How to teach a dog to walk to heel

What “heel” actually means

In Proof this is a skill in its own right, because a precise position for the moments a loose leash is not enough — crossings, crowds, vet doors.

Teach eye contact & check-ins and loose-leash walking first — they are what this one is built on.

The stages

These steps are a draft pending review by a credentialed trainer. They describe standard positive-reinforcement marker training; the app carries the same notice on every session screen.

1. Stage 1 — Position is the treat machine

   Goal: Dog seeks your left knee and holds it for several steps

   1. Indoors, no leash. Feed at the seam of your trousers every time the dog lines up at your side.
   2. Take one step. Feed arrival. Two steps. Feed. Keep the rate of pay high — heel is expensive at first.

   If it goes wrong

   • Dog crosses in front of you? You are feeding across your body. Feed strictly at the seam, treat hand on that side.
   • Dog lags? Slow your pace and lower your criteria — pay any parallel movement, then tighten.

2. Stage 2 — Turns and pace

   Goal: Dog stays glued through slow turns and speed changes

   1. Add gentle left and right turns, marking the dog for staying with your leg.
   2. Vary pace — slow, normal, brisk. Pay position, not obedience to the leash.
   3. Use it in short bursts on real walks; the rest of the walk stays loose-leash sniffing time.

   If it goes wrong

   • Falls apart outdoors? Everything does. Rebuild from stage one in the garden — it takes a tenth of the time.
   • Dog heels grimly, tail low? Too much drill. Two minutes, big pay, done. Heel should feel like winning.

How long does it take?

Most foundation skills reach their bar in two to four weeks of short daily sessions. Adolescence can temporarily un-stick anything, which is normal.

Proof does not put a timeline on an individual skill, and neither should anything else — the honest answer depends on the dog in front of you, how often you practise, and where you practise. What it does instead is measure: every session records how many reps landed, so progress is a number rather than a feeling.

Proving it in 3 different places

A behaviour that only works in the kitchen is situational, not trained. Heel counts as proven in Proof once it clears the bar above at the top stage in 3 genuinely different contexts:

• Indoors — the quiet room where everything works
• Garden — outdoors, but home turf
• Street — pavements, traffic, passing people
• Park — other dogs, long grass, real distraction
• Somewhere new — a place the dog has never worked before

Proof also expires. Leave a proven skill for two months without asking for it and it returns to the daily plan as a refresher, because that is what actually happens to trained behaviour.