Teaching Your Dog to Sit and Down in Heel Position (Early access for our Patreon community)

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As a positive dog trainer, I tend to focus on pet home training vs. dog sports. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t help with specific training requests. Recently, I was asked how to teach a dog to sit and down in heel position without flipping to the front. This is a great question, and it’s a skill I actually encourage everyone to practice. But, before we dive into that, let’s chat about why dogs tend to move in front of you.

Do you know why? I bet if you think about it, you can figure it out. When we are training our dogs, we tend to face them, and they face us. So, if I’m walking with my dog, and they are on my left, and I ask for a sit, my dog is likely going to spin around, face me and then sit. That’s what sit means to them. Ah. And this is why when I work with my dog-training students, I teach them to teach their dogs that when asked to do a task, such as sit, the request should be performed where they are, whether that’s in a heel, or five feet in front of you. Now, let’s teach our dogs this important skill.

What Is Heel Position?

Heel position means that your dog is walking closely beside you, typically on your left side, with their head aligned with your leg. In this position, your dog should be calm and focused, ready to respond to your cues.

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Steps to Teach Sit in Heel Position

1. Find a Wall: Start your training session next to a wall, with the wall on your left side and your dog walking beside you on the left. This setup helps your dog stay close and understand the desired position.
2. Use a Lure: Hold a treat close to your dog’s nose and slowly lift it up. As your dog follows the treat, their bottom should naturally move to a sit position.

   

3. Reward the Behavior: Once your dog is in a sitting position, reward them with the treat and plenty of praise. Keep your tone positive and encouraging!
4. Add Movement: After a few repetitions of sitting next to the wall, take a step or two forward and repeat the lure. Once your dog is sitting easily, start to add your cue word, such as “sit,” just before they perform the behavior.
5. Walk and Repeat: Keep this going, walking, sitting, reward, walking.
6. Fading the Wall: As you and your dog walk forward, keep your position alongside the wall. Gradually begin to walk past the end of the wall while tossing in sits. The goal is to reinforce the sit behavior with your dog on your left side even when there’s no wall present. You may need to add in the lure before the sit cue to help your dog get on track. Keep rewarding them for sitting as you walk along, ensuring they feel confident and engaged in the task.

Check out Natsu learning to heel with some sits in heel. Don’t forget to subscribe for more!

Steps to Teach Down in Heel Position

1. Return to the Wall: Once your dog is good at sitting in heel position, return to the wall for down training.
2. Use a Lure Again: From the standing position, hold a treat close to your dog’s nose and lower it down toward the ground, encouraging your dog to follow the treat with their nose to the down.
3. Reward the Down Position: As soon as your dog is lying down, reward them with the treat and praise. If they haven’t learned how to down from a stand, you can watch this video and/or start from a sit then down. But it’s best to start from the stand.
4. Add Movement: After a few successful downs, take a step or two forward and repeat the process. Just like with the sit, introduce your cue word, such as “down,” once your dog is comfortable.
5. Fading the Wall: As you practice down, continue walking alongside the wall then start walking past where the wall ends while asking for the down. This will help your dog understand that they can lie down in heel position without the wall as a guide. Keep rewarding them for downs as you walk along, ensuring they are happy and engaged in the behavior.

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Final Thoughts

Teaching your dog to sit and down in heel position is a rewarding process that builds focus, confidence, and a strong bond between you and your dog. Remember to keep training sessions short and fun, using plenty of rewards and positive reinforcement. With patience and practice, your dog will master these behaviors in no time!