I get a lot of clients who contact me to ask if I can teach their dog how to heel. Of course I can, but I always ask why  they want their dog to heel. I generally get answers along the lines of: their dog pulls all over the place on walks and they want them to heel so the walks aren't so miserable. So I ask “do you want your dog to heel? Or do you just not want them to pull on the leash?” Which usually gets the response of: “that's not the same thing?”  NOPE! Heeling and loos

As a dog trainer I get asked this question all the time.  People are more than happy to use food to start teaching behaviors but they quickly start asking when they can stop using it.  They don’t want to have to worry about carrying a treat pouch on them all the time. They feel like the dog should do it just because they asked. They feel like the food is a bribe.  My usual question for them is: when are you going to stop asking for a paycheck for your job? Sure you may love y

Let’s look at some of the most common behaviors people are likely to teach their dogs: sit, down, stay, heel, and recall. Someone can teach these behaviors to their dog and get through the day pretty easily. The dog will sit when they say sit, stay when they say stay, and heel when they say heel. There are plenty of people who are very happy with this. The dog will do what they ask and is not being a problem. They have taught their dog behaviors to get through the day. But wh