Chapter 6
🐾 Work your way up step by step
If three steps are working well, you can now gradually build up to 10 steps.
You do not need a separate training plan for every single number. Instead, simply add one step at a time and check after each increase:
➡️ Does the heelwork still look the way I want it to?
➡️ Is the dog still in the correct position?
➡️ Or did I move too fast and need to go back a step?
The goal is to keep the same clean picture while slowly increasing the distance.
🚶 Slow and stiff is completely fine
Once you reach 10 steps, you may notice that you are still walking:
✅ quite slowly
✅ relatively stiffly
✅ without much arm movement
That is completely fine.
Arm swing, more speed, a looser walking style and phasing out the hand will all come later.
For now, the only goal is to build a clean and reliable foundation over 10 steps.
⚠️ Do not rush the next steps
Even if 10 steps suddenly feel easy, do not immediately:
❌ walk faster
❌ swing your arms more
❌ change several things at once
Those elements will be added later.
First, we want the position to stay stable and clean.
🎯 A big milestone
Once your dog can complete 10 clean steps, you have already done one of the hardest parts of the entire heelwork setup.
The later steps — including phasing out the hand — usually become much easier if you have built this part properly.
💡 The work you invest here really pays off later.
In the next chapter, we will take another look at where your heelwork should be at this point before moving on.