Having your pet join in your outdoor activities is a great deal of fun when your dog remains obediently at your side. You can keep your eyes on him and your dog can keep his eyes on you.

It may be easier to teach your puppy to heel without a lead at first, only you will know which method is best for your dog. Puppies love to be with you and will be willing to follow you in most situations. They will also be easy to lead with the smell of food, so carry treats at all times during training. Keep the puppy on your left side at all times to heel, holding his collar attract his attention with his name.

While walking in a straight line, hold the reward out in front of him, keep your left hand close to the collar, and give the command “heel”. Stop, kneel down and give him the command to “wait”, place your left arm under his belly directly in front of the hind legs to keep him from moving forward. Speeding up you pace and slowing it down while you train him will teach him to remain at heel Continue until he has learned the heel and wait commands, now you can teach him to turn with you as you walk.

Do you want to teach your dog how to turn on command? To teach him to turn right, bend your knees and hold the food near his nose, turn right and repeat the command “heel”, he will be required to speed up to follow you and will follow the smell of the treat with little or no resistance. Teaching him to turn left is a little different; use your left hand at his collar to guide him to the left use the command “steady” hold the treat low and in front of his nose, the puppy will follow.

While training, if he looses concentration, put your left hand inside his collar and bring him back to the correct position. To avoid his jumping up when you stop, hold his collar with your left hand and the treat low in front of him.

If you follow these instructions (and have a little patience) you can train your dog to heel in no time!

A well balance diet is important for the growth of your dog - a proper diet produces strong bones, healthy muscles and a beautiful coat. Dogs love their food just like their human family, but unlike humans they’ll eat almost anything.

A dog’s food requirement changes as he grows, and each dog has individual nutritional needs. When in training, a dog needs to have the usual healthy and well balanced diet and it is important to use the appropriate treats as a training aid.

When training your dog using a food treat, reinforce the training with words, using verbal praise at the same time, this teaches the dog to respond to the words as well as the treat. Don’t give the dog a food treat every time, and don’t be consistent when giving a food treat. Dogs are very smart and will learn your pattern if you use one. This can make training difficult.

Varying the reward is the best way to prevent having a dog that only behaves when he gets food, and also avoids the problem of obesity in dogs. Use dog training treats that are healthy for your dog, and never use human food as a treat or reward. It can teach your dog a habit you won’t want to deal with later.

A dog that gets human food as a reward may end up digging in the garbage. After all, he gets this food as a reward, so digging in the trash may become a reward to him. I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense to us, but to a dog it makes perfect sense. It is the same principle as giving a dog an old sock or shoe as a toy - they don’t know the difference between the one they can have and the one they can’t have.

Training your dog is one of the biggest responsibilities you will have; it is important that you take the time to train him well.

Dogs have evolved from wolves and we began teaching and training them about 10,000 years ago. They have been our friends, partners and workers since that time. Selective breeding of dogs has always been done with a specific purpose in mind, positive traits of wolves were chosen, and the dogs were bred for that specific trait.

Training and selective breeding (breeding out certain traits) continued until a specific type of dog was achieved, this is how we have managed to develop dogs for herding live stock, guarding homes, hunting and tracking among many other things.

One problem with today’s dogs is that they are bored; dogs were bred for work, expending energy (both mental and physical) and staying busy. The majority of todays dogs, while well fed, and cared for are bored. We need to train them well and keep them busy and occupied. Working dogs should be trained in ways that allow them to use a lot of energy - this prevents boredom in their lives.

One of the issues with bored dogs is problems with their behavior, neighbors have to listen to a dog that howls and cries at all hours of the day and night. You spend hours filling in holes in the yard where he has dug holes, and these even move to the neighbors prize flower beds!

Certain activities a dog does can be quite successfully used in training, dogs instincts and
behaviors are great training tools for you. Training should be fun for you and your best friend, give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to intelligence. Remember that a dog will not do what he is not physically capable of doing (that is why there were so many Lassies). However, he will try to do anything you ask because he loves and respects you. Train in short periods of time, and always end a training session with something you know your dog can do, it closes the session on a positive note for you and your dog.