Dog Heel Training

Teaching and training your dog to "Heel" is essential for all dog trainers as it is part of teaching your dog to be disciplined. To teach the dog this, the dog must be on a leash next to the dog trainers left leg. The trainer will then start to walk with the dog at the command of "Heel" and the dog must walk right next to the dog trainers left leg without running ahead, or stopping at any moment. The way to teach the dog to stay next to the dog trainer is to pull at the leash with short quick pulls. The intensity of each pull varies depending on the strong will of the dog. If the dog obeys and follows the HEEL command, make sure to congratulate and praise the dog by telling him "Good boy!" At first you will need to walk slowly and next to a wall so that the dog does not get confused and stays in line. During the walk, you will need to stop every so often and command the dog to "Stay" so that he learns how to coordinate his movement with those of his owner or dog trainer. Once the dog has dominated this phase, you can teach him to turn to the left and right. Start by walking ten steps and then command the dog to "Heel left" at the same time use your left knee to put some pressure on the left side of the dog in order to impulse him to change directions. As the dog does this, congratulate him by saying, "Good left, Good". Next, teach the dog to move to the right. Command your dog to move "Heel, right" by pulling on his collar so that he moves towards the right. Practice this as many times as necessary until the dog learns to manage turning from left to right easily. If the dog tries to escape, lie on the ground, or if his leash comes loose, call him lovingly and command him to "Heel". Then, you can try to walk in zig zag, turning left then right, going over certain obstacles, walking in between people, around vehicles etc etc. Do all these things slowly at first and then do them a little quicker. You will also want to teach your dog to stand next to while running, slowing down occasionally so that the dog gets used to keeping your same pace. Teach your dog this by proceeding this way: Put the dog on the leash. Walk about twenty steps and at the command of "Heel" slowly inverse your position by turning half way toward the left. At the same time change the leash from your left hand to your right hand by passing it in front of your body toward the right and proceeding behind the dogs. The dog will then find himself next to your left leg, both of you will end up in an inverted position. During this practice, the leash that was in your right hand must go back to your left hand by passing from behind the dog's body at the same time the dog does. While you turn half towards the left you dog turns toward the right passing right in front and behind you body to then end up next to your left leg. Once you have dominated all of these exercises, you must practice them with out the leash on the dog. At first you can work with the leash loose on the ground to use if needed. Make sure to praise your dog for a job well done so that he feels stimulated to work with you again.