What is the best way to teach a dog how to heel?

Question

while walking

Answer 1

Fetch's answer is right on. If your dog just continues to pull at the end of the leash when you stop, though, try turning and walking the other direction as soon as your dog gets in front of you. If she whizzes past you, turn around again. You may go back and forth in the same spot ten times, but she should eventually start keeping her eye on you to figure out where you are going next. Don't forget to praise the dog when she's in the right position, too. If your dog really pulls, you might use a Gentle Leader or Easy Walk harness to make the process a bit easier.

Answer 2

Attach a choker to your dog, correctly - check with the diagrams in the book I will recommend shortly. There is a right way and a wrong way to put a choker on a dog.
Attach a strong leather leash at least three feet long to the choker.
Saying firmly, Walk, set off on your walk. The moment your dog rushes off heedlessly, but before he tightens the leash, quietly and without telling your dog do an abrupt about-face, holding tightly to your leash. Your dog will find there is solid resistance as he reaches the end of the slack leash. Set off again in your new direction. When he rushes forward, again calmly turn around. You need to stand like a rock as that dog reaches the end of the slack. Don't stop walking, just quickly turn to face the opposite direction.

If your dog wants to be near his head, he will learn quickly that he needs to be looking at you to see where you are going next. And he will also learn that he really wants to keep his leash slack, because when it tightens, that's when he gets catapulted back like a slingshot - and it's all his own fault, because he wasn't paying attention. You haven't hurt him; all you did was turn around. It is his own fault that he wasn't watching you.

This is the short version. For the full version, buy a copy of the Koehler Method of Guard Dog Training by Koehler. Read the entire second half of the book. It is the method used by the army and the police in America. It is the greatest dog training book I have ever read. Good luck.

Answer 3

If, when you're walking the dog, it steps away or in front of you, STOP WALKING and don't continue until the dog is back in the heel position. This technique is more humane and more effective than snapping at the dog or tugging on its leash. It establishes YOU as the alpha; you decide when to go forward and in what manner, and not the dog.

Be consistent and patient. Some dogs pick up on the cue right away while others may take a day or two to "process" it.

Answer 4

Well, the way I did it was I had my dog on a leash, and then I said heel and started walking away slowly while pulling gently on the leash. It worked good for me.