Pivoting to Lovely Heeling
Heel work is one of the most challenging things to teach in obedience. In competition obedience so many points are won or lost from heel work. A focused, happy, correctly positioned dog is a joy to watch but unfortunately not often seen.
A lovely heeling dog takes many months to train.
Unfortunately the old way to train heeling is still much used with pinch collars, popping the dog and now sadly shock collars.
I have had 2 high level obedience dogs including an OTCH on one dog and a UDX on the second. However, I have never had what I consider to be a lovely, focused heeling dog. This was my challenge for my youngest Border Collie Beckett.....focused, happy, and correctly positioned partner --- and a visual that speaks of TEAMWORK between us.
When Beckett was a puppy I taught him about the pivot dish. It is well known that the pivot dish teaches the dog about rear end control and BALANCE that are needed in obedience work for turns, starts, stops and general heeling.. Since there was so much positive reinforcement for our pivot dish games, Beckett always was excited and happy when he could jump on the pivot dish and turn, spin or move with me.
What I also liked about the pivot dish was that the dog was and had to be in the CORRECT POSITION for heel work: at my side with his shoulder lined up with my hip and the seam of my pants. The dog was focused on me as you see in the above picture since this is where the rewards came from.
I have done a lot of and perhaps most of my heel work training by distance with Laura Romanik in Michigan. Laura likes to also start young dogs on the pivot dish for the reasons above. Laura also has an excellent system for building heel work time and decreasing treat rewards and eventually getting the treats off of your body.
Along my heeling journey I came across a number of excellent obedience trainers that used the pivot dish for rear end awareness, focus and correct heel position. The problem I had however was how to get my dog off of the 4-6 inch high dish and move with me in this same correct position with focus. I also have always had a problem with my dogs forging ahead of the correct position after they left the pivot dish or did more heeling steps.
Recently I found what for me, was a solution to getting the dog engaged, in the correct position, focused and then moving off of the pivot dish to correct heeling. The solution that has worked for me is finding a smaller disc to pivot from that has NO HEIGHT. One can use a frisbee, cut out a disc from felt the size of a the pivot dish , or use the small disc sold by FitPaws like I currently use.
The exercises to teach on the pivot dish initially include:
These skills can easily become fun games that the dog enjoys since he is getting rewarded often for growing his pivot talents.
Teaching Your Dog to Get On the Pivot and Turn in Each Direction
You will need to determine what your positive reward marker is going to be: a clicker or a happy verbal, "YES".
IMPORTANT: Rewards MUST NOT COME FROM IN FRONT OF YOU. Use a treat bag and keep it at your back; all rewards will come from reaching behind you into your treat bag. For some time you can also hold a number or treats in your hand closest to the dog. You want to avoid the dog looking in front of you for the treat to come for his reward... This leads to a forged dog.
The platform should be 4-6 inches high and approximately the width of your dog's shoulder. The best pivot platform I have found is the small black plastic feed dish found at most feed supply stores.
A lovely heeling dog takes many months to train.
Unfortunately the old way to train heeling is still much used with pinch collars, popping the dog and now sadly shock collars.
I have had 2 high level obedience dogs including an OTCH on one dog and a UDX on the second. However, I have never had what I consider to be a lovely, focused heeling dog. This was my challenge for my youngest Border Collie Beckett.....focused, happy, and correctly positioned partner --- and a visual that speaks of TEAMWORK between us.
When Beckett was a puppy I taught him about the pivot dish. It is well known that the pivot dish teaches the dog about rear end control and BALANCE that are needed in obedience work for turns, starts, stops and general heeling.. Since there was so much positive reinforcement for our pivot dish games, Beckett always was excited and happy when he could jump on the pivot dish and turn, spin or move with me.
What I also liked about the pivot dish was that the dog was and had to be in the CORRECT POSITION for heel work: at my side with his shoulder lined up with my hip and the seam of my pants. The dog was focused on me as you see in the above picture since this is where the rewards came from.
I have done a lot of and perhaps most of my heel work training by distance with Laura Romanik in Michigan. Laura likes to also start young dogs on the pivot dish for the reasons above. Laura also has an excellent system for building heel work time and decreasing treat rewards and eventually getting the treats off of your body.
Along my heeling journey I came across a number of excellent obedience trainers that used the pivot dish for rear end awareness, focus and correct heel position. The problem I had however was how to get my dog off of the 4-6 inch high dish and move with me in this same correct position with focus. I also have always had a problem with my dogs forging ahead of the correct position after they left the pivot dish or did more heeling steps.
Recently I found what for me, was a solution to getting the dog engaged, in the correct position, focused and then moving off of the pivot dish to correct heeling. The solution that has worked for me is finding a smaller disc to pivot from that has NO HEIGHT. One can use a frisbee, cut out a disc from felt the size of a the pivot dish , or use the small disc sold by FitPaws like I currently use.
The exercises to teach on the pivot dish initially include:
- pivot 360 degrees independently
- pivot in front of you while you move with him in both directions
- stand sideways and have the dog find the position by your side (see picture above)
- move with you as you turn in the clockwise and then counterclockwise positions
These skills can easily become fun games that the dog enjoys since he is getting rewarded often for growing his pivot talents.
Teaching Your Dog to Get On the Pivot and Turn in Each Direction
You will need to determine what your positive reward marker is going to be: a clicker or a happy verbal, "YES".
