Teaching your dog how to heel properly may not seem like a difficult task. After all, the concept is quite simple. Simply tell your dog that if you try to take him outside, he will stop and wait until you’re done. That’s it.
Unfortunately, most dogs don’t do well in this very basic training. They simply cannot understand why you’re telling them to stop. In fact, most dogs just want to run around, sniff, and play. This means they aren’t going to understand why you need to tell them to “stay.”
To remedy this situation, start with two or three different ways to train your dog. You can use a clicker or a treat as a reward. Or, perhaps you would prefer to add distractions to the mix. Consider using a bell or a small treat as your motivation for following the command.
Here’s an example of using dog heeling with distractions. Say you’re walking down the sidewalk and see a couple of joggers. Your dog begins to walk towards them, but as he gets closer, a jogger swings his arm and hits your dog on the side of his leg. Your dog immediately stops and starts to back away. Naturally, this doesn’t make him stop altogether. However, he knows that if he were to follow the person who hit him, he’d get hit again.
So what do you do? If you want to reinforce this behavior, you can use treats or simply give your dog a quick clicker (a plastic box with a button) to indicate that he’s approaching a correct target. When he reaches the target, immediately click and give him a treat. After a few trials, this technique will teach your dog that when he gets close to the correct target, a click sound and treat will be followed. He’ll begin to look forward to the behavior being correct, and this strengthens the connection between hitting and the reward.
In addition to using distractions to teach your dog not to heal, you can also gradually increase the distance that you take your walks. For example, let’s say you take your dog out every other day. When you first start, you would simply walk around the block. As you begin to feel more comfortable with your dog, gradually increase the distance you take to go from your front door to the end of your block. Eventually, after your dog has become accustomed to walking around the block a certain distance each day, you can begin to take him to the door and up to your front door, which will require him to stand still for a while. If you do this slowly and in increments, your dog may never even realize that you’re trying to train him to heel.
To use this training method, just remember that you will need treats to encourage your dog as he progresses in his training. Start by offering treats sparingly at first, as you don’t want to overdo it, otherwise he could become frustrated and hurt. Always reward with praise after he completes the action correctly. Also, make sure you use the verbal command for “heel” to reinforce the correct action.
To distract your dog during his walk, try to turn your back away from a potential distraction as he walks by, or turning your head slightly aside to look at a passing squirrel. If you can’t distract him from a passing squirrel on your own, try taping a treat over his nose or the tip of his tail, so the dog will focus on the treat rather than on the passing dog. Another distraction that you can use is playing a game of fetch with him. If he’s too distracted by another dog or object, simply distract him with a toy, a ball, or a feather. Either method will distract him long enough for you to complete your walk and then reward him with a treat.