Cliff Notes Week 3: Heeling Post Cliff Notes

WEEK 3
Dog Learns Accountability

HEELING POSTS

The point of this exercise is to reduce the ‘Safety Zone’ from 2 ft. down to 8" OR less.

Doing heeling posts this week is KEY to the dog learning to stay closer than ever before while heeling. This exercise teaches the dog that remaining close to you while heeling is the wise choice to make at all times. It also reduces the constant need to make turns to teach the dog that remaining close to you while heeling is the wise choice to make at all times.  

Nothing else, no other training, will convince the dog of the wisdom of staying within that 8” or less ‘Safety Zone’. It’s rather impressive how fast the dog learns when you incorporate the Heeling Posts as part of your everyday training routine.

Heeling Posts Exercise

Find a place with something that will suffice as a solid (unmovable) heeling post and where you can do the Heeling Posts on the dog’s left side. 

• Work your dog closer and closer to that solid heeling post.
• Hopefully the dog will be too far away from you and will get ‘caught’ (because of being out of heel position) by the heeling post.
• Just keep going! Don't stop because the dog got caught by the heeling post, you just keep going like nothing happened. 

Once the dog gets 'caught' a couple of times, they will learn, magically, the wisdom of staying closer and closer within 6-8”.  

You will need to do the heeling posts, more than once, in various locations this week to succeed on the first exam: the Body Bend Readiness Exam, on Day 3. You must PASS this Body Bend Readiness Exam this week before the end of the week (Day 6) Discrimination Exam is posted. =====================================================================

Daily Training Sessions

• Follow Training Protocol before and after every session

• Before each session: LL warmup until the dog ignores high distractions
• After each session: LL Cool Down
• Quiet Time should be done at least 2 times a day

• Days 1-2: Low distractions
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• Days 3-4: Medium distractions

• Days 5-6: High distractions