Is this bad?

[Picklepaige]

I had a trainer tell me that, during walks, dogs should ALWAYS be on your left side in a heel position. However, when I walk, unless someone is coming our way, I let my dogs sniff around and explore. They can also walk in front of me, as long as they don't pull. When we approach a person or animal, they go into the heel position, but other than that, we have free walks, just no pulling. Is it ok to be that relaxed on walks? I just don't think Maggie would burn off enough energy being glued to my side the whole way.

 

[houndlove]

Of course it's okay! Unless you are doing formal competitive obedience it doesn't matter what side your dog heels on, and of course you should not make your dog heel her entire walk! That would be zero fun for you or her. Personally when I walk the dogs, the walk is for them, not for me. They can walk wherever and however they want except for tugging on the leash or surfing around too much.

It sounds like that trainer is just way uptight. We don't all want our dogs marching around military-style.

 

[adojrts]

Oh my goodness, why on earth would they tell you that?? Did you ask them why?? Are they of the opinion that a dog out of heel isn't trained?

 

[Picklepaige]

She told me that, if they were not in a heel, they were becoming "dominant" over me, as they were making the decision where to go, not me. Personally, I call that wanting to explore...

 

[bubbatd]

I always released from the heel , but would recall , sit at heel and move on from time to time . There's a differnce from the ring and a dog walk !

 

[BRTLover]

I walk on a nice loose leash; but rarely heel when we are out walking.
My doggies are really young but even when they get older they need to be just plain dogs once in a while.
As long as they are well behaved and not dragging me all over the place I would be happy to let them sniff around and enjoy life.
I cannot imagine them being happy in the heel all the time.
I would worry that they would burn out and not ever want to heel again.

Of course I am teaching the "stand" command right now so I guess I am way behind your training level.

 

[BRTLover]

She told me that, if they were not in a heel, they were becoming "dominant" over me, as they were making the decision where to go, not me. Personally, I call that wanting to explore...

There is a big difference between wanting to sniff around/explore and being dominate!
Does your dog go where you want to go?
Do you choose the direction of travel?

I am not a trainer but if it were me; I would be checking with another trainer for verification on this theory because it sounds wrong to me.

 

[Maxy24]

The moment the word Dominant left her mouth i would have said goodbye Seriously though what is WITH trainers these days and thinking dogs want to take over the world stating with their people? I mean they are labeling EVERYTHING dominant just so people won't blame their training methods (or lack thereof) but will blame the dog.

 

[Lilavati]

Its fine. Find another trainer who doesn't think that dogs being dogs is 'dominance.' Perhaps it is 'dominance' in the sense that YOU are not so dominant over your dog that it has become a robot that obeys your every command . . .and the commands you didn't give to.

But if you want a robot dog, get an Aibo.

 

[bubbatd]

Agree !!! What if you were walking a path and couldn't pick a pretty flower or pick up an interesting rock or leaf . !?

 

[houndlove]

The moment the word Dominant left her mouth i would have said goodbye

Seriously. That word means next to nothing as far as actually describing actual dog behavior--it's just a buzzword. Pretty much every other day someone posts on Dogster distraught because their 10 week old puppy is being "dominant". Get real! These people running around spewing dominance this and dominance that are poisoning people's relationships with their dogs! It makes me really sad.

 

[Picklepaige]

I also don't agree with the dominant thing. She also said that because Maggie goes out of the door in front of my on walks, she is being dominant. No, she is just excited! And when she sat touching my leg, she was dominant, when she sat in my lap, dominance, and every other every day behavior was considered dominance. I've since found a new trainer =).

 

[BRTLover]

Agree !!! What if you were walking a path and couldn't pick a pretty flower or pick up an interesting rock or leaf . !?

You would be considered very dominant if you did that. I guess it would mean back to the training board for you and a lot more heeling.:lol-sign:

 

[PWCorgi]

You would be considered very dominant if you did that. I guess it would mean back to the training board for you and a lot more heeling

ROFL!

Good thing you found a new trainer Pickle!

 

[protodog]

She also said that because Maggie goes out of the door in front of my on walks, she is being dominant. No, she is just excited! And when she sat touching my leg, she was dominant, when she sat in my lap, dominance, and every other every day behavior was considered dominance.

Clearly, Maggie has the ambition of Alexander the Great. Soon she will raise an army and overthrow you and shortly thereafter take over the country, eventually expanding her territory to include the entire known world.

 

[Picklepaige]

Ah, so THAT'S why she seemed so deeply interested in my copy of Gods and Generals!

 

[adojrts]

Glad you found a new trainer, money is too hard come by these days to waste on a wannabe CM. Good grief.

 

[Lilavati]

The sad thing is there is dominant behavior out there . . . but "Dominant" has just come to mean "poorly behaved," "doesn't know any better," "independent," "not a robot," and "bratty" as well as dominant. It is not a good catch all catagory, since you do not use the same solutions for all of the above problems (if they are problems at all). Basically, these days dominant=not doing precisely what the TRAINER things the dog should do (forget what the owner thinks). Its dangerous and stupid.

I liked my trainer, who refered to Sarama as "very Alpha." What she meant by that was that Sarama was behaving fine at that time, but I should expect some challange, considering how she related to other dogs. She didn't tell me to DO anything about it (Sarama just IS that way) but that if she does start breaking the rules that *I* set, I should not let her get away with it. Note, those are the rules that I set in my house, not an artifical set of rules supposed to assert my dominance. Sigh, but I suppose that's not 'catch-wordy' enough and too complex for most people to bother with . . . .

 

[bordercollie22]

Being on your left side all the time and having no sniffing and play would be awful for the dog.

 

[houndlove]

You know it occurred to me, if I were a cynical person (um, I am) I might think that trainers who use a lot of "dominance" talk are actually just trying to market themselves. Think about it: there are many newer, proven successful methods for training your average pet dog that don't involve a lot of harshness and punishments. For a trainer who doesn't want to go and learn a new method and wants to stick to the way they've always done it, they now need to come up with some way to convince clients that their dog is not the "average pet dog" and is in fact "OMG DOMINANT!!!" so the client will feel that they have to stick with this harsh punishment-based trainer instead of going with a positive trainer who maybe can't handle a "problem dog" (they can, but it's a common misconception). If you advertise yourself as being able to handle problem dogs with these "forceful" methods, then you have a vested interest in convincing everyone you meet that their dog is in fact a "problem".

Just a thought I had.