Dog Training: Teaching your Dog to Heel - Part 2

Dog training

Does he enthusiastically weave back and forth almost as fast as you can give him the command and signal...head up, tail wagging furiously, watching you intently?

I think one of the reasons most dogs like this trick so much is because it's fast paced and a lot of fun.

However, if he starts to "Heels" well, he might be reluctant to move from the Heel position...read on to find out what to do?


Hi Dog Loving Friend,

Let's continue from Part 1 with a further detailed explaination.

TIP: Practice makes perfect sense.

Step by step lets do some Troubleshooting!

If he starts to "Heels" well, he might be reluctant to move from the Heel position. In these instances, walk forward after saying “watch me” and do not say “Heel.”

Use the treat to guide or lure him behind you as you call his/her name and say, go to “other side.”

As soon as he begins to move, praise him!

TIP: Smaller dogs learn to steer clear of walking feet so be careful, and make sure your tiny dog doesn't get kicked or stepped on when training this trick.

If your dog is reliable off leash and does a very good watch me, you can train this trick off leash, moving the treat behind you from hand to hand. If your dog is not attentive to you, or is easily distracted, use the leash.

It's important to practice for several training sessions just having him/her move from the left side to the right side. It's easier than transferring the leash, too...

When he understands and is moving freely without hesitation, then you can begin to decrease the hand signal.

You may like to begin with a treat in each hand, with your dog off leash or with his leash folded and tucked into his collar so that you can both move freely.

Grab his focus and attention, call him by his name and tell him"watch me."

When you have his attention, say “Heel” and walk forward.

Now praise him as he does this.

After a few steps, instruct him by saying go to “other side” and indicate this by moving your left hand backward.

As you're doing this, he moves back, then reach back with your right hand, showing him the treat in that hand, and at the same time bring your left hand forward.

Get the idea?

Ok, by doing this and not handing the treat from hand to hand, you are decreasing the left hand signal.

Now with your right hand, bring him up into position to your right side, encourage and build his confidence by praising him, and then give him a yummy treat.

Remember as he gains confidence, you can decrease hand signals until you can freely move one finger on your left or right hand, a short a flick as you give him verbal commands...

That will indicate to him to change position.

When he gets the hang of what to do, moving from the Heel position (on the left) to the other side position (on the right) easily, without the leash, and showing no signs of confusion, you can teach him to move from the right side back to the left.

This is usually much easier because he already understands what “Heel” means and where the Heel position is.

Use the same training steps as you did before, simply reversing them.

When your dog will go back and forth from the left side to the right, and then back again on command, you can speed things up.

Then tell him to transfer sides every ten steps for example.

As your dog gets better and gains confidence, he can change sides even more quickly.

Thanks for reading, I appreciate you.

Dog Training...success made easy and fun!