Original Question- Our Golden Retriever, Rogan, has been very good at learning and doing different tricks from sit, wait, shake, other paw, down, up etc. and he's been very good at heel since a young puppy. Yesterday out of the blue I tried to get him to do with a treat - I have him give me attention and then I swing my right arm next to my side like at attention and he comes right up and sits and will walk there with treats. Yesterday he acted scared and went into a down position. Like he is scared of my side. Same thing today.
He's not very good at this on walks being distracted and the last time we went I kept the leash pretty short and tried to work with him, but he pulled a lot.
Is this rebellious phase? Did I do something to negatively reinforce the heel ask? Every other trick he does perfectly and when I throw in heel, he acts totally different.
Hoping someone has some experience can help a new puppy owner out.
Answer 1- Heeling is unnatural for dogs. Walking two abreast is not something dogs do.
It takes 2 years to train a good "heel" on a dog. It is started incrementally at home using a kitchen counter or other obstacle to help the dog stay straight. It is started using food as a lure. Two to three steps at a time.. and the dog focused on you. It takes short lessons (no more than 10 minutes), a lot of rewards and much patience. At 4 months old the dog is far too young to expect head up, focused heeling even for one step let alone outside for a walk! If you were trying to do this sort of heeling outside even for a few steps it is too much and could cause your puppy to avoid the behavior. Is this head up, focused heel what you are looking for?
Or are you looking for a dog that just walks next to, head down and leash loose?
These are two very different behaviors.. with the second less pressured and less focused. The second style will also result in the dog becoming distracted as it is more like just a walk.
Answer 2. That may be what caused it. Maintaining a heel is difficult even for adult dogs, much less a 4 month old puppy. I wouldn't expect a puppy to maintain a heel on a walk for more than 5-10 seconds! Even for my adult, I only ask for a heel for the minute or so it takes to pass other pedestrians or distractions where it is safer for him to be close to me. The rest was simply him keeping the leash loose, but otherwise free to walk how he pleased. The tight, short leash may have been aversive to him, and he likely didn't understand what you were asking.
You can try to teach "heel" again from scratch, but I would use a different cue word. Remember, puppies have very short attention spans, so don't expect them to maintain a heel for more than a few steps when they're so young.
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