Does your dog know how to Heel? Do you want your dog to be able to Heel reliably at your side?

There are lots of ways to go about teaching it. Our preference is to teach your dog how to CHOOSE to heel at your side rather than being forced to. Heel can be fun or it can be not-so-fun. We prefer fun!

Heel is often mistaken for loose leash walking. There is a difference between walking politely on a loose leash and an actual Heel. Do you know the difference?

Loose leash walking means your dog is walking near you and keeping a loose leash. That might mean the dog is walking by your side, but not in a formal Heel. Or they might be walking a bit ahead or a bit behind or a bit off to the side, but the leash is still loose.

Heel means your dog is at your left side, facing the same direction you are, with their right shoulder lined up with your left leg. Heel is the position. So if you are standing still, your dog is still beside you. If you are walking, your dog is holding that same position as you both move in sync. If you stop, your dog stops. If you pick up the pace, your dog picks up the pace. If you turn, they maintain position and turn with you. It's a pretty precise position.

This is much harder than keeping a loose leash near you, and it takes a good deal of focus from your dog.

Some people say they want a Heel but what they really want is a loose leash. Others do want a Heel, but you need to understand that it takes some work to teach it and get a really solid nice Heel.

When I say Heel to my dogs, they rush to my left side and put themselves in Heel position lined up with me. When I walk, they walk. When I turn, they turn. When I stop, they stop. They know how to get into Heel position and they know how to hold Heel position.

Does your dog need to be on a leash to Heel? No! If my dogs understand Heel, they can do it on or off leash. If they require a leash to do it, then I don't think they really understand what Heel is.

In fact, I do all of my beginner Heel work OFF leash. Indoors with minimal distractions is the best place to start.

I reward the CHOICE to be at my left side, so I never use a leash to force them into position. Forcing a dog to stay in heel position without having a choice to do anything else can be a good way to teach your dog to NOT want to be in that position.

You can use treats to lure them into position. However, if you are holding them in heel position with a constant treat lure, you are going to have to fade that lure out fairly quickly.

Many people who use the food lure keep it there far too long. The dog gets so focused on the food that it gets difficult to fade. Or they are so focused on the food that they are not really paying attention to WHERE they are and WHAT they are doing.

I start my helping my dogs learn how to CHOOSE to be in Heel position, and then good stuff happens!

Since I work a lot on Eye Contact and great Focus, my dogs already have a sense of how to connect with my face and tune in with me.

I start by walking around my house – up and down a hallway, around a kitchen island, etc., and LOOKING where I want my dog to show up. When they show up there – either intentionally or accidentally! – I reward immediately. So I have my treats ready to reward the behavior I want, but I am not luring them into position.

How do we get started? And how do we continue from there? Watch the videos and find out!