Food Luring 🍖

🐾 The foundation for your future heelwork

Food luring is one of the most important steps in the entire setup because it teaches your dog where and how to walk later on.

The way your dog follows the food hand now will strongly influence how your heelwork looks later. So it is worth spending enough time on this step and building it carefully.

🤲 Hand position matters

The beginning stays the same as before:

➡️ Go to your training area
➡️ Put on your usual training equipment
➡️ Let your dog activate you
➡️ Then start the food luring

The difference is that your food hand no longer moves freely around. Instead, it stays on your left side, roughly along the trouser seam, where you want your dog to heel later.

You can adjust the height slightly depending on your dog.

The goal is a comfortable but nicely stretched posture, with the dog carrying his head up without being forced into an unnatural position.

💡 Tip: Film yourself during training. Heelwork often looks completely different from above than it does from the side, and video helps you judge the position much more objectively.

🔥 Keep it short and motivating

Especially in the beginning, less is more.

5–10 steps, maximum around 15 steps, are completely enough.

The dog should learn that these short sequences are exciting and fun:

➡️ Build energy before the exercise
➡️ Do a short, focused food-luring sequence
➡️ Celebrate and reward again afterwards

This way, you are not only shaping the position but also building the motivation and attitude you want later in heelwork.

Food luring should never feel like a chore – it should feel like a game.

🎮 Think of your hand like a joystick

One common mistake is keeping the hand too close to the leg.

Your hand can stay at trouser-seam height without being glued to your body. If your dog's rear end starts swinging out, check whether your hand is too close or positioned incorrectly.

Your hand works almost like a joystick:

✅ Move it slightly inward or outward
✅ Move it slightly forward or backward
✅ Observe how your dog's position changes

Even very small movements can completely change the picture.

💡 Every dog is built differently, so there is no single perfect hand position for everyone.

Experiment, film yourself and, if possible, let another person or trainer watch you from the outside.

🐕 Take your time with this step. A clean hand position and a motivated dog now will make your later heelwork much easier and much more enjoyable.