Two Ways to Teach the Heel Position

Are your walks with your dog friend turning into a tug-of-war match? Have you been yearning for a leash-walking experience that’s smooth, enjoyable, and stress-free? Well, you’re not alone. We’ve all been there, frustrated with our dog’s inability to stay in the heel position. It might be that your dog does not understand the position. But fear not! In this blog post, we’re going to delve into two ways to teach the heel position to transform your dog’s leash-walking manners and elevate your bonding experience. This is the beginning.

1. The Two-Step: Dancing into the Heel Position

Imagine your walks with your pup as a synchronized dance, where you lead, and your dog gracefully follows your lead. Duke Ferguson Professional dog trainer and NePoPo® Gold Multiplicator, introduces us to the Two-Step technique, a method that’s perfect for those who are mobile and active. With food or high-value treats, a leash, and a positive attitude you’re ready to take the floor. Don’t forget your favourite song.

The premise is simple yet effective:

Is the Dog Hungry Enough to Lure and Reward: Begin with a hungry and food-motivated dog. Hold a treat in your fist, present it to your dog, and observe if they eagerly come forward for it. This willingness to follow the lure is crucial for success.

Two-Step Technique: With your dog on a loose leash, take a step back with your left leg while keeping your right foot planted. As your dog moves toward you, step forward with your right foot, guiding them into the heel position by your side. It’s like a dance of coordination where you lead, and your dog follows.

Mark and Reward: Utilize a marker word like “break” or a clicker to release your dog and reward them for achieving the desired position.

Practice and repetition are key. As your dog becomes accustomed to the Two-Step Tango, you’ll witness them eagerly stepping into the heel position, creating a harmonious flow. Soon to be a great walking experience once you begin motion.

2. Place Board Practice: Tailoring the Heel Position for All Abilities

Not everyone has the same mobility, and Duke Ferguson understands this. For individuals who may have limited mobility, such as those in wheelchairs or with specific physical challenges, the Place Board Perfection technique is a game-changer. It ensures that everyone can participate in shaping & training and bond with their furry companions.

Here’s how it works:

Create a Target: Introduce your dog to a place board. Lure them onto it and encourage them to turn around to face you. This step familiarizes your dog with the target and creates a foundation for the training.

The Turn: With your dog on the place board, guide them into the heel position. This time, you won’t need to step back. Instead, you pivot around the dog, ensuring they are aligned with your leg and in the desired position.

Name the Command: As your dog becomes comfortable with the position on the place board, you can name it using a word like “heel.”

Remember, consistency is key. Practice two ways to teach the heel position techniques daily, dedicating a few minutes to each session, and you’ll witness remarkable progress in your dog’s leash-walking skills. Once your dog knows where you want it to be it’s much easier to begin the walks.

Bonus Tips for Leash Training Success

Duke Ferguson’s wisdom extends beyond the basic techniques. Here are some additional tips to enhance your leash training journey:

1. Motivation Matters: Keep your dog motivated with the food they love and positive reinforcement for these steps is fine.

2. Phasing Away the Lure: Over time, reduce the reliance on treats while maintaining the desired behavior. The goal is to have your dog follow the heel command even without the lure.

3. Variety Is Key: Experiment with different positions, such as the right side or going through your legs. NePoPo® training lets you be creative.

Your Journey to Training Excellence Begins Now

As you embark on this exciting journey of mastering the heel position, remember that Timing, consistency, and motivation are your allies. Whether you’re dancing the Two-Step Tango or perfecting the Place Board Position, the ultimate goal is to build a strong bond and communication with your dog so you can enjoy walks together. OR Dancing. 🙂

If you’re hungry for more dog training insights and want to take your skills to the next level, Join our extraordinary community. Duke Ferguson offers a ton of resources through his Unleashed Potential Experience membership (UPX). This community of like-minded individuals is dedicated to personal development through dog training. Not only will you learn to take you dog training skills to the next level but also your life skills. Duke is not only a pro dog trainer NePoPo® Gold but also a certified high performance coach®. In UPX join Duke Live for coaching, join challenges and grow with a like minded communuty. Dog training and personal development for humans and dogs.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to put on your dancing shoes or create your perfect place and embark on a journey of shaping success. Your dog will thank you for the enriching experience, Happy training! 🐾

Unleashed Potential Place Boards

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Vizsla Fetch Training – Teach ANY Puppy the Game of Fetch Using Food and Toys

This video will show you how to teach fetch using food and a toy with a vizsla puppy. If you’re looking for tips on how to easily train your puppy how to fetch and what you’ve been doing so far isn’t working, this video will show you a bunch of tips on how to successfully get your puppy to fetch! For puppy training tips, watch this video and set the stage for an awesome retrieve!

