pammyd Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Now I have no illusions that my lovely boy is going to take on the world at anything but I would like to try out different things with him and see what he likes He did really well in his puppy obedience class and could focus on me and do what I asked no matter what else was going on but the problem is that was months ago and the next class hasnt started yet (and she hasnt given us a date) Obviously I am still training him anything I can think of - but I dont want to be teaching him wrong and having to start again But both Ben and me seem to work better with him at heel on my right side Is this bad? everyone I see seems to have their dog on the left side I am also doing puppy agility with him (which he loves) so I am trying to teach him to run on my left side too but the other day a guy who does agility here brought out some weaves for us to have a shot, I ran ben up to them, finger lured him through with him at the right hand side of me The guy told me that was wrong and I had to have him on my left I tried, this seemed to be an more difficult way round for me because it seems to me that from that side I am trying to get him to ignore the 1st pole wheras when I have him on the right I have to send him out round the 1st pole - so he becomes more aware that he has to have the 1st pole on his left (I know there is better ways to teach weaves but the club I want to join this is how they teach them) Question is - does it matter?? I will teach him obedience on both sides soon - but we prefer the right - is that OK? and the weaves I cant see that it is right to stick only to one side - what happens if the course is set up so you cant get round to the 'correct' side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 It only matters in competition! If you wanted to do Rally or Obedience in competition, your dog has to be in left heel - there is no such thing as right heel in those sports. That said, teaching your dog to work on both sides doesn't hurt, and I feel it is beneficial. Since my dogs do Freestyle and Agility, working on both the left and the right is not even optional. Back when I did Rally only with Speedy, I was worried that if I ever allowed him to work on the right, he would think he could pop over there whenever he wanted, so it was left, left, left only! When we started Freestyle, he thought it was a game when I put him on the right and he kept sneaking back over to the left side! Now that he knows "heel" (left) and "side" (right) as separate positions, he stays on the side he's supposed to. He knows "face" (working in front), too, and he's learning to work behind me. I started Dean working on both sides. When we took Obedience class, I used to work him on the right during "downtime" in class. I would mirror the exercises we had done on the left. It's fine to prefer a side, but you will want to build up your dog's ability to work on both sides for agility. The "correct" side for the dog to be on in agility is the side from which you are going to be able to cue the dog to go where he needs to go in the best way and that's not always sometimes you have to have your dog on the "less preferred" side. In agility classes that I've taken, and the classes I teach, we always start out practicing everything from both sides to get the dog used to that idea. They often do prefer a side at first, but you can build fluency on both sides over time. They need to be able to do both with weave poles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
herdingrescue Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 It only matters in competition! If you wanted to do Rally or Obedience in competition, your dog has to be in left heel - there is no such thing as right heel in those sports. On the contrary, the versatility class in Rally obedience requires the dog to do all the exercises equally well on both the left and the right, and be able to interchange the two. Definitely right about agility, the dog needs to work equally well on both sides of your body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Definitely right about agility, the dog needs to work equally well on both sides of your body. Elsewise you end up running a dog (Red Dog) who will only run on your left (Red Dog). If you're lucky, that dog is very slow (Red Dog) so you can always get ahead of him when you need to RDM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Definitely you want both sides to work, especially on weaves! You don't want to have to run around, have the dog do circles around you, or whatever to "get into position" to enter weaves correctly. My silly rescue girl definitely prefers to walk on my right side. That said, the handler on the left side of weave poles (dog on right) is frequently referred to as "off side" weaves, or entry. Mine definitely preferred that at first! Then we took a short class where most dogs were AKC and obedience trained; every time the instructor wanted them to do "off side" (read: right) side handling, I had to do it on the left! Now my girl works equally well on both sides - and that is a necessity! Have fun! diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Peep Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 (edited) I saw a really nice dog this last week-end (of course, non BC) do a slide to the right heel. Very nice!!!! NO WAY could my dog control himself in that situation. With Miss Lacy I used the around one, with Migraine I used the hop around to the side- looks nice, but with Usher - well, he jumps, so we are going to have to change that from the heel back to the around. Depends on the dog, the tone of voice, etc.... actually, for competing, you only need one front and finish- correct me if I'm wrong. I only got up to CDX. Whoops- obedience. oh - adding for fun- If you do both herding and agility- once your dog knows their way and come bye, you've got it made. IMO. sorry Edited October 17, 2007 by Bo Peep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pammyd Posted October 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Thanks guys - thats what I needed to know Working on a left heel now Pain he has a really nice front and finnish to the right (wish the woman in the class had said to do it to the left) but I am trying the other way (unfort he thinks I want him to circle me that way so getting him to stop going round me is fun) He can also hop around to both sides so thats cool And started calling him to left and right sides and he is getting the hang of that (well the huge hand signal with the lump of beef helps no end) Hahaha sorry I cant see Ben hearding - would love to have a go but I think there is a bit much terrier in him - he 'rounds up' his doggie friends nicely (to keep them away from me) but he would be a bit to keen on gripping and shaking sheep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 On the contrary, the versatility class in Rally obedience requires the dog to do all the exercises equally well on both the left and the right, and be able to interchange the two. I'm not really all that familiar with the new AKC Rally offerings. I have no Rally dog right now, so I haven't really been keeping up with the Rally news! In APDT Rally, one would still have the dog on left side only in competition. But training Rally (and obedience) with the dog on alternating sides is definitely beneficial regardless of competition venue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olivia Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 I'm not sure about the versatility title thing with Rally but I don't think in AKC Rally you have to heel on both sides. Carlie is in Excellent Rally and it is all on the left. Maybe that is a different venue? Olivia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diane allen Posted October 17, 2007 Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 Pammyd, just another thought. Are you really trying to get a "heel" position - that is, walk with me on my left? If you're really only looking for a "get to that side and we'll keep moving" position - you might think about using a different command. I haven't done with this previous dogs, but with my pup, I've taught him "side" (which is left) and "close" (which is my right). All he needs to do is come to that side off me, head behind my leg. Obviously at first, and still now sometimes, it's a "come to XX and sit". We're also doing it while moving - e.g., before or after a jump, etc. If you just want position, not a formal/competitive "heel", a different word might be easier for him to learn! (I only picked those two cuz I'm not reall bright...."side" has the same number of letters as "left" and "close" has the same as "right"! You could use anything, including right and left, if you're not going to teach a moving directional for those! diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pammyd Posted October 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 17, 2007 I am keeping my options open to see what he likes doing I am also kinda interested in heelwork to music - so making life difficult for me Left and right means go to that side of me Heel and side are for heels left and right Loose is to walk nice on a lead Zig and Zag are leave an obstical heading left or right (well thats the plan) Unfort he is so quick at these kinda position things (leg weaves, leg circles, body circles).... that I am running out of words - mind you he mainly follows the hand signals Mainly I just want him happy - and he is happy learning stuff so I figure I might as well try and do it right just in case I want to go further with something sometime in the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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