How To Train Your Dog To Stay By Your Side

Be sure to give your dog a treat before its interests wander.

How to train your dog to stay by your side.

When working out of sight use a mirror to see your dog around. You may need a leash to start even if your plan is to have your dog off leash once he is fully trained. Choke collars and chain leads may look nice but they can be dangerous if used incorrectly. Keep the distance you walk with your dog at a heel fairly short and gradually work up to walking a yard or two between treats.

You will want to be consistent in your rules and how you decide to train your dog to stay by your side. Keep your left hand at your belt buckle and your right hand at your side palm open facing your dog. Walking your dog should be an enjoyable time not a tug of war between you and your dog. If your dog is thinking about moving or actually tries to move take a step toward your dog with your right foot and with your right hand snap the leash straight up to a point directly above his head.

To train your dog to stay beside you your dog will need to start with a leash. Choose a flat buckle collar and a flat smooth 6 foot training leash. Again begin with your dog sitting at your left side and give the command heel give the dog a treat and then take a step before giving it another. There s no need for your dog to stare at you constantly and stay glued to your knee like a highly trained obedience animal but he should walk calmly on the lead neither pulling ahead or continually stopping to sniff and mark his territory.

This is going to require a lot of repetitive training so be prepared to set aside some time each day to train in short training sessions. Training your dog to stay by your side will require daily small sessions of training. Be sure to have lots of high value tasty treats to keep your dog s attention as well to reward him for a job well done. Progressive reinforcement is the only method i use to train an.

Even though your ultimate goal is to train the dog to walk off leash starting his training with a leash keeps him under control and boosts his confidence.