Heeling/walking help

I am having trouble with Ivan and heeling. And I don't know how to stop it. If he is in a heel position he has to walk so close to me I end up tripping over his feet or legs. I have not been able to figure out how to keep him from touching me while we are doing heeling work. Even if I let him forge ahead, he ends up slowing right down so that my knee knees him in the butt. Any ideas anyone?

Don't avoid tripping over him.

I haven't lizzy. Not to sound mean but I've purposely kicked (by kicked I mean normal walking kick) at his feet while we are walking. I've taken my knee and nudged him away. It works for a few seconds but then hes right back.

What she said

Don't just nudge; I mean walk your path no matter where your dog is. If he's in the middle of your path, walk directly into him. And in that second while he's walking with you but not right against you, click and treat! Then maintain a high rate of reinforcement (click and treat pretty much as fast as you can) for the duration while he's walking in good position. Also be careful how you deliver treats - you should hand him a treat directly in front of his nose, so he doesn't have to turn his head in toward you to receive it.

Sometimes I see this happening with people who have their treat bags in the wrong place on their waist. It kinda depends on the dog, but basically if your bag is on your waist right under your right arm, your dog may be coming in toward you to be closer to the treat bag. You could try putting the bag in the middle of your back. When I do heel, I have the treat bag on my waist at the middle of my back, and use my right hand to treat my dog on the left side. Occasionally I try treating with my left hand with the dog on the left, but for about 80% of dogs it doesn't work well in the beginning.... you can do that later on when the dogs have a better idea of what you're looking for.

I have this same problem with Enzo. She constantly edges forward as we're heeling until she ends up almost in front of me. I DO just walk right through her, correct her back into place and reward like crazy for the right position, but she still crowds me like that.

And even if she isn't crowding me, she sits crooked! ARGH.

I will see if I can get a video of what he does tomorrow on our walk. NOT guaranteeing anything though. lol

Ok here are a couple of videos, they aren't too long and NOT the best quality. LOL its hard walking a dog and holding a camera while trying to take a video. Plus its cold out.

Another thing I do is when a dog gets too close to me, I make a 90 degree turn in the direction of the dog. Don't warn the dog that you're turning, just do it. sometimes even just a step to the left will work. Gavroche used to walk exactly like your dog is walking. Many left turns later, and he's doing well.

You might also be able to use a touch stick to control his head which will hopefully control his body. Then continually reward for him not touching you. It might be a pain in the butt to carry the touch stick around but it could work.

Well, from what I could see in the video, he's really paying zero attention to you while he's walking. Maybe this is because of the camera you're holding... but if not it would explain why he runs into you: because it doesn't really matter to him where you are.

How did you teach heel in the first place?

What are your goals for heel - competetion/sports, therapy work, conformation, or just walking down the street without pulling?

Honestly lizzy I don't remember how I taught him to heel. My goal for heeling is conformation, walking down the street in a controlled manner. The ultimate goal would be competition/sports. But we have many things we have to work on before we can even think about getting into the OB ring.

If you heel off leash does he still do it?