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SUMMARY

The reason I use food, in the beginning, is that not all puppies or dogs have the drive to play (prey drive) and therefore, we have to ignite that and channel it.
When the dog’s mindset changes we can channel that play to toys in correlation with food.
Socialize your puppy using food and touch.
It’s easy to transition from food to a toy by throwing the toy and when as he’s coming back to you walk backwards, kneel down and reel him in like a fish and pay him with food.
To get your puppy to let things go, don’t pull it from him, instead hold the item and make it ‘go dead’. As soon as he lets it go, you can play again. He learns, “by letting go, play happens.”
Once your puppy or dog learns to fetch items you can then incorporate obedience fetch. This is where the dog must think and do something for the fetch game to happen.
Obedience fetch works both the mind and the body.

VIZSLA PUPPY TRAINING | STEPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL FETCH

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Full Transcript –

Vizsla Puppy Training | Teach Fetch Using Food and Toys

[The following is the full transcript of this YouTube video. Please note that this video, features Duke speaking extemporaneously–he is unscripted and unedited. Filmed in one take].

Hey there, it’s Duke Ferguson. How would you like your puppy to go out, grab something, and bring it back to you? If you want to learn how to do that…In this video, I’m going to teach you hands-on a little Vizsla puppy. Awesome little guy. I’m going to show you exactly how to get it done successfully with your dog. Be sure to watch the video the whole way through, because it’s jam-packed full of tips. In fact, grab a pen and a piece of paper. You’ll learn little things on socialization, how to get your puppy to let things go, how to get calm grips. And you’re going to see if you watch all the way through a mistake that I made you won’t see it. But I point it out at the end because I noticed it. And I want you to get the most out of this video, what you won’t do.

You’ll get to see that in the video because it’s really easy to not see. If you like this video help me help you click the notification, click the little light, thumbs up, all that cool stuff so that when a video drops, you’ll be the first to know. We have a little puppy. And despite all of the drills we can do, right, I’m going to actually, this guy has got drive. He’s got heart, he’s got everything I’d want to see, look at this. And come right in here too. So I have this desire, right? For food. And he’s got prey drive as well. He’s going to chase stuff and he wants to do things, but some dogs don’t. So in the very beginning, I want a dog to run away and come back. So I play a game.

All right. And the reason I use food first is because not all puppies are not all dogs have drive the drive to play or prey drive. And we have to kind of ignite that and channel it. Even if a dog has very little to no desire to play, we can use food in the beginning and start the play process. And as the dog’s mindset changes and the way they think and the way they feel about it, we can channel that play to toys in correlation with the food. So then all of a sudden with dating, we could call it or with these interactions in a good way, especially when it’s survival and when it’s all good things, but he learns to play. Now, what is play? Play is with toys. It’s interactive with us, but his type of play is wanting to bite and bite.

Even if a dog has very little to no desire to play, we can use food in the beginning and start the play process.

That’s a normal puppy. So one of the things I like to teach for the majority of dogs, especially with a hunting dog, I don’t want to play tug of war with a hunting dog, right? Fetch. I’m telling you to fetch. If you have a dog who has the desire to want to go and get it, I can have him run after the food, tell him to fetch. And he comes back to me and I’m already socializing him to come through here, he’s already standing. And Darren, you can do this as well for, with him, right? But if a dog is engaged with the food, he can’t bite you. So now I’m not getting bit. So this is all part of socialization. You’ve got a big, scary guy leaning over a dog. All right. He learns to do these things. He’s getting a ton of…break, and I can just throw it. Now,

where does this have to do with retrieval? He comes back, well, you need a dog to go away and you need a dog to come back. He’s learning to go after this. Let’s say, and you wouldn’t have to do this. If you had a dog with prey drive, I would start this with any dog. Um, regardless, but the dog that doesn’t like the toys, this is definitely your start. So you just throw it out. Okay. They have their marks established. What do they do when they want the food? They come back to you. So you’re already actually priming a recall. The dog comes. Simple. I’ve done nothing but talk. So, once I do the food and I know I don’t need to with him, okay, I’ll go with a little toy. Right? And I want to teach him to fetch something. So the first thing you need to do, right?

