Teaching Your Dog to Heel

If you've ever been taken for a walk by a strong, willful dog, you can't help but gaze in wistful admiration at people whose dogs walks calmly by their sides, even when off a leash.

But there's more to gain from teaching your dog to heel than no longer being dragged down the street. When walking your dog is not a "chore," you'll enjoy it more, you'll do it more, and you and your dog will both benefit from more frequent walks.

Teaching an energetic and always-curious dog to walk slowly by your side and ignore all the fascinating scents and other distractions during your outings will be a major challenge. After all, dogs, unlike people, do not naturally walk side-by-side with their friends and family.

Some dog trainers (amateurs and professionals alike) use various forms of choke collars, brute force, and intimidation to teach dogs to heel. From a dog's point of view, this concept of "heel" must seem more like "hell."

As you know by now, that's not how we operate. Teaching your dog to heel will be easier than you think when you make the lessons an interesting game. But it will take a little time; you may not get to a finished "heel" for a few weeks. That's OK, because the process will be lots of fun for you and your dog.

Follow our training system, and soon you and your dog will be the ones struggling dog walkers gaze at in wistful admiration!

Teaching Your Dog to Heel

Read this lesson first, and then practice it with your dog.

1. Load up your pocket (or a bag or pouch) with treats.

2. Take your dog to a quiet area where it's safe for her to be off a leash.

3. Decide on which side you'll prefer your dog to heel"your left side or your right. It doesn't matter which side you choose, but once you decide, don't change your mind later and confuse your dog. For the purposes of this lesson, we'll use the left side. If you prefer the right side, just substitute "right" whenever we say "left."

4. Put a few treats in your left hand.

5. Show your dog the treats in your hand and then start walking away.

6. Encourage your dog to stay with you as you walk away. Call her name, slap your left leg, make smoochy noises, etc. Pick up the pace of your walking, almost as if you're trying to get away. As you're doing all this, wave the hand with the treats down low on your left side so your dog knows where they are.

7. If your dog follows you, stop after a few strides and give her the treats and lots of praise. It's great if she's stayed right by your side, but don't worry if she lags a bit behind at this point.

8. Wait a couple of minutes, and then repeat Steps 4 through 7. Vary your walking speed and make sudden changes in direction. The point is to make it interesting and fun for your dog to keep up with you.

If your dog doesn't do what you want

If your dog doesn't follow you, go back to her and put the treats right under her nose before walking away and encouraging her to follow.

If she still isn't interested, the treats are not tempting enough or she's too distracted. Find a treat she likes better, wait until she's hungrier, or move to a less-distracting location.

Have fun playing with your dog! Don't focus all your time together on training. Spend lots of quality time just enjoying each other's company.