[fowlminded]

what are some drills you all use to micromanage heeling so that the dog is always aware of your position and always lining up with you such as sitting on a bucket and swinging with you to different gun stations. Looking for precision movements at the line with the dog locked into my left leg

 

[polmaise]

what are some drills you all use to micromanage heeling so that the dog is always aware of your position and always lining up with you such as sitting on a bucket and swinging with you to different gun stations. Looking for precision movements at the line with the dog locked into my left leg

Waggon Wheel Drill is a good place to start.

 

[Tobias]

Something I 'try' to remember when working on wagon wheel/lining drills is that I have to be very precise in my own movements. I have to be the one giving the precise cues and instructions. This includes timing. It takes practice, on the handler's part to be precise and NOT give the dog 500 wrong cues just to get the 'right' one..... WW is not just for the dog.

 

[Tim Carrion]

Heel in circle clockwise and counter clockwise. Keep your heels together and just pivot your feet to move in a tight circle. The dog will learn to pivot on his butt adjusting to your position. The “push” will be easier than the “pull”.
When you think you are getting good at it try it keeping your hands in your pockets

 

[Steve Shaver]

Heel in circle clockwise and counter clockwise. Keep your heels together and just pivot your feet to move in a tight circle. The dog will learn to pivot on his butt adjusting to your position. The “push” will be easier than the “pull”.
When you think you are getting good at it try it keeping your hands in your pockets

Yep it's called training.
As others mentioned wagon wheel is good for both man and beast but to me it is just practice for what was already learned starting around 5 moths old. I rarely do wagon wheel but I suggest it for clients taking their dog home so that they can get on the same page with the dog. I know original poster wants a drill to micro manage heeling but this mostly should have been taught when teaching to heel. When first teaching a young dog to heel just like everything else I have the end results in mind. I would go back and do some precision heeling before going to wagon wheel. If heeling is well taught wagon wheel is easy and for me most of the time unnecessary. Hard to build a wall when some of the bricks are missing,

 

[DarrinGreene]

Question I have for you is, what's better/easier... precision SIT with proper head movement while marks go down or... "precision" heel with the dog moving around and trying to mark at the same time.

It would seem to me sit would be preferable.

One can always back up a couple of steps and establish a new line of departure once the dog is released to retrieve, whereas... all that movement while marks go down requires thought (brainpower wasted) and could promote breaking/creeping.

In other sports people teach their dog to pivot with their feet remaining on a 9" food pan or other object. I've never seen anyone do it in retrievers, but then, I usually don't see much of what I would call "precision" obedience behavior.

I also agree with Steve's post directly above. If you want precision heel - you teach precision heel at all times, not just in a single or multiple drills. Teaching the dog to look where you're looking isn't really "heeling" behavior.

 

[22899]

Push-Pull Drill

This drill teaches the dog to realign his focus from bumper to bumper without moving his body. He learns to let you influence him away from distractions that would pull his focus off line, and the drill will make the subtle cues you give with your leg more meaningful. ​

Start with the dog sitting straight...	...then step forward with your left leg to push his focus to the left...	...step back with your left leg to pull his focus to the right.

Begin with two white bumpers placed about 10 feet out in front of you and 45 degrees apart. When you see the dog looking at one of the bumpers, tell him "No" and move your left leg (assuming your dog heels on the left) a small step forward or backward to refocus the dog on the other bumper. Remember this rule: "Push" is accomplished by a small step forward, just enough to "push" the dog's focus to the left. "Pull" is accomplished by a small step backwards, thus "pulling" the dog's focus to the right. Next, add a third bumper between the first two. When the dog is looking at it, move your left leg to give the dog the cue to push left or pull right, and send him to retrieve one of the outside bumpers. ​

 

[22899]

The only thing I do different than the explaination above is I use my right leg (left heeling dog) to influence.. My sit is very black and whit. I don't allow dogs body to move. his feet stay planted, his but stays down, I strive for only head movement..

With the methods I use,, "HEEL"means move your body to me... "HERE"means move your head and look..

You can use white coat gunners, after you progress past basic teaching using bumpers laying close to you..

 

[Steve Shaver]

The only thing I do different than the explaination above is I use my right leg (left heeling dog) to influence.. My sit is very black and whit. I don't allow dogs body to move. his feet stay planted, his but stays down, I strive for only head movement..

I do this too. If I move my left leg the dog will get off his but and follow.

 

[22899]

There is the Lining wagon wheel
There is the casting wagon wheel
There is the push pull drill

Push Pull teaches dog to move his head only and keep sit standard high..

lining wagon wheel teaches both handler and do to be LINED up straight (Dogs spine, handlers feet) BEFORE you send.. Such as: when dog returns from go bird, you are lined up straight to next bird, dog lines up straight with you when he comes to heel.. Or,, lining the dog before you send for a blind..

 

[drunkenpoacher]

Take your dog for walks before or after training, you can do it in the house if the weather is bad. Start with a lead and a stick. Walk forward, backward, sideways, change directions often commanding "heel" or "here" accordingly. Should be very low pressure, try to make it fun.
Following the handlers movements at the line is a similar but separate concept.

