Training to heel. How to train dog to walk at heel?

Hey all - we are really hoping you can help us teach Dud how to walk to heel. We have alot of troule with it - and aren't sure how to go about it. We have been looking into getting a halti or an excellent supportive harness i saw. I was really impressed with it - it took a lot of his weight without bothering him at all and he didn't pull! I was wondering if you had any advice, warnings or positive thoughts on those. Also - anyone with any idea how to show him that it's better to heel - I beseech you! thanks!

xx

I assume you want loose-lead walking rather than a formal heel?

You have to teach the dog that walking close to you with the lead slack is more rewarding than pulling. The stop/start method takes a lot of time and patience but it does seem to be the most effective. When the dog pulls you stop and just hold the lead, do not pull back on it. As soon as the tension goes off the lead (it must do so eventually) give your praise word (or click) and reward him. Do this every single time he starts to pull and he will learn that pulling is unrewarding and not pulling is rewarding. It may take a long time to go a short distance but if you are consistent the method will work.

As someone said:
"Tie your dog to a tree and you will see that it won't pull because trees do not move. Dogs pull because people move"

i completely agree with SB. You need alot of patience and dont expect results straight away, it can take a long time before you get results, but as long as ur consistant and never allow ur dog to pull it will eventually work. If you give in just once and allow ur dog to pull, i fear u may put urself back to step one!

good luck

Great advice SB - I shall be following it too as Lennon thinks my arm is for pulling out of it's socket! - thanks for that Laura - we can swap notes

I don't recommend harness for leash training, ESPECIALLY with pullers. The original intent of a harness was to provide the dog with a nonrestrictive device in which the dog could LEAN against - to pull or to push - such as in the case of tracking or mushing. However, you can do a lot without any collar or leash at all. I generally start out with a plain leather buckle collar and lead and a "target stick." The target stick is just a pole or a branch of a tree. I have ones made especially for dog training but you can even use a wand if you like. Basically, what I do is to teach the dog to touch the end of the stick with his nose. I associate the nose touching with a positive reward so that the dog WANTS to follow the stick. I think carry the stick along my side and voila! no more pulling. If you want a more detailed explanation of how this is done, please PM me.