Teaching your dog tricksPart of · Teaching your dog tricks

Directions on a walk: right, left and about-turn

Q: Can I use "about-turn" to avoid another dog?

Yes, to calmly steer a dog who's already following you: it changes your route with no tension. But it's not a recall: if your dog bolts towards the trigger, it's a recall you need, not a direction. And genuine reactivity to encounters is worked on with a professional.

8 min read

Why this trick is easy and genuinely useful

Good news: on the dog's side, there's almost nothing physical to learn. He already walks with you and already changes course as he follows you. All the work is associative: attaching a word to a change of direction he already makes naturally, carried by the bond between you. The real challenge lies elsewhere, in his head: telling apart three little words that sound alike, and doing so in the most distracting setting there is, the walk. That's why we take it slowly, one word after another.

In everyday life, it really pays off. At a fork in the path, your dog walking a few metres ahead takes the right route on a single word, without you having to call him back. A dog coming the other way, a bike, a noisy group: a calm "about-turn" changes your route with no tension, no shouting, no lead pulling tight. And the more you use a direction for simple changes of course, the more your recall keeps all its value for the moments that truly matter.

Prerequisite: natural following already in place, that moment when your dog glances over and matches your route without you saying a word. That's what provides the movement the words then settle onto. If that foundation isn't there, go back and work on natural following first: without it, you'd be naming thin air.

The progression, step by step

Micro-sessions woven into the walk, not a classroom drill. Just one new word at a time, a few turns per walk, and we let each word settle before adding the next.

Step 1 / 6

Le chien suit spontanément tes virages, sans que tu parles.
- Off-lead walk in a safe, permitted spot
- Watch: does your dog follow your changes of direction without a word?
- If not, go back to natural following (and a long line if needed) before naming anything
Move on when: Il se cale sur tes trajectoires de lui-même.
Le mot le plus contrasté (inversion complète du cap), donc le plus facile à isoler.
- Walk in a straight line, then turn around while saying "about-turn" at the exact moment you pivot
- Reward when the dog comes back level with you, in the new direction
- If he doesn't follow, do the about-turn at a jog: the movement becomes clear, cheerful, impossible to miss
Move on when: Le chien pivote dès le mot et l'amorce du corps, sur plusieurs balades.
Installer une seule direction, quelques virages par balade.
- Straight line, turn right while saying "right" right as you take the turn
- Reward the dog who follows into the new direction
- One direction at a time: we don't touch "left" yet
Move on when: Le chien bifurque avec toi dès le mot, sur plusieurs balades.
Deux mots distincts, pas une séquence apprise par cœur.
- Same work, once "right" is nicely stable
- Only now do the two words share a walk, alternating unpredictably
Move on when: Droite et gauche répondent chacune à son mot, dans n'importe quel ordre.
Vérifier que le chien répond au mot, pas seulement à ton corps qui tourne.
- Announce the word half a step before you turn
- Gradually reduce the body cue: a later, more subtle turn
Move on when: Le chien amorce le virage sur le mot seul, toi encore en ligne droite.
La passerelle naturelle vers le travail à distance.
- Dog a few metres ahead, say the direction as you approach a fork
- At first you turn too, then less and less
Move on when: À une fourche, le chien devant prend la direction annoncée.

Directions mastered

The classic pitfalls (and why they're not your fault)

If your dog seems to pick at random or only reacts to your body, you've done nothing wrong: these are the normal stages of this trick. For a long while, your dog follows your body turning, not your word. It's not cheating on his part: dogs read our body cues first, and that's actually a feat of social reading (it's the "Clever Hans" effect, described by Pfungst back in 1907). The word only becomes independent once the body cue is faded out. Let's press on.

The mistakes that slow learning down

Launching all three words in the same week: your dog, swamped by "right", "left" and "about-turn", tells none of them apart. One word at a time.
Saying the word too early or too late: fired three steps before the turn or once the turn is done, it's no longer glued to the action, and the association doesn't form.
Repeating the word on a loop ("right, right, RIGHT"): it saturates the dog and drains the word of its meaning. One word, once, at the moment of the turn.
Testing right/left from the very first days: you end up with a dog who picks at random. Each word settles on its own before sharing a walk with the other.
Using it as a recall on a dog who's bolting: the direction steers a connected dog, it won't bring back a dog who's already gone.
Rewarding absent-mindedly: the reward comes when the dog is engaged in the new direction, level with you, not thirty seconds later, and not for a turn he didn't follow.

Am I ready to get started?

Yes, the time is right

My dog follows me naturally on a walk, without me speaking to him
We have a safe, permitted spot to go off-lead
I feel like taking it in small touches, with no pressure for results

Not yet, let's shore things up first

My dog goes off far and doesn't keep an eye on where I am: natural following isn't there yet
I have to shout or call constantly to get him back: we work on that first
My dog reacts strongly to passing dogs and people: that's environmental management, work for a trainer or a behaviourist, not this trick

All along, your voice is enough: a short marker word ("yes!", "that's it") tells your dog "well done, that's exactly it" at just the right instant, followed by the reward. No gadget needed. And everything is built through positive reinforcement, with no lead pulling and no power struggle (AVSAB, 2021).

AVSAB — Position Statement on Humane Dog Training (2021)
Pfungst, O. — Clever Hans : la lecture des indices corporels involontaires (1907)

To go further

guideWorking at a distanceThe natural next step: positions and send-aways far from you.Read the guide guideTurn and twistThe spin in both directions, on a small flick of the finger.Read the guide guideWeaving through your legsA pure trick of togetherness in motion.Read the guide

Frequently asked questions

How do I teach my dog to turn right and left?

You put a word on a turn he already makes as he follows you. Start with "about-turn" (the most contrasting), then "right", then "left", just one at a time. You say the word right as you take the turn, you mark it with a "yes!" and you reward when he follows into the new direction.

How do I teach my dog the about-turn on a walk?

Walk in a straight line, turn around while saying "about-turn" at the exact moment you pivot, and reward when he comes back level with you. If he doesn't follow, do the about-turn at a jog: the movement becomes cheerful and impossible to miss. Go back to a normal pace once he's joining in.

How do I direct my dog off-lead during a walk?

It rests first on natural following: your dog follows you and keeps an eye on you without you speaking. Once that foundation is there, the directions "right", "left" and "about-turn" let him take the right course on a single word, even a few metres ahead of you.

My dog follows my body but not the word, is that normal?

Yes, completely, and you've done nothing wrong. Dogs read our body turning first, before they grasp the word (it's the Clever Hans effect, Pfungst 1907). To make the word independent, announce it half a step before you turn, then gradually reduce your body cue.

Can I use "about-turn" to avoid another dog?

Yes, to calmly steer a dog who's already following you: it changes your route with no tension. But it's not a recall: if your dog bolts towards the trigger, it's a recall you need, not a direction. And genuine reactivity to encounters is worked on with a professional.

From what age can I teach directions on a walk?

As soon as natural following is in place, which can start early. It's a ground-level trick, with no jumping or impact, so no worry for the joints of a growing puppy. A few turns per walk are plenty, without ever turning the walk into a classroom drill.

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