Clean Run Magazine - June 2008 - 21

Recalls to Heel In my handling system, the most important foundation skill is the recall to heel. As I discussed last month, when I recall my dog he should come to my side, facing the same direction that I am. Therefore, by cueing my dog to a certain side, I am giving him direction information at the same time. The presentation of my body should always indicate the flow of the course. If so, when I cue my dog to a certain side, particularly on a recall over an obstacle, it allows my dog to predict where he will be going next and helps him prepare before the obstacle. See Figures 2 and 3. 2 3 his final position is at my side, parallel to me. Every time I recall my dog, I recall him to my side so that it becomes a wellestablished behavior. It is very important to build a sound foundation on the flat so that my dog thoroughly understands recalling to heel. If my dog does not recall to my side appropriately on the flat, he will not be able to do so over a jump. When I practice recalling my dog to heel on the flat, I maintain direct eye contact with him throughout. By practicing lots of recalls to heel, my dog learns not to go past the plane of my hand signal, simply because he’s been rewarded so many times for not doing so. He also learns to make adjustments in his stride and control his momentum so that he can stop when he reaches me. This is collection training at its most basic level. I should be able to recall my dog to heel from all angles on the flat. At first I practice recalls to heel with both of us standing still, but I progress so that I can recall my dog to heel from all angles when I am stationary and my dog is moving at speed, and then when we are both in motion. Here I am cueing my dog to my right side because the tunnel is obstacle #3. Here I am cueing my dog to my left side because the jump is obstacle #3. As soon as my dog knows how to stay, I begin teaching him to recall to my side. Teaching my dog to come to heel is easily accomplished. I make eye contact with my dog, step back with my inside foot, and with my inside hand I lure my dog’s nose to my inside leg, while maintaining his approach angle. In the training stages, I expect him to come to a complete stop when he reaches me. This teaches him to collect his stride and stop with his rear end instead of his front end. If his rear end swings to either side, off his line of approach, that is a sign that my dog did not collect properly and stopped on his front end. If he does not learn to use his rear end to collect and stop, he will have difficulty when it’s time for him to collect for a jump. If I am satisfied with his stop, I reward him there. I then step forward and bring my feet together, drawing him forward so that 4 A My dog is directly in front of me; his approach is parallel to our final direction. 5 B C D E F A) My dog is behind me and his approach is parallel to our final direction. B) Standing with my weight on my inside (left) leg, I call my dog and draw him in behind me to my left leg. He should collect his stride and come to a complete stop with his weight on his rear end. I then step forward and draw him into heel as in C. C) He is now in his final position at my side. D) My dog should stop parallel to me and not shift sideways. If he does, it indicates that he did not collect his stride and stopped with his front instead of his rear. E) My dog should not go past the plane of my left hand. With enough rewards coming from my hand, there will soon be no reason for him to do so. I maintain eye contact throughout this exercise. F) Eventually I should be able to reliably recall him past obstacles that are behind me. A My dog is lateral to me; his approach is perpendicular to our final direction. B C D E F A) My dog is lateral to me; his approach is perpendicular to our final direction. Standing with my weight on my inside (left) leg, I call him and draw him in perpendicular to my left leg. He should collect his stride and come to a complete stop, with his weight on his rear end, still perpendicular to our final direction. I then step forward, turn him 90° and draw him into heel as in B. The 90° turn is critical. B) He is now in his final position at my side. C) My dog should not come to my outside (right) foot and then shift his rear end laterally to achieve a parallel position at my side. D) My dog should not come to my inside (left) foot and then shift his rear end laterally to achieve a parallel position at my side. E) My dog should not go past the plane of my left hand. With enough rewards coming from my hand, there will soon be no reason for him to do so. I maintain eye contact throughout this exercise. F) Eventually I should be able to call him to heel with obstacles behind me. June 08 | Clean Run 21
Clean Run Magazine - June 2008

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