Teach Your Dog to Heel the Right Way

Why do people treat heeling so differently than any other obedience behavior? People contact us all the time looking for a quick fix for their dog pulling them while on walks, and all though our EasyLead is an awesome training tool to teach a dog to heel pretty, well, easily… it is not a magic fix! With some dogs, you may be able to slap the EasyLead on and go for a walk through the neighborhood right away and your pup immediately stops pulling and is waaaaaayyy easier to handle from the get-go. Or at least it feels like a night-and-day difference from the wild animal who has been dragging you down the sidewalk. But that is not a realistic expectation. 

Let’s face it, no one looks forward to and wants to go for a walk with their dog that feels like your arm is being ripped out of its socket! Not only is being drug around by a dog like this unenjoyable and exhausting at the end of a long day, but it can be dangerous too! Most people get the “next best leash” throw it on their dog and try to go on that sought-after walk down the road. And either it doesn’t work and their dog is still pulling like a sled dog, or it works…. kinda, or it only works for a little while! 

So how should teaching a dog to heel be approached? Like every other obedience behavior we teach! Your puppy doesn’t inherently know how to sit, kennel, or come when you call… you have to teach them these behaviors first, then introduce the cue, then generalize the behavior, and finally proof it! Plus all the conditioning in between. And that is exactly the way that teaching heeling should be approached. Truly, the smaller steps you take in training the faster you will get there and the more complete your dog’s understanding will be of your expectations for that behavior. Don’t skip steps, don’t rush the process or you can not only create bad habits, but also confusion. 

Let's break heeling down into those small steps!

Start with short training sessions in a controlled environment where you will first introduce the leash and get your dog comfortable wearing it and being tethered to you. Reward them for good leash manners and behaviors while you are standing there making eye contact, not pulling or pawing at the leash, and standing or sitting and waiting patiently. 

Then you will start to help them learn to move their feet while on leash, again in that very controlled, distraction-free environment. Reward them when they move their feet and take steps nicely. Reward them when they are engaged and looking to work for you. Reward them when they are taking steps nicely without fighting the pressure of the leash. Lots of rewards!

Next, you will start to make your training sessions in this controlled environment slightly longer, helping your puppy to focus for longer durations. Remember it is a conditioning process and you want to take small steps, so increase the length of training sessions gradually. Still, reward your pup for a job well done, but try not to lose momentum or break up the flow of the heeling behavior too much. 

You can then start to incorporate some distractions. Things like another person doing another activity during your training session (watering the flowers, walking across the yard, taking the garbage out, etc). Having other dogs on place boards, or another dog heeling at the same time with another handler. If you don’t have more than one dog that is fine, we can add these types of distractions later! Help your dog stay focused and again reward them when they give you eye contact, turn or change directions when you do, and walk nicely on leash. Make corrections when they are distracted, sniffing the ground, pulling ahead, or not following your lead.

Now you can start generalizing your heeling behavior in other controlled areas, like a different backyard, a park during times when it isn’t busy, an infrequently used trail, etc. Keep in mind though that we don’t want to make too many big changes at the same time, like going from a fairly controlled environment with minimum distractions to a new environment with lots of distractions (dog parks, farmers’ markets, outdoor expos)!

Once your dog is doing well heeling in new areas with increasingly bigger distractions and is behaving well, staying focused, following your lead, and waiting patiently when not heeling with minimal corrections we consider the heeling behavior well-conditioned and proofed!

Keep in mind this is a general outline of the steps we take to teach a dog to heel and every dog is different so the amount of time spent on each step will vary. It will also vary depending on how often you work on the heeling behavior with your dog. Going for walks with your dog should be an enjoyable activity that you can do together to help your dog get some physical and mental exercise! If you are struggling with teaching your dog to heel please don’t hesitate to reach out to us for more one on one guidance on Patreon!