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Subject: Walking/Heeling question

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Cocoabean

Rat Royalty

12/29/2007 2:21 PM
Hubby and I and our three dogs went for a long hike today at a local state park near where we live. We encountered several people with dogs, and they were all very nice, well-behaved dogs on leashes. I noticed that all of the dogs that were heeling were on the left of the person. I assume this is taught in obedience classes, and it made me wonder if there's any practical reason to walk with your dog to your left. Does anyone know? I taught Henry to walk on my right because he's blind in his right eye, and when he's at my left side, he sometimes runs into my leg. He is much better at walking on my right than on my left. Today, I observed that when you approach someone head-on, and both dogs are on the left, most of the time the dogs are going to end up in a direct confrontation with each other because we humans tend to move to the right side of a path to pass each other. I was thinking about how much better it would be if the dogs were on the right side, then they wouldn't end up in such a direct confrontation, especially if you're walking on a narrow trail in the woods or a similar narrow place. I'd love to know if there's a practical reason for dogs to be taught to walk on the left in obedience classes; does anyone have any idea?

Sara Jo Mom to Henry

mario07

Bratty Ratty

12/29/2007 6:38 PM
Sara Jo, great question! The proper direction for people to walk down a street is the left side (person facing the traffic) so the dog should be to the left "shielded" by their walker from cars. When cycling, you would ride on the right, with traffic... walkers/joggers, etc. should be going against traffic. Does that make sense? My neighborhood has its sidewalks on the wrong side of the street and for a long time I walked Mario (didn't have Pepper yet) on the right... I wanted him away from the street. But, I quickly realized that despite having sidewalks, I needed to walk in the proper traffic pattern, putting the dogs on the left. When I approach another person walking his/her dog...they should be on the other side of the street going in the opposite direction, so no confrontations with the dogs... Hope I didn't make this more confusing...

~~Shannon, Mario and Pepper's mom!~~

Fuji's mom

Rat Royalty

12/29/2007 7:09 PM
Not that this is a logical reason, but when we went to puppy classes we were asked which side we prefered. The trainer did say that if we were planning on showing the dog, we needed to walk him on the left. Apparently that is what is expected at dog shows.

Nydia "Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired." -- Mother Theresa

rattytatty

Newbie

12/29/2007 7:18 PM
The 'Heel' command/position is somewhat buried in hunting history, and the reason as I understand it... is because most people are right handed and virtually all hunters carry and use their weapon with their right hand. In all sanctioned obedience events, it's still required that dogs heel on the left, however, right-side heeling is a common drill, using a different command name for that side, of course. In agility... heeling on the left AND the right are both necessary. In addition, whatever you train the dog to do on the left... you must also train the dog to do on the right. (It's actually much harder than training for obedience).

mario07

Bratty Ratty

12/29/2007 7:20 PM
Oh, Nora is here! She's the smartest one!! LOL ;P I didn't know that, Nora, very cool!

~~Shannon, Mario and Pepper's mom!~~

rattytatty

Newbie

12/29/2007 7:22 PM
Hey! are you being sarcastic?? :=Q Yeah... my brain is full of LOTS of useless information!

mario07

Bratty Ratty

12/29/2007 7:24 PM
Posted By rattytatty on 12/29/2007 7:22 PM Hey! are you being sarcastic?? :=Q Yeah... my brain is full of LOTS of useless information! Hahaha!! I am NEVER sarcastic! No, you are the smart one with training! I just pretend like I know what I'm talking about!

~~Shannon, Mario and Pepper's mom!~~

rattytatty

Newbie

12/29/2007 7:30 PM
Here are some great videos to help teach the different commands! http://www.expertvillage.com/videos/dog-training-tips-heel.htm

Fuji's mom

Rat Royalty

12/29/2007 7:35 PM
Thanks for the information. We are working to get some of those basic commands down pat. It's not Fuj's fault. It's the other end of the leash that does not work with him enough, but we have made a commitment to do so.

Nydia "Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired." -- Mother Theresa

Cocoabean

Rat Royalty

12/29/2007 11:18 PM
Great information! Thanks! That's interesting about walking on the street against traffic; I hadn't considered that or sidewalks since we don't have sidewalks in my neighborhood. Almost everyone you meet head-on while walking on a hiking trail moves to the right or stays on the right side of the trail for passing each other, so it made me wonder. Maybe those of us with dogs should stay left (except that wouldn't help with Henry). I vaguely recall reading that about hunting with dogs, too, now that you mentioned it Nora.

Sara Jo Mom to Henry

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