Heel! How to get your gundog to walk to heel

Anyone who has ever owned a dog will have endured the tiring and exasperating experience of being dragged around the countryside, and shrugged off the -oh-so-funny quips from fellow guns: “So who’s walking who here, then?” However, heel work is a hallmark of a well-trained dog, and helps to underpin many other aspects of your dog’s behaviour and performance in the field. Ideally, you shouldn’t need to be holding your dog back with a lead on, but be confident that the dog will walk calmly to heel without the need for the lead at all. This is especially important if you're walked-up shooting, where a lead is impractical, and don't want your dog to flush birds, or if you're in the beating line and don't want the faff of a lead in thick cover. I spoke to Ben Randall, co-founder of the Gundog App and champion gundog trainer, to get some hot tips on how to get your dog to walk nicely to heel.

A strong relationship for perfect heel work

According to Ben, the relationship between dog and handler is the foundation for all training. Specifically, when it comes to heel work, it helps if the dog wants to be around you and with you. “ This can be established around feed times,” says Ben, “so the dog sees you as a reward if it responds correctly.” Like so many guns, the way to a dog’s heart is through its stomach! You can then use this positive association to start introducing the lead.  Ben explains: “Start by introducing the lead at feed times, so now the lead also has a positive association for the dog. You can then start doing your feeding routine with the dog on the lead, either with the end of the lead on the floor or in your hand.” 

Once your dog is comfortable with the lead, you can begin using it to manoeuver him/her around the room. “As the videos on the Gundog App demonstrate,” says Ben, “you can start by holding the lead in the “heel position”, with the food in your right hand over your left knee. Using this Get the dog to follow you in different directions. The key focus is to have the dog connected to you and the food.  Once the dog has performed this heel work to your satisfaction, the dog gets its reward: dinner!”

Although Ben recommends that you begin this work fairly early, while your dog is still a puppy, there’s no reason that you can’t use this technique with older dogs. “Now that you have established this four-way relationship - between dog, owner/handler, lead and food, you need to maintain this practice for a while, at least a month, so that it becomes a new way of life,” advises Ben.  

Using the “heel” command

According to Ben, the heel command is how you let the dog know to follow you, but it is vital that you don’t use the command at the wrong moments. “It is important only use “heel” as you change direction,  that the dog associates the word with following you as you change direction,” he says. Once your dog is walking nicely alongside you, with the lead on and the end of the lead in your hand, you can begin to slowly phase out the lead. “Wrap lead around the dog’s neck a few times. This makes sure that he still feels connected to you without you holding the lead.” This is an important step, and one that makes the transition from walking to heel on the lead to walking to heel without the lead less of a jump. 

Walking to heel without the lead

The final stage in this training plan is to remove the lead altogether, but don’t be tempted to rush ahead, warns Ben. “Keep using the lead-around-the-neck technique until you’re really confident that the dog understands what you expect. Only at this point should you remove lead.” When making this final step, you need to communicate to the dog that you still expect it to be walking with you. You can do this, says Ben, by holding the lead in your hand near the dog’s head. “Once the dog has this message, you can leave the lead behind and simply tap your left leg with leg with your hand and say ‘heel’.”

A calm environment for training

While the temptation may be to get out on the shooting field and practice this immediately, the best thing, says Ben, is to carry out all of this, at least to begin with, in an area without too many distractions. Only when you are confident that the dog understands the “heel” command and will obey, should you start adding in destractions and practicing in different areas.

Older dogs

While the above technique is best used for puppies, some older dogs can develop “pulling issues”, while some never picked up the heel work in the first place. The practice outlined above can also work with these dogs, but patience will be needed in order to overcome the ingrained bad habits.

For more information and advice on heelwork and all aspects of gundog training, the Gundog App provides an enormous library of training videos, so you can carry a champion gundog trainer in your pocket for every training session, and even in the field. The app also offers members the chance to put specific training questions to Ben in monthly webinars in which Ben answers questions from app users.

Sign up for your 7-day free trial