walks to heel off lead.

The puppy knows that he's not allowed to just make a mad dash for it the second his lead comes off - he's only allowed to go when I give him his 'release word'.

So in practice we walk up the lane with the puppy on the lead immediately by my side and with Bracken walking to heel off lead on the other side of Tufter. So they're both on my left, not one each side.

We climb the stile into the field and I walk another ten yards or so with them both still in exactly the same positions. Then I stop and wait awhile. Sometimes only a few seconds, on other occasions maybe as long as 30 seconds or a minute. And sometimes I leave Tufter on the lead, while other times I slip it off. Either way he has to wait quietly beside me.

Having to wait like this teaches them the discipline to just be patient until I'm good and ready for them to go and do their own thing.

Then I give Bracken the release word - "Bracken, alright" - and away she goes. I wait a bit longer before taking the pup's lead off if it was still on. If it was already off I still make him wait a bit longer.

So he can see Bracken running free and is itching to race off after her but he knows he's not to move until I give him the word. Once I've made him wait with the lead off for about 30 seconds or so I let him go - "Tufter, alright" - and away he goes.

It's important for you to realise that all of this control is purely verbal - I teach them that just because they're not wearing a lead doesn't mean they can automatically run about. They have to wait until I give them the release word, which is their signal to do what they want.

By teaching this principle it means when you come to do off lead heelwork your battle's already halfway won. Because the dog already knows that you taking the lead off is not in itself a cue to just race off.

(Contrast this with what most people do. They get to the field or park, take off the lead and just automatically let the dog run off. Unwittingly they've taught the dog that the act of taking off the lead is the signal to run free.

So imagine how difficult it's going to be for them to teach the dog to walk to heel off lead. The moment they take the lead off for the very first attempt at teaching the dog to 'heel' the dog's just going to race off like it's been taught to do.

The owner's going to have to unteach the bad manners that have been allowed to develop. That will be *so* confusing for the dog, not to mention frustrating and possibly stressful for the owner.)

So what I've been doing is getting into the field and almost immediately reaching down and slipping Tufter's lead off as I keep walking. At the same time I say "Tufter, heel", and keep walking. I watch very closely to make sure he doesn't try to move out of position and assuming he doesn't I give him plenty of gentle, quiet praise.

We walk about 20 or 20 yards before I stop. We then wait as usual before I release Bracken. Then I release Tufter. It's all so easy - as far as Tufter's concerned there's not really anything very different at all from what he's been used to. It's just the tiniest extra step, but it's so gradual that he barely even notices.

All I have to do now is gradually extend the distance we walk with him off lead before I release him. And also get him used to the idea of coming into the heel position from a distance. But that again is very straightforward with any dog if it's already got the hang of walking beside you off lead.

Start when the dog's already off lead and happens to be very close by - within a couple of yards. Call his name and command - "Tufter, heel", and pat the side of your leg to encourage him into position. If needs be you can use a small tempting treat to get him in to the side of your leg. As soon as he's in position give plenty of praise and use your hand, if necessary, to encourage him to stay in position as you walk along. Don't go far - no more than 5 or 6 paces to begin with - before praising and releasing (verbally of course - "Tufter, alright").

Gradually extend both the distance you call him in from, and the distance you walk him in position for. Take it in nice gentle steps and there's no limit to how far you can take it.

To give you an idea of what I mean by that I always train all of my dogs to the level where they'll come into the heel position from anywhere within earshot and will walk in position for a minimum of half an hour. So they could be 250 yards away and I'll call out their name followed by the heel command and they'll come straight over to me and drop into position beside me. I can then walk as far as I like in whatever direction I like with as many twists and turns as I like, and I know full well they won't budge from position until I give them the release word.

Although I'm only at the very start of that road with Tufter, I'll eat my hat if I don't get there with him within the next few months.

There are all sorts of things that can go wrong of course, and there are all sorts of tricks and wrinkles you can use to help if things don't seem to be going quite to plan.

I cover them all in detail in my book "Dog Training Blueprint To Success".

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