I have recently started doing a bit of on lead training during my off lead walks (if that makes sense...) I have always been an advocate for keeping a dog off lead as much as poss and still am but I needed to do a bit of individual work with each of my dogs. Since we got Louie, walking them both on the lead has been a bit difficult, they both seem to be jockeying for position and trying to 'lead' eachother...

So I was putting them on the lead one at a time for about 10 mins at a time. After a while, while Florence was on the lead, Louie started trotting alongside us. Some dogs were coming up the path in front and he stayed close. Very proud of them but was thinking... Is there a way I can train this into them so they learn to do it on command? As in staying close to my side as if they're on a lead but not... Obv not as a substitute for leads but say for example when the weathers bad or I want to avoid a dog or just keep them close for any reason. How would I go about rewarding Louie when he walks alongside us (he seems to be doing it automatically) and how would I go about training Florence to do it too? (She hasn't done it yet.)

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Teach heel and teach close.
Heel for walking alongside you on leash and "close" when you want them close to you at heel off leash. If they go to far ahead of you and you need to let them know, teach "that'll do" and they shouldn't stray to far in front.