Stand with your dog on a leah and sitting by your side. The classic heel position calls for your dog to be on your left, but you can train your dog on either side, just be consistent so your dog does not get confused. You should hold the leash fairly tightly, gathering the slack in the hand furthest from the dog. In this hand, you should also hold some treats. Stand in a relaxed position with both hands loosely at your waist and your elbows out. Let your dog smell the treats to get its attention, but do not give the dog or puppy one yet.
Step forward with the leg closest to the dog. At the same time, sweep the hand with the treats forward and parallel to the dogs eye level, so it can smell and see the treats, but cannot get to them. This move is not to tease your dog, but simply to keep its attention. You will have to bend over to do this if the dog is small. Now, straighten up, bring the hand with the treats back to waist level, give the leash a quick, authoritative tug and say clearly and firmly, "Heel!"
Continue walking with both hands at waist level. If your dog crosses your body to go for the treats right away, quickly correct it with a leash snap and an authoritative "No!" Bring the dog back to the heel position and start again.
Continue walking. If your dog continues to walk properly by your side, praise it in an animated voice: "Good dog, Spot! Good Spot! What a good dog!" Constant positive reinforcement is required to encourage the dog.
After three or four more steps, stop abruptly, tug quickly and firmly on the leash, and give the sit command. When your dog is sitting, praise it lavishly for a job well done and give it a treat.
If your dog is pulling at the leash, jumping, and clearly does not understand the heeling concept, do not worry. This does not mean your dog is attention deficient. It does mean, however, that a lot of repetition is in order. As soon as it begins to misbehave, snap the leash and have the dog sit. At this point, it may be a good idea to give your dog one treat to hold its attention.
When the dog is fully focused on you, establish the heeling position and try again Even if there are nearby distractions, the knowledge that you have treats should hold your dogs attention over anything else. If it does not, and your dog is constantly pulling at its leash to look at other things, try moving the training to an environment where your dog can completely focus on the task at hand, such as a long hallway, or an empty field.
The key to this training is to practise often maybe twice a day over two weeks. As always do not train your dog or puppy if you are tired or angry, and remember to keep training to about 15 minutes or so.