Training Your Puppy To Heel

You can begin training your puppy to heel as early as 8-9 weeks.  The earlier you begin, the easier it will be to teach him.  Obeying your commands is one of the basic skills your puppy needs to learn.

When you start training your puppy to heel, it will be easier on both of you if you remember a few basic principles:
? Your puppy is still a baby.  She has a short attention span and gets tired easily.  Keep training sessions to 5-10 minutes at first.
? Your puppy needs frequent training periods at first to help her remember what she is learning.  If you can manage 2-3 sessions a day, she will learn quickly.
? Your puppy will learn fastest through positive reinforcement.  He wants to please you more than anything in the world, and will do whatever pleases you.  If you yell at him or punish him, it just confuses and stresses him, and he won’t learn as well.

Use a collar and leash to start training your puppy to heel.  At first, let her follow you around.  Whenever she accidentally is in the correct position, say “Heel” in a command voice, and praise her lavishly.
 
As you are training your puppy to heel, you will use your voice, hand signals and your body movement to communicate what you want him to do.  Position him so that his eyes are even with your left leg.  Simultaneously give the command to heel—in a command tone—along with the hand signal and moving your left leg forward.  Every time your puppy gets something right, give her lavish praise. 

Training your puppy to heel will progress quickly if you are patient and absolutely consistent in praising the behavior you want to reinforce.  That takes attention and dedication on your part.  Your puppy will do whatever you praise her for because she wants to please you.  Training your puppy to heel is easy as long as you show her how pleased you are with her.