After working through Part 1, your dog understands how to line up at your side, take a step forward with you, and stop when you stop. Now that you have this foundation in place, you can add more steps, and teach him to stay with you around distractions.
Increasing steps/Decreasing rewards
This should still be done in your home or back yard, so that it is easy for your dog to focus.
Get your dog into heel position with your hand signal and/or verbal cue.
Take 2-3 steps forward instead of just 1. (Encourage your dog to keep going forward if needed, with a kissy noise or by wiggling your fingers.)
Reward your dog as he’s moving with you or catching up with you.
Take another 2-3 steps forward, and reward.
Start changing things up. Sometimes you take a few steps forward, and sometimes you stop and reward your dog for staying at your side and waiting.
Over time, increase the number of steps you take, but keep it unpredictable. (For example, 3 steps, 4 steps, stop for 5 seconds, 3 steps, stop for 2 seconds, 5 steps, 6 steps, 2 steps, stop for 5 seconds.)
Adding distractions
Your dog will learn best if you practice around controlled distractions in your home or back yard before you try heeling in public. Controlled distractions are ones that you purposefully create for your dog’s training session, and you can make them easier or harder as needed.
Examples of controlled distractions are:
Toys, treats, chews, or other interesting objects set out on the ground.
Another person walking around, either calmly (easier) or doing interesting things like tossing a ball and catching it (harder).
Another person running around or being silly. The more exciting or unexpected their movement, the harder it is for your dog to focus on you.
Another pet walking around the area (easier) or playing or getting treats from a family member (harder).
A remote controlled car or robot toy moving or making noises. (Note: You shouldn’t use anything that your dog is nervous/afraid of as a distraction - only things that are interesting or exciting. If your dog is nervous, use desensitization and counter-conditioning to help him feel calm and confident around that object.)
Your goal is that your dog is able to notice the distraction, then refocus on you and continue heeling.
Initially you can reward your dog as soon as he notices the distraction. Make a connection between “something is happening in the environment” and “my person gives me yummy treats.” Repeat several times.
Then let your dog notice the distraction, and wait for him to look back at you on his own, because he is expecting a treat. Reward when he refocuses. This is the Engage-Disengage Game in action. Repeat until your dog is quick to look back at you after glancing at the distraction.
At this point, you can stop rewarding your dog for glancing at the distraction, and only reward him if he stays focused on you.
Troubleshooting
If your dog leaves your side to investigate the distraction, immediately call him back, and reward him for returning to you. Then make the distraction easier, until he’s mastered it (step 3 above).
If at any point your dog is unable to refocus on you, that means that your distraction is too hard. Make it easier.
You can make the distractions easier by:
Increasing your distance from them
Having them move less
Having them make less noise
The more you practice with a variety of controlled distractions, letting your dog master each one, the better prepared he will be to heel with you out in public.
