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Teaching your dog to heel is one of the most basic and important dog training commands you can teach. With an active and younger dog or puppy, it can be especially difficult, but with patience and consistency, it doesn’t really have to be that hard to train your dog to heel.

The best time to practice teaching your dog to heel is before you’ve begun going on walks. Your dog is easily distracted out on the street and you will need his attention to properly teach the heel command. Also, you want to be in a patient and pleasant mood. Do not begin this, or any other dog training session, if you are angry or in a testy mood. You should not train your dog in an unkind or rough manner. Furthermore, it is best to teach the heel command after your dog knows his name and the “Sit” command.

You will want to limit the heel training session, as with other dog training sessions, especially for young puppies to about 10 or 15 minutes and to 2 or 3 times in a day. Make sure they’ve gone to the bathroom and have eaten and had some water. You want their full attention for this.

For this training session, you might want to use a dog training collar, but it is not necessary. In the backyard or garden put a lead on the dog, and keep him on your left side. Hold the leash in both hands, your right hand through the loop and your left hand holding the leash with your elbow by your side and out straight.

You want to keep your dog’s neck about even with your left leg, and as you begin to move that is the signal for the dog to begin walking. Your dog or puppy will initially not understand what to do and either try to run ahead or around. Simply make gentle corrections, say “Heel” and keep them on your left side. Try to keep the lead slack and if your dog begins to tug on it either stop or gently correct with the leash and stop moving. Do not pull your dog forward or yank the leash back violently. Continue moving only as your dog is on your left side. Try not to move if the leash becomes tight as this teaches them to tug and pull on it.

You will want to vary your direction and speed, turning in circles or doing figure eights. As your dog goes in the correct direction on your left side, remember to give lots of praise. You might use a dog training clicker or a treat, but try to keep your methods consistent with other dog training commands you use. Try to end the dog training session on a positive note with something the dog has done correctly, followed by lots of praise.

Dog Training HQ provides dog training articles and resources to help dog and puppy owners learn to train their pet effectively. Please visit http://www.dogtraininghq.com for more helpful dog training and puppy training advice.

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What qualities do dogs look for in their leaders? Adopt these 3 simple qualities to turn your dog’s behavior around almost literally overnight!

It probably won’t surprise you to learn that dogs look for the same leadership qualities that people look for - consistent leaders who lead by example and who reward good behavior.

1. Consistency: communication between different species is not an easy task, especially when one species can talk and the other can’t! Inconsistency makes that task all the more difficult. By adopting consistent behaviors in yourself, setting consistent boundaries, and keeping some sort of consistent routine - your dog will have an easier job of figuring out what you expect.

2. Lead by example: dogs tend to mimic our actions. Don’t rely on them interpreting our intentions correctly. If we yell at our dog for being aggressive, this can lead to more aggression from our dog. They don’t necessarily understand that we are angry and upset with their actions, they just follow our lead. When we learn calm approaches to dealing with this sort of problem, our lead is followed with calmness in return.

3. Reward good behaviour: behavior that is effectively rewarded tends to increase or continue. Therefore it makes sense to reward the behavior we want to see in our dogs. In the same way we get paid to work, our dogs expect to be paid too. Life in the pack works that way; food, security, shelter, play and social contact are the rewards dogs work for. Whilst our pet dogs get most of this stuff for free, it makes sense to ask them to do something to earn it, no matter how simple the task. Asking a dog to sit before letting it outside, or asking for a short ’stay’ before being fed are two simple examples.

By adopting these 3 qualities and making them habits in your day to day interaction with your pets, you will see positive changes in your relationship. Dogs do respect these qualities and respond in kind with faithful companionship.

Aidan Bindoff is Editor of Positive Petzine, a free resource for people training their own dogs.

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Does your dog bark when you have a knock at the door? Follow this simple plan to end excessive barking at the door.

Many dogs will bark when they hear a knock at the door. This is probably to announce the arrival of a new person to their territory. They learn pretty quickly that a knock on the door is quickly followed by a visitor.

But what if a knock at the door was only occassionally followed by a visitor?

Some dog owners have quick success at reducing barking by simply knocking on the door repeatedly throughout the day. With no visitor appearing at the door, the knock sound soon stops being associated with the visitor. At first, the barking will probably get worse. After a few repetitions, it should start to reduce. Don’t lose heart if it doesn’t appear to work for a little while.

When your dog gets really good at not barking when he hears a knock on the door, invite someone around to help out. Just have them knock on the door every minute and not come in unless your dog hasn’t barked. Do this for about 5 or 6 repetitions, no need to overdo it.

You can speed things up by rewarding your dog for being quiet when he hears a knock at the door. A further refinement is to make the knock a cue to lay down on a mat, or to sit quietly by the front door. This is a very polite greeting indeed!

If you have a doorbell, the same procedure applies. If your doorbell has different ring tones, try to set it to use only one ring tone.

This is certainly not the only approach to ending barking at the door, but for the majority of dogs it is the easiest and most effective approach. Try it and see!

Aidan Bindoff is editor of Positive Petzine, a free resource for people training their own dogs, http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/positivepetzine/ to subscribe and to download all back issues free for private use for a limited time only.

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