Coming to Heel

I'n the world of gun dogs, it's not unusual that retrievers are taught to heel.

- Alec Sparks

The same might be said for flushing dogs but quite commonly, pointing dogs are not.

Nonetheless, there are times when many of us would like our pointing dogs to heel in a controlled fashion and not pull on the leash like a sled dog going to the start of the Iditarod.

Reward-based marker training is an outstanding tool for teaching the Heel command before eventually transitioning to traditional leashes, collars or perhaps the electric collar to reinforce a behavior the dog understands in the face of competing motivations.

As I've written before, reward-based marker training is a far cry from the frequently disparaged "cookie training" that so many people still, unfortunately, relate it to.

One method "luring" - is an excellent method for teaching the dog to walk at your side as it follows a food reward held in your hand in a specific manner. In this method, a small high-value food reward is placed in between the pointing and center fingers of your left hand and held in place with your thumb. A number of these rewards roughly the size of a garden pea can easily be held in place using this technique.