IMPORTANT: Rewards MUST NOT COME FROM IN FRONT OF YOU. Use a treat bag and keep it at your back; all rewards will come from reaching behind you into your treat bag. For some time you can also hold a number or treats in your hand closest to the dog. You want to avoid the dog looking in front of you for the treat to come for his reward... This leads to a forged dog.
The platform should be 4-6 inches high and approximately the width of your dog's shoulder. The best pivot platform I have found is the small black plastic feed dish found at most feed supply stores.
- Begin by clicking or verbally rewarding any movement toward the pivot dish. Progress to marking and rewarding any touch of the paws on the dish.
- Continue with this until your dog puts both feet on the pivot dish. Remember each attempt gets a happy positive "YES" or a click.
- Once both the dogs feet are on the dish move one step to the right; then one to the left. You should be standing in front of the dish facing the dog. Continue with adding more steps until the dogs is moving around the dish.
- Stand alongside of the dish and encourage the dog to align with your side as in the picture above. Again reward.
- You are going to start moving counterclockwise. Moving in this direction is very very important since it helps your dog with not only his rear end awareness but also how to stay BALANCED for heel work and for turns.
- Also, be sure to include in your pivot work training, having the dog turn 360 degrees independently on the pivot dish (see video below)
THE PIVOT DISH IS A WONDERFUL TOOL THAT CAN BE EASILY TRANSFORMED INTO GAMES THAT YOUR DOG LOVES SINCE THEY EARN LOTS OF REINFORCEMENT. LIKE ALL TOOLS AND GAMES IT HAS TO BE USED WITH YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL IN MIND --- HAPPY, FOCUSED, CORRECTLY POSITIONED HEELING.
AFTER THE DOG HAS LEARNED TO USE THE PIVOT DISH, TRANSFER THESE SKILLS TO A FLAT DISC, AND TAKE A FEW HEEL STEPS... THERE IS MORE TO DO IN CONTINUING YOUR HAPPY HEEL WORK TRAINING.
THE PIVOT DISH AND FLAT DISC ARE ALSO EXCELLENT TO TAKE TO SHOWS OR MATCHES TO HELP FOCUS AND MOTIVATE YOUR DOG WHEN WARMING UP OR BEFORE GOING INTO THE RING. It is something familiar that they enjoy and hopefully by then you have a big bank account of positive reinforcement for moving at your side, correctly positioned and focused.
TO SEE OTHER TRAINERS WHOM I RESPECT WHO ARE ALSO LOOKING FOR NEW POSITIVE WAYS TO TRAIN OBEDIENCE AND WHO HAVE USED THE PIVOT DISH TO START DOGS WITH HEEL WORK SEE THE TRAINING BY:
ANOTHER FUN WAY TO TRAIN OBEDIENCE SKILLS USING TRAINING STATIONS
AFTER THE DOG HAS LEARNED TO USE THE PIVOT DISH, TRANSFER THESE SKILLS TO A FLAT DISC, AND TAKE A FEW HEEL STEPS... THERE IS MORE TO DO IN CONTINUING YOUR HAPPY HEEL WORK TRAINING.
THE PIVOT DISH AND FLAT DISC ARE ALSO EXCELLENT TO TAKE TO SHOWS OR MATCHES TO HELP FOCUS AND MOTIVATE YOUR DOG WHEN WARMING UP OR BEFORE GOING INTO THE RING. It is something familiar that they enjoy and hopefully by then you have a big bank account of positive reinforcement for moving at your side, correctly positioned and focused.
TO SEE OTHER TRAINERS WHOM I RESPECT WHO ARE ALSO LOOKING FOR NEW POSITIVE WAYS TO TRAIN OBEDIENCE AND WHO HAVE USED THE PIVOT DISH TO START DOGS WITH HEEL WORK SEE THE TRAINING BY:
- Laura Romanik - Laura (Radiant Competition Obedience) starts beginning obedience dogs on the pivot dish for rear end awareness, balance and correct heel position. She also has an resource to help heeling progression, "THE HEELING LOG BOOK."
- Silvia Trkman was one of the first amazing internationally known trainers (for her agility) who first introduced many of us to the use of the pivot dish for beginning heel work. Her first DVD did not show how to get the dog off of the pivot dish but more recently she has updated this to also show the lower platform. See an early video, "PERFECT HEELING"
- Leerburg Online University: Excellent online training courses for all levels. This is where I first learned about using the flat disc to help transition off of the pivot dish. Many excellent courses on all topics.
- Fenzi Dog Sport Academy: Many people have found this excellent resource for training in an online environment with an option for 3 different levels: GOLD-- working spot with feedback on your work with the submission of short videos; SILVER level: one 2 minute video for and the option for asking question to instructor; BRONZE level: capability to view all lessons and forums. Many excellent 6 week courses that follow principles of excellent instructional design and adult learning in areas such as scentwork, obedience, agility, behavior, foundation work and much more. Some of the early obedience work begins on the pivot dish.
- Hannah Branigan: Hannah also has taught through Fenzi Online but she has excellent podcasts, a new book - "AWESOME OBEDIENCE" and gives seminars and workshops. In her latest book, "Awesome Obedience" she discusses the use of training tools and games such as the pivot dish.
ANOTHER FUN WAY TO TRAIN OBEDIENCE SKILLS USING TRAINING STATIONS