 
One of the things I work on early in training and continue throughout the training process is walking at heel. It is so nice to have a dog that will reliably walk at heel when you are in the field walking to or from a hunting spot. Similarly, when you want to take the dog out for a walk, or go on a run it is nice to have the dog right beside you keying in on you.
One thing I commonly see, is a dog straining at the end of a leash, pulling for all they are worth and their owner bracing themselves trying to control the dog. If there are two things that commonly make a hunting dog and the hunter’s spouse at odds, it is this lack of leash control and jumping up on people. Luckily, these are things that you can cure in short fairly short order.
In order to train the Heel command, the first step is to use a lead that will ride in the correct place, high on the neck, right behind the ears. A collar is important to have on the dog (see post on March 11, To Collar, Or Not? ), however, as far as heeling the dog, they ride too low. They ride down near the base of the neck where the dog has the most pulling power (think of a yoke for horses or a harness for sled dogs – they are placed for maximum pulling). Place the lead right up behind the ears, high on the neck where you have the most control.
I really like the command lead, also called the Wonder Lead from Rick & Ronnie Smith. It looks like a roper’s piggin string, but has a rubber stopper which you adjust to allow the neck opening to spring open to the right size and no larger. This command lead is sized perfectly to stay in the groove behind the ears and skull and in front of the first vertebral process. Other devices that work well are the choke chain, prong collar, and the pinch collar (a flat and wide leather collar with dull spikes on the inside and a spring open metal core).Â
The key is this: think of the leash and collar as a communication device rather than a control device. If you try to simply control the dog by pulling it into position all the time, what you end up with is a constant battle for control (dominance). Also, by allowing the dog to constantly pull, you are inadvertently training the dog that when they are hooked up on a leash, they are supposed to pull. On the contrary, put the lead correctly in position, confidently give the heel command and head out. Keep the lead slack except to pop the lead to communicate to the dog when he is out of position. Early in the training, purposely set the dog up by walking straight for a ways, then when the dog is distracted and starting off on their own tangent, turn 90-degrees and walk away giving the leash a crisp pop again letting the dog know that the are out of position. Establish clear, decisive leadership and the dog will naturally follow.