And especially, listen. If your dog is grabbing things for your attention and chasing you or getting you to chase them around, you know, and doing things, you’re already training them to do that. So I’m going to get his attention. He’s aroused. You see where he wants this and I’m going to throw it and I’m going to get the lead and I’m going to walk backwards and I’m going to kneel down and I’m going to reel him in like a little fish. Look at him. Hey, okay. Good job, buddy. Good job. And if he wants to hold on to that, come on, right in here. I’m letting him you can hold onto that little buddy. And then just calm. And then I just hold the toy and I wait, I let it go dead. I make it go dead. I just bring it in see. He wants to play on it.

Good. And then we’ll play again. As soon as he lets go. Okay, I’m going to start teasing them again a little bit. And I’m going to just throw it now. Why? I didn’t say fetch. Good boy. Hey, look at this right to me. Okay. That’s natural. Okay. I’m holding him there. And this is learning to go get something and bring it back to Duke. And, Oh my gosh. I get paid. If that guy had his treat pouch on and could feed me here. So he learns, especially if your dog likes it, I like to play to chase this. I like to pick it up and bring it back. That’s a God sent. If you have a dog like that, the thing is, what if they don’t you shape it the same way. So if your dog doesn’t like it, which he does, but for example, I throw it.

The puppy is learning to go get something and bring it back to Duke. And… oh my gosh. I get paid!

I know, he goes and he gets it. I have the leash and I’m going backwards because I want him to come and follow me or chase me. And I put my hand out already to get it from him. Right. Usually, it’s the left hand. And then I’m going to say what a good boy you are. Thank you. And I’m going to give them a piece of food. Do I have to give him the food? No, but it’s double reward probably more than double reward. Cause I tease him here. He’s aroused. He’s like, Hey, but this is a dog that likes to bite your pant legs and hump you and do things, which is a normal, strong little puppy. Okay. Fetch. Now, why did I say fetch? Because I know without reasonable doubt, that thought was going to go get it. Guaranteed. Good job, man.

And then I bring him in and I just let him hold it. I don’t take it right away. Good job. Way to go. Okay. And he lets it out on his own. He spits it out on his own. If I want them to have good grips. Fetch. I’ll build that. Him, I don’t care he’s soft grips. Just don’t let it go. So notice I’m pulling him in and he’s trying to go that way. That’s where I go the other way. Hey buddy. Hey buddy. Let’s go. And the reason why this works, obviously he has to come with me with the leash, but in the beginning, I threw food. He came back, I threw food. He came back. Now I throw good job, buddy. I throw this…little throw and he comes back. Right. He tries. And if he wants to run away and I’ll let that happen right now.

But I would say two fetches ago. Yeah. Is a good time to end this session. I’m a little bit long now. Cause he started going to go the other way. He was successful. Always end on success, where he wins and you win. You got what you wanted and when he wants one more fetch, stop it, only do one or two. I know I did a lot more for this, um, this video two or three fetches. And then when the dog says, yeah, I want one more. And then they got a lot of energy four fetches, five fetches. Now when you have a fetch game and they like it you’re burning off physical energy. The next thing I want you to do is to incorporate obedience training, which meaning thinking dog. Your terminology for obedience might be different than mine, but obedience training, meaning the dog says, I want the ball.

Now when you have a fetch game and they like it you’re burning off physical energy.

I want the retrieve, but I don’t want my dog senselessly, just running back and forth to become an athlete and still reactive. So I just wait and they do something. They sit, they lay down and they pay attention and I release them. “Break” and I give them a reward which you’ll see in other videos, but that’s called obedience fetch. The best thing you can do for your dog relationship burning off energy and everything. Hey, I hope you found this video of value. If you did, let me know your biggest takeaway down below. If you’d like to sign up for my free mini-course, there are six videos you can sign up for in the link down here. And if you’d like to learn more about obedience fetch kind of get the concept. I have a video right here and you can click that into that as well. So I hope that’s great. Thanks for watching. Make sure you subscribe, click the like and do all that cool stuff so that I can connect with you again. See you soon.

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