teach the heel position
Teaching your dog to heel is not only easy and fun, but it helps encourage your dog to love walking beside you. The heel position is an essential skill for obedience competitions, heelwork to music (canine freestyle), and rally. In this video, KPA CTP Michelle Wieser and her dog Timber demonstrate how to teach the heel position using hand targeting.
To teach this behavior:
- Before you begin, be sure your dog knows how to hand target.
- Warm up by practicing a few hand targets with your hand by your side. Once your dog is targeting your hand, move your hand behind you slightly. Click and treat (C/T) when your dog follows. Repeat until your dog is following your hand with focus and enthusiasm.
- Once your dog is following your hand reliably, circle your hand around in a “u” motion, directing your dog’s movement so that s/he ends in a position by your side. C/T.
- Once your dog is heeling easily with your hand target, you can add a “sit.”
Happy training!
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Learn the skills you both need for most major dog sports in our online course, Dog Sports Essentials.
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