Teaching Your Dog to Follow a Lure
Why Use Food — & How To Do It Properly
I’m a big fan of using food in training, especially at the beginning. Accuracy, enthusiasm, repetition — you get all three with food. Yes, your dog might love their ball, but shaping clean movements with a toy is surprisingly awkward unless you’re already pretty experienced.
The placement of a toy lure matters massively. Food gives us far more control, and the dog gets far more reps in a shorter space of time.
Using a dog’s daily food (or a chunk of it) also keeps their weight in check and their motivation high. Food is a great resource — so it makes sense to use it.
Why Luring Matters
A lure is just a piece of food used to guide your dog into a movement or position.
Not a bribe — a guide.
Luring lets you:
Show the dog exactly what earns a reward
Build behaviours faster
Shape static positions (sit, down, stand, heel, middle, etc.)
Shape moving behaviours (heeling, backing up, changing sides, going to a place)
Build clean mechanics before you ever bring toys into the picture
Once your dog understands how to follow your hand, you can create almost any behaviour from that one skill.
How to Lure (Step-by-Step)
Here’s how I teach new clients on session one:
Take one piece of food — kibble is perfect.
Hide it between your thumb and palm, like you’re hiding a coin doing a magic trick.
Cup your hand slightly.
Present your hand to the dog.
You want the dog to push their nose into your cupped hand, trying to access the food.
The moment they make contact, mark (“yes”) and release the food.
Repeat this until the dog confidently presses their nose into your hand. You can now start to increase the time your dog pushes into the hand before the reward is given.
Then start moving the lure slowly as you walk backwards. If the dog takes even one step following it — mark and reward. Build that up: one step, then two, then three.
The goal is simple: nose glued to your hand, with longer nose contact each time before the reward is given and eventually adding in movement.
And yes, you can lure using raw — just use latex (or similar) gloves and a silicone pouch. A zip-lock bag works in a pinch.
What You Can Shape With a Lure
Once your dog follows the lure cleanly, you can guide them into:
A sit exactly where they already are (side, front, behind you — not just running to your feet)
A clean heel position beside you
Middle position between your legs
Transitions between static positions (sit → down → stand)
A tighter, tidier obedience look, if that’s something you ever want to play with
Luring teaches your dog to follow your movement with intent, not guess from a distance.
The Position Matters More Than Most People Think
Most dogs think “sit” means “run to the front of the owner and sit there.” That’s just because that position has been rewarded the most.
But if you lure into the exact position you want, you can teach your dog that sits and downs happen where they already are — including right by your side. That’s crucial for safety around roads, bikes, busy parks, and all the real-world stuff.
A Perfect Example: Crate Training
Luring makes crate training easier, cleaner, and far less dramatic.
You can lure the dog:
Towards the crate
Into the crate
Further inside the crate
Into a down once they’re inside
Back out of the crate
All without pushing, dragging or negotiating.
If you want to know more about crate training and why I dig it, you can check out my previous post on it here.
“Isn’t This Bribing the Dog?”
No — bribery is when you wave food around hoping your dog might listen instead of doing something else.
That’s not what we’re doing.
The dog performs the behaviour first, then the reward happens. The lure simply helps the dog understand the picture.
And once your dog understands leash pressure as well, you can start to fade the food and the dog will still complete the behaviour because they understand the job. There is a bit more finesse to this, but that’s a deeper topic for another day.
Why This Matters Later On
Luring isn’t just about getting a sit or a down. It sets the stage for:
Better timing with your marker
Clearer communication in what you’re asking
Cleaner positioning
Stronger engagement from your dog
A much easier time when you move onto toys
You don’t have to use food forever. But using it now builds the structure that keeps behaviours solid even without food later on.
Personally I always have food on me, but my dog’s behaviour isn’t dependent on it — because the reps have already been done. Day-to-day rewards become more random unless I’m working on something specific.
Teach the picture. Build the behaviour. Fade the help.
Luring is one of the fastest, clearest ways to show a dog what you want. Get good at this and everything else — heeling, recall, crate training, structured walking — all becomes easier.