Maintaining a dog’s attention while heeling is not easy. It’s easiest to do in short sequences, but Leslie is very good at praising Bebe to keep her heeling by her side.
Heeling on-leash is no easy task. If you teach off-leash following and heeling first, you won’t end up with a leash puller that is only “under your control” because of a physical restraint
The dogs and owners in this video have only been to 8 puppy classes. The vast majority of their training took place at home, thoroughly incorporated into daily life. Big thanks to them and to everyone who made these videos possible!
Use the power of your voice to control your dog. If your dog ignores you, change your tone so they know you mean business. Set yourself up for success by getting the dog’s attention before it’s released.
Dogs are programmed to read out body signals. If you want them to truly learn verbal commands, you must be careful to avoid giving any visible signals at the same time. Give the hand signal immediately afterwards if your dog doesn’t respond.
As your dog gets the hand of staying, you can phase out the running commentary and introduce more silly behavior. Go slowly and increase the challenge a little bit at a time to maintain the momentum of success.
You shouldn’t expect a child to successfully train a dog all on their own, but sometimes it does happen. Emily has clearly spent a lot of time working with Jessie, and Jessie clearly loves training with her.