 

[22899]

As far as swing with gun or bucket work for specific venue..

I found that being consistent with head only move standard, and push pull drill until dog understands the standard,,then adding the gun.

YOU swing the gun as you step forward, and swing gun as you step back.

.For bucket.... you pivot on bucket like stepping forward , or pivot away,,EITHER swinging the gun on same shoulder,, or,, as some do,,shooting gun from opposite shoulders..

I shoot alternating shoulders (or try to) I don't Hunt changing shoulders! My shooting is bad enough ! Im not into trick shots! Dogs trained by being influenced with you leg movements (And sometimes you can make it VERY subtle) the gun just becomes a "Prop" The dog looks like it is swinging with the gun,, but actually the dog is being influenced by your leg/body movement..

Remember also, with the bucket venue,, you can talk to your dog as the birds are being thrown..

 

[22899]

When I come to the line,, fror the most part.. I try to sit the dog at line lined up to go bird,, then I step up or back, depending on the order,,and swing the gun, or pivot on bucket accordingly..

Everything goes out the window on walk ups.. When the walk up is included as a bird in a triple, or double. In such a case, after the birds are down I have to re heel the dog that probably sitting (Lined) facing the walk up bird,,and Line him to the go bird and send..

 

[22899]

I didn't do any bucket work with my dog till two days before her first HRC Finished test..

 

[crackerd]

Or, if I may channel rtf's own Qui Chang Trainer: The Line to the Blind Starts With the Line to the Food Bowl. Heeling to and fro, hither and yon, and all that good stuff with the lowest pressure and the pup's greatest reward: din-din.

Take your dog for walks before or after training, you can do it in the house if the weather is bad. Start with a lead and a stick. Walk forward, backward, sideways, change directions often commanding "heel" or "here" accordingly. Should be very low pressure, try to make it fun.
Following the handlers movements at the line is a similar but separate concept.

MG

 

[drunkenpoacher]

Or, if I may channel rtf's own Qui Chang Trainer: The Line to the Blind Starts With the Line to the Food Bowl. Heeling to and fro, hither and yon, and all that good stuff with the lowest pressure and the pup's greatest reward: din-din.MG

I've done the same as my wife watched and laughed at us.

 

[22899]

I want to apologize with my many posts in threads... Since I came back, I have noticed that I don't seem to have much time to type a response befor the board logs me off ,and I am not logged in anymore. This causes me to have to log back in again, and when I do this I loose the respose I painfully "Hunt and Pecked " to respond, So, I have to break my respose down itnto several smaller posts,.Any help would be wonderful!I bet Chris is involved,,and he is tying to not allow me to Post,, or at the very least make it difficult ! Please note the smiley face..

Note the run on sentences,noparagraphs, and spelling errors, typos, because I have to hurry..

 

[MissSkeeter]

what are some drills you all use to micromanage heeling so that the dog is always aware of your position and always lining up with you such as sitting on a bucket and swinging with you to different gun stations. Looking for precision movements at the line with the dog locked into my left leg

Some thoughts on heeling in general ( I hope this helps)
https://missskeeter.podbean.com/e/teaching-silent-heeling-backwards-heeling-and-2-sided-heeling/
In this podcast, we discuss training your pup 3 aspects of heeling:
1)Silent Heeling, 2)Backwards Heeling, 3)2-Sided Heeling

In this podcast, we discuss the perfect sit from 3 perspectives
1) Position, 2) Movement, 3) Silent Auto-Sit
https://missskeeter.podbean.com/e/the-perfect-sit/

 

[tigerfan]

I want to apologize with my many posts in threads... Since I came back, I have noticed that I don't seem to have much time to type a response befor the board logs me off ,and I am not logged in anymore. This causes me to have to log back in again, and when I do this I loose the respose I painfully "Hunt and Pecked " to respond, So, I have to break my respose down itnto several smaller posts,.Any help would be wonderful!I bet Chris is involved,,and he is tying to not allow me to Post,, or at the very least make it difficult ! Please note the smiley face..

Note the run on sentences,noparagraphs, and spelling errors, typos, because I have to hurry..

It may well be Chris Atkinson playing the role of the gremlins;....... or it could be that Gooser is still a doofus

 

[crackerd]

Save and store frequently - just like with your retriever IQ databank that Ms. L and Mr. S, Esq. have helped you fill...

Nah, truthfully if you've got the Notepad accessory on your PC, copy your rtf responser into it then log back in and voila!, shared wisdom. And Gooser's not still a doofus, never was - just trying to learn a little like the rest of us.

I want to apologize with my many posts in threads... Since I came back, I have noticed that I don't seem to have much time to type a response befor the board logs me off ,and I am not logged in anymore. This causes me to have to log back in again, and when I do this I loose the respose I painfully "Hunt and Pecked " to respond, So, I have to break my respose down itnto several smaller posts,.Any help would be wonderful!I bet Chris is involved,,and he is tying to not allow me to Post,, or at the very least make it difficult ! Please note the smiley face..

Note the run on sentences,noparagraphs, and spelling errors, typos, because I have to hurry..

MG