Why We’re Reshaping Bandit’s Heel
Building Better Engagement With Bandit Through Focused Heel Work
Bandit is one of our newest board and trains at Primal Canine, and he’s here to clean up his obedience while also working through some reactivity.
One of the first things I wanted to address with him was engagement.
Before worrying about correcting every little behavior, I want Bandit to understand that staying connected to the handler is valuable. If we can create more consistent engagement, we can then use that attention in the moments where he’s most likely to become distracted or reactive.
That’s where the focused heel work comes in.
Why Start With a Focused Heel?
For Bandit, I want heel position to be more than simply walking next to the handler.
The idea is to create a position where he is actively engaging, keeping his head up, and paying attention to the person handling him.
If Bandit starts offering that engagement consistently, it gives us another tool when we move into more distracting environments.
Instead of waiting for him to lock onto something else and then trying to regain his attention, we can start building the habit of checking in with the handler from the beginning.
That foundation should help us as we continue working through his reactivity.
Step One: Get Him to Take the Food
Of course, before we could build any of that, I had to get Bandit to actually take treats from me.
That became the real first step of the session.
Food is only useful as a training tool if the dog actually values it in that moment, so we started by creating more value around being on the heel side and interacting with me.
Once Bandit started taking the food more consistently, we could begin shaping the position we wanted.
Creating Value in Heel Position
From there, the goal was to reward Bandit for being in the correct location while keeping his head up and engaged.
In the beginning, I used the lure to help guide him into the position.
As he started understanding the picture, we began fading that help and looking for Bandit to start offering more of the position himself.
That’s when the session really started to come together.
By the end, he was beginning to keep his head up and even offer the head position without needing the lure every single time.
That’s exactly the kind of progression we want to see.
Engagement Before Distraction
This is still very early in Bandit’s program, so we’re not expecting a finished heel or perfect engagement right away.
Right now, we’re creating the foundation.
We want him to understand that there is value in staying connected to the handler before we start asking him to maintain that same engagement around the situations that typically trigger his reactivity.
As the focused heel becomes clearer and more reliable, we’ll be able to start testing it around more distractions and gradually build toward more real-world obedience.
A Solid First Step
Bandit made some really nice progress during this first focused heel session.
He went from barely wanting the food to beginning to offer the position and engagement we were looking for.
There’s still plenty of work ahead, but this gives us a solid starting point for both his obedience and his reactivity work.
We’ll continue building from here and gradually increase the level of distraction as Bandit becomes more confident and consistent with the picture.
Follow along with Bandit’s board and train journey to see how we continue developing his engagement, obedience, and reliability.
Primal Canine
Gilroy, California
primalcanine.com