Luring is using a piece of food to guide your puppy's movement in a particular direction. Think of the food like a little magnet for your puppy's nose – they follow the food with their nose, which allows you to guide their body.
Luring is a useful foundation skill because it can later be used to help teach lots of other behaviours.
Start with a small piece of food held between your fingers, with your thumb covering the food. This allows your puppy to smell the food and follow your hand, but prevents them from immediately taking it.
Begin with very small movements. Move your hand slightly away from your puppy and, as they follow the food, use your marker word "yes" and then release the treat.
The aim is for your puppy to learn:
Follow the hand → hear "yes" → get the food.
Keep the food at the right height
Try to keep the food around your puppy's head height.
If the food is held too high, your puppy may start jumping up towards it. If it is too low, they may drop their head towards the floor rather than following your hand naturally.
Keeping it at a comfortable height makes it easier for your puppy to follow.
Once your puppy is happily following the food in a straight line, start introducing slightly different directions.
You can gently guide them:
Keep the movements slow and easy for your puppy to follow.
At first, your puppy may try to mouth or grab the food. This is completely normal. Keep the food covered by your thumb and wait for them to follow your hand rather than allowing them to take it immediately.
As they begin to understand the game, they should start following your hand more smoothly and waiting for the "yes"before accessing the food.
Keep sessions easy
When introducing luring, you don't need to practise for a long time. A few successful repetitions are enough.
Start with simple movements and gradually make things a little more challenging as your puppy becomes more confident.
The aim at this stage isn't to teach a finished behaviour. You're simply teaching your puppy that following your hand is worthwhile and that your marker word predicts access to the food.
Luring is a really useful foundation skill. Once your puppy understands how to follow your hand, you can use this movement to help introduce and teach many other behaviours in the future.
For now, concentrate on making it easy, keeping the food at a comfortable height and rewarding your puppy for following your hand.
Have a go
Practise a few short repetitions with your puppy and see if they can follow the food as you gently move your hand in different directions.
Once they're beginning to follow your hand easily, you have the first building block for using luring to teach other behaviours.
