Teaching my dog to heel?

Question

My dog is a 10 month old Rat Terrier. He is great about everything...

EXCEPT heeling. He pulls me all the way when we're on a walk; believe me, he is strong for his size. Even after I give him a good, hard run he STILL won't stop.

Does anyone have a suggestion for me? Tools to use, techniques, etc.?

Answer 1

there are 2 techniques that i know of, take your leash and make him follow you, if he tries to get in front of you, turn a different direction, keep doing this and he will eventually learn

or

take a treat, like chicken, and hold it in your hand behind you, if he follows you for a while give it to him, if he runs off again, turn away and try again

when you praise him, do it in a happy tone, and when you scold him, do it in a lower more upsetting tone, dogs can notice the difference in your voice patterns

Answer 2

I have a one year old boxer.... I had him on a regular collar Growing him up he use to wear a harness but ate through it.. Someone suggested to get a choke collar and see how he does... some dogs are resistant and stuborn to it and others do great... I found out the first day i took him out with it on and he seemed all grown up already... just a slight pull and command and he understood right away... If you use the choke collar make sure to get rubber prongs for the tips.... try it it might work.. my boxer is one now and he hardly wears one now and he is very well manured now....

Answer 3

when your dog starts pulling ahead of you, stop.  try not to move from your spot for a few seconds, until the dog realises that you're not going anywhere if he keeps on pulling.  once he's settled, start walking again.  if he pulls ahead again, stop.  it may take a while but just try to reinforce the idea that if he pulls, you're stopping.  good luck.

Answer 4

well all those answer sound pretty good but personally what i used to finally get my dog under control has a halty/halti.  you know like how horses have halters? well you can get a halty for your dog.  it just goes on their head and so when the leash becomes taught, they slow down or stop because when there's tension on the leash, it forces their head to turn.  worked for my australian shepherd anyway.  good luck!

Answer 5

Don't let him get more than a couple of inches in front of you.  As soon as he starts to get ahead, give him a sharp snap back and repeat the heel command.  As soon as he is back in place, talk to him.  use your voice to keep his attention on you and not on the rest of the world.

Do a lot of quick starts and stops, and don't walk a straight line.  Weave a lot.  If the dog gets totally fixated on something, turn and walk the other way.  

In short, do whatever you can to keep the dog's attention on you and not on the rest of the world.

Some folks may also tell you to carry a toy or treat with you.  I would recommend against this.  Many dogs are great when there is a treat, but as soon as the treat is gone, so is their attention.  Instead, use your voice - you will always have that with you.  talk to them and keep them focused on you.

Answer 6

There are a number of good options to stop a dog from pulling on his leash. They go from simple to fairly serious.

Turn and walk the other direction. Or stop and stand still until the dog stops pulling. When he doesn't pull say good dog and treat.

Get a head collar like a halti or a Pull-Stop harness. The collar turns the dog's head and the harness turns the dog's whole body. Both works well for some dogs.

Get a pinch collar. They look much worse than they are. I like the plastic pinch collars for serious pullers. This is a last resort, but it will work.

Answer 7

When teaching to heal, use a choke collar.  If your dog is very large and strong, you may actually need a pinch collar.

First, make sure the dog is on your left side sitting/standing such that his shoulder is even with your left leg.  Hold the leash in both your hands so that your left hand is lower on the leash, closer to the next with the right a little further up the leash.

As you start to step forward, use the dog's name and then the command "heel".  Keep the leash a little taut but not tight.  If/when the dog pulls, tug hard, one sharp, quick tug and release and repeat the name/command at the same time.  Do this over and over.  Do not keep the pressure on the whole time as the dog needs to feel that stepping in front is what gets him the snap and that by walking at your side, this tightness around his neck goes away.  

When you stop make the dog sit.  Make sure to reward.

There is more to this command, but these are the first steps.

Answer 8

Choke collars and pulling and tugging on the leash will NOT WORK!  Besides the dog is small and has a small throat, and that could cause serious physical and psychological harm.  

The dog just wants to walk, he doesn't understand the expectations we have to walking on a leash.  So, to get him to comply with your expectations here are some suggestions that have worked for me....

1.  When he starts to "pull" you, stop.  Walk no further.  Do not move.

2.  Do not address the dog.  Show him no attention until he stops the "pulling" behavior.  This will take discipline from you.

3.  When he stops pulling then you start walking again.

4.  Repeat this process over and over and over and over.

5.  The dog will adapt his behavior to get what he wants and that is to walk, and you will get what you want by not having your arm ripped from it's socket every day.

6.  This is just behavior modification 101.

Good luck and I hope this works.

God bless you.

Answer 9

You know that whole TURN AROUND THING that never worked for my dog... he'll just walk in the other direction and pull ... lol

A no pull harness is what we use ...... but also ... it is how you hold the leash !!!!

   MAKE SURE NOT TO GIVE HIM ENOUGH ROOM TO PULL ..... HAVE ONE HAND ( LEFT) IN THE END ( CIRCLE)AND GRAB ON W/ THE LEFT HAND ... WITH THE RIGHT HAND GRAP CLSER TO YOUR DOG .. ENOUGH SO HE CAN TOUCH THE GROUND ... BUT TIGHT ENOUGH HE CAN'T PULL

KEEP THAT UP AND HE WON'T PULL ANYMORE