Teaching Your Dog To Heel Off Leash

Have you ever wanted to walk your dog off leash? In this video we will walk you through in detail on how to teach your dog to heel off leash!

Off leash heel is an advanced obedience command that should only be taught when your dog knows all of the other commands. Off leash heel for us means our dog is in the heel position with no leash on! Heel means ears are at our side facing forward in motion! This is an excellent command that will provide mental and physical stimulation. Please note, this should be one of the last things you work on with your dog! They should be perfect on leash, completely socialized, and be able to perform all of their other commands off leash.

The first step we highlight in this video is utilizing an over the shoulder leash. You can also drape your current leash over your shoulder if you do not have one. This step is designed to get a dog to heel nice with our left hand off of the leash. With your hand off of the leash, your dog will feel the desire to pull forward. If they do this, we will give a slight tug back to get them back into the heel command. We need to be as strict as possible! In this step, we also utilize a ton of turns! Both the left and right hand turns are great for making sure your dog is heeling well!

The next step is dropping the leash! They will be dragging the leash around! Some dogs struggle here as the leash may be too heavy or they feel weird about dragging it behind. Dogs will also feel the tendency to not follow you as well as they should. If they veer off, you can use a ton of verbal praise, and if they are not listening, you can give them another tug to keep them on track. Make sure they are in the right position and that they can perform their turns well.

The next progression is taking away the leash and moving to a short tab! We sell short tabs that come both in leather or wire. The short leash does give your dog a lot more freedom, so it is common they will listen less. Again, focus on verbal praise, guidance, and corrections if they are not following. Make sure they stop when you stop as well!

Eventually, they should perform this with no leash and collar on at all! During any steps of this process, if you do not trust your dog, utilize a long line and start in an easier environment. Also keep in mind local leash laws, some states and cities are stricter than others! This process is easy, but takes a ton of work and consistency! In some cases, we can also utilize an e collar if your dog has been acclimated correctly to enforce this off leash heel as well.

We hope you enjoyed this video! If you have any training questions regarding off leash heel or any other training questions, feel free to post a comment below! Happy training!

Our Dog Boot Camp and our In-Home dog training programs are highly customized and designed to give you and your dog the best life possible. We focus on obedience commands, leash walking, off leash training, in-home behaviors, socializing, and many other training goals. For more information, please visit our website today!

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