Any Ideas on how to speed up YOUR pace - Page 2

I use a small clip-on metronome. It had a digital number on it, so I know the proper setting for each dog and so I can practice it. The idea with footwork is to keep your stride the same, but quicken the steps. People leave their dogs behind all of the time when they speed up, as they lengthen their stride, instead of only quickening their stride.

I also practive footwork without my dog.

 

I had the same problem when I first started learning obedience. I see this mistake all the time in the obedicence ring. Your dog has a natural faster pace than most. You get better focussed attention in a faster pace. So many people make the mistake of going SLOWER to 'help' the dog, rather than FASTER to keep their attention. If my dog is not paying attention to what is going on she will get left behind, and that translates to a check on the prong. I have been complimented by obedience judges on setting a pace that is appropriate for my breed of dog. The faster the heel, the quicker the halt, the straighter her sit. She doesnt have time to let her mind wander and think about other things.

When doing your figure 8, do you break that up a bit? I mean, when on the outside turn, throw in an about turn. Or do a release. Keep it changing, so she doesnt get into a pattern. Make it so they dont know what is coming next and have to pay attention. Do you go to the outside turn first, you should be. Keep that fast pace going, then on the inside turn she will still be paying attention.

Practice that fast pace without the dog. The CD and CDX have a set pattern, until open B. So you can practice that by yourself. Good Luck and have fun!

I didn't even think of the Metronome.! Thank you!

Dmsharkey: I do break up heeling a bit. We also do Rally and a serpentine type heeling. Its how to go about setting a fast pace for myself because I'm abnormally slow in my walk. Ideas on how to create that for myself, not just on the field but during everyday life as well. We will be going for our CDX sometime within the next 2 months (money is tight due to unforseen circumstances.) And its always fun. ;)

One handler I know has a specific song in her head to keep her pace up. Once you know what pace you need to set, you can duplicate it this way.
It's especially helpful in the figure 8, as dog is the one that needs to adjust to the circles, not the handler...but you need to be fair and keep the pace the same.

If you practice enough, it will become habit.

Good luck on that CDX!

Shady.
 

Thank you so much!! :)
We are going for the BH before the CDX. Just wanted to make sure we could clean up and look twice as good. :)


Thank you sooo much!

one word.....raptors :)  That will speed you up! 
Seriously make sure you video yourself (without your dog) walking quickly.  It looks far better to be on the slow side than to have speed walker bum happening.  This looks just awful. You may as well be wearing green spandex with camel toe, I guarantee your performance will be remembered for years to come.  Stretching will also help.  Are your shoes in good shape?  Footwears is key to our stride.  I roll my feet to the inside when I walk, once I got orthodics (sp) I can fly!

Brynjulf. LOL! Your post was too funny! I'm totally going out and getting me a raptor now. :) That will fix all of my problems. ;)

I don't want super speed walker, I just want to speed up my pace. I walk abnormally slow. As for shoes I didn't even think about that...

The one thing I would do alot is to walk the BH routine WITHOUT Ocean... It may also help to have Andrew tape you walking the routine... the one thing I would concentrate on is YOUR PACE. That is the only thing I would worry about.... at this point I would not count the steps or anything else. Practice Practice Practice walking. The reason I said to films yourself walking is so that you can see how you are progressing in speeding up your pace a little bit. The one thing I have noticed in the videos I have seen of you doing OB with Ocean is for the most part (at least to me) your pace seems ok.... you just need to take a little longer step. I think the reason you take a shorter step is because you are looking down when heeling with Ocean. So I would practice looking straight ahead and walking.. this will be easier to do without the dog at first. Go to the starting position and then pick an object straight in front of you and stay focused on it and start walking.... make sure you have this on video... that way you can see your progress.... personally from the videos I have seen of you working Ocean in OB I do not think you walk to slow.... I think the main issue is you are looking at your feet.
That is something I use to do ALOT... it has been hard to learn to look straight ahead and walk. But when you learn to do that it will honestly look like you are walking faster because you will be taking longer steps.      MAKE SENSE??!!

Just my .02 cents FWIW

.. everybody has a different natural walk /stride.. therefore it is relative ... normal/slow/fast  pending the individual ... yes walking with a perky walk helps the dog go as Sch term 'in drive'... BUT unless i am mistaken ,, the point of heeling is to be a team , handler / dog .. i never look at training : handler . or dog .. it is handler &dog as one unit .. given that concept .. what is normal for an individual that is what is expected fpr normalcy for the dog/handler in unision .. case in point .. most sports are open to , [ politically correct??] physically impaired people .. what if that person is impaired somehow to a usual and norm walk /stride ?? is not the dog no matter the speed of that individual still expected to be in heel ?? so IMO i don't think YOUR speed is an issue as long as in Sch you can differentiate what is  a normal / slow/ fast stride in reference to yourself.  ??? am i correct here?? or possibly am i incorrect ??