Leaning on me when heeling?

[Double Shot Banks]

Hello,
Since before banks has been great at heeling, he hardly ever runs ahead (or never) and he gets really serious and concentrates well,
My only question is when we heel, a lot of the time he leans his shoulder on my leg when we walk, is this because i have been to hard on him? is it him trying not to go too far away? Not a huge issue but i was just wondering if i need to adjust.
Isaac and Banks

[Allin13]

He does that so he dont have to pay attention to you. He can watch other things and still know your there.

[whoadog]

With retrievers, some trainers prefer dog contact with their leg. It means that he is truly "following your lead". The only difference I would prefer is having the contact more with his neck than shoulder. You can get to that point rather quickly by giving short sharp corrections with your lead until his neck is where his shoulder is.

He does that so he dont have to pay attention to you. He can watch other things and still know your there.

Completely agree with this.

[Carolina Gundogs]

I believe I see my dogs do the same as you describe when I am teaching them to heel. With mine, I have grown to believe they are not confident in their heeling at that time and will crowd the outside of my leg to try and help them not make a mistake. I will do quick jerks away from my keg to get them off of it. Through repitition, they will stop this after several lessons go by. They become more comfortable with the heeling process through repitition and praise for good work. Mine will become calmer and then separate from my outer leg much better. I work my dogs in short sessions of 10 minutes on heeling until they get it all the way through to heeling with no lead and only an ecollar. Then we practice longer times in strange places.

If you use a wonder lead, they come with instructions on how to teach a dog to heck off of your leg as you describe above with the placement of the rope.

I also recommend not to be overly harsh to the dog during training. Consistency and short training sessions is key.

I hope this helps.

[EvanG]

Hello,
Since before banks has been great at heeling, he hardly ever runs ahead (or never) and he gets really serious and concentrates well,
My only question is when we heel, a lot of the time he leans his shoulder on my leg when we walk, is this because i have been to hard on him? is it him trying not to go too far away? Not a huge issue but i was just wondering if i need to adjust.
Isaac and Banks

You're right, it's not a huge issue. It's certainly a better problem that most trainers have, which is the dog heeling several feet away from you. If it becomes excessive walk so that you literally angle slightly into him - forcing him to move away as you go. It's rarely an issue in the long run.

EvanG