Join us this weekend at DogFest Harewood House.  At the festival we have the UK’s best dog behaviourists to inspire you to make the most of being a dog pawrent.

Ever found your dog pulling on the lead?  Are you the dog owner being dragged around the park by your dog?  Have you ever been close to pulling out your hair exsasperating “how can my dog learn to walk nicely on the lead?”

Look no further, help is at hand.

Lucy Heath and her Trickstars perform in the Action Arena .  Here you’ll see some of her craziest doggie antics.  We’re talking dogs jumping over a wall of humans, and so much more!  Lucy knows how to train a dog and we’ve asked her to share 3 Easy Steps to teach your dog to walk nicely on a lead.

Lucy explains how your dog can heel and how leash training is done.  She steps us through the fundamentals of dog obedience training with positive reinforcement, opening the way for a whole lot of fun for you and your dog.

3 Easy Steps for Leash and Heel Training

  • To begin dog obedience training, you’re going to need some tasty treats and your dog’s favourite toy.
  • To teach your dog to not pull on the lead, the first thing you’re going to do is teach them where you want them to be.
  • Whichever side you want your dog to walk on, hang your lead over the opposite wrist so the hand that is nearest to them is ready to guide them or give them treats.

Step #1:

Start with your dog in front of you, get them interested in the tasty treat in your hand.

Take a step back and steer them towards you, bring your legs back together and your dog will be perfectly by your side.  This also means that in the future, if they do pull.  Then you can stop and get them back to where you want them to be before carrying on.

Once you’ve got your dog well practiced in finding the ‘heel’ position it’s time to begin walking.

Step #2:

As soon as your dog is in the ‘heel’ position, start walking.  Then raise your hand so they’re looking up at you and bring your hand back down to reward them.

Make sure they’re on a nice slack lead

Step #3:

Use your voice in an exciting way to keep your dog engaged.  Vary the number of steps your dog has to do before they get their reward.

What if they grab the treat and run?

Leash and Heel training Fun Fact:

If your dog takes the treat and lunges ahead pulling the lead taught.  You can deliver the reward in a different way.

To change this behaviour pop the treat on the floor, take a couple of steps ahead of your dog.  Now they’re playing catch up with you.

Good luck on your journey to having the best behaved dog in the dogpark!

Watch Lucy Heath and her Trickstars at the Action Arena at DogFest Harewood House