{"id":2448,"date":"2014-01-26T16:21:18","date_gmt":"2014-01-26T16:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testmaria.satemporary.online\/2014\/01\/26\/2014-01-26-why-heel-matters\/"},"modified":"2024-04-27T15:50:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T15:50:09","slug":"why-heel-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testmaria.satemporary.online\/2014\/01\/26\/why-heel-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"Why \u201cHeel\u201d Matters!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As a dog trainer <\/a>who travels the country training dogs and working with 20-30 families a week in their homes it is so important for folks to understand how a dog thinks. And when there is no authority figure present, the kind of chaos and bad behavior that can happen. Remember the bad behavior of your dog is not the problem it is just the outcome of a breakdown of leadership in your home.<\/em>
\nMy friend, co-host of the Train The Trainers<\/a> Seminar Series, and LA dog training<\/a> colleague Sean O\u2019Shea from The Good Dog Training and Rehabilitation puts out such a great blog that I feature it here on my blog. Since the message is so powerful and important it needs to be shared by all. Enjoy the read and feel free to also join his Facebook Fan Page<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Why \u201cHeel\u201d Matters!<\/h1>\n

By Sean O’Shea<\/h1>\n

\"20140122-091828\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I often get asked by clients and other folks why I recommend the \u201cHeel\u201d command and what is the value of it? It\u2019s a very good question. For me, it goes much, much deeper than just the aesthetic of having a dog walk next to you (although it does look good! :)), and there\u2019s some obvious practical value of having a dog in a well managed physical position, close to your side to keep him or her out of trouble and harm\u2019s way. But in my opinion that\u2019s just the tip of the iceberg. There are some really valuable state of mind and relationship benefits as well. Let\u2019s take a look at a few!<\/p>\n

-Dogs have to utilize a ton of impulse control and focus to keep themselves next to you on the walk in the face of many distractions and exciting triggers. This ends up being a fantastic training and state of mind exercise for the dog.<\/p>\n

-The physical position of the dog indicates the mental position as well \u2013 or in other words, if the dog is working to keep himself next to me, I know he\u2019s focused on me instead of the environment, I know he\u2019s managing himself, and I also know that his intensity level is under control. (Most dogs as soon as they get agitated or stimulated start to move around and lose position either farther back or forward, and these are great warning signs.)<\/p>\n

-A respectful, polite, courteous, and tuned-in state of mind isn\u2019t the state of mind that reacts to dogs and other things in the environment.<\/p>\n

-Having your dog honor your request to walk in a certain position, at a certain pace, and ignoring distractions, is a huge positive relationship builder.<\/p>\n

-Dogs who are paying attention, respectful, polite, and courteously walking in a heel feel far less inspired, entitled, and empowered to bark, lunge, and disagree with things they disapprove of in their environment.<\/p>\n

-Dogs in a heel, that are practicing self-control are far less stressed and anxious, and therefore far less apt to make poor decisions around dogs, people, cars, bikes etc.<\/p>\n

-Dogs in a heel are actually deeply connected to their owners. They therefore feel far less stress and anxiety because they are being guided\/led through the world rather than being in charge of assessing and sorting out what is safe and what is dangerous constantly. (Especially important for nervous, anxious, fearful dogs, who make up the majority of reactive cases.)<\/p>\n

-Asking more of your dog makes you a leader. A dog with a leader is relaxed and comfortable. A dog who is a leader is stressed and anxious.<\/p>\n

-Dogs being respectful on-leash tend to be respectful to the environment. Dogs being brats on-leash tend to be brats to the environment.<\/p>\n

-If the dog is using 75% of their mental focus on keeping themselves in a heel position! that only leaves 25% to get into trouble with.<\/p>\n

If you haven\u2019t worked on \u201cHeel\u201d with your dog yet, and you\u2019d like to benefit from some of these juicy \u201cHeel\/Healing\u201d results, drop me a comment and I\u2019ll connect you with a link to my video that shows how easy it is to create this very cool command. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

____________________<\/p>\n

Here are a few links of Sean’s to help you with healing your heeling!<\/p>\n