Bichons are a "soft" dog, with feelings and a spirit that can easily be broken.  They are also reputed to be stubborn and hard to train.  In reality, they have distinct personalities that must be accommodated.

Analyze the situation if your Bichon is resistant to learning basic commands and figure out how to get his attention.  As a one-time circus entertainers, it is in the Bichon's nature to learn and repeat an action, like "waving", that earns him applause.  Walking beside you in heel may not make sense to your dog, so you must give him a logical reason-rewards and praise- for doing it correctly.

Positive training works best for the Bichon.  If you want a more formalized training, I highly recommend the Pinoy Dog Whisperer Mr. Fred Alimusa.  Sir Fred as he is fondly called, trained "me" so I'd know how to train my two Bichons Chloe and Colette and my Aspin Birthday.  You can reach him at his mobile # 09217328936