Since I AM a dog trainer, I thought my blog should have a few posts about training. Just some little tips and blurbs for those of you who might be interested. I thought I would start with getting your dog to “stay” in a particular position or place.
First of all, I believe all training needs to be done in “baby steps”. When we train in small increments, we make it easier for the dog to be successful, and it is our JOB to help the dog be successful. They don’t learn anything from failure - they learn from success.
Before you start to train a duration exercise (sit/stay, or down/stay) you will need to decide on a release word for your dog. That will be what lets him know that the exercise is over, and he is no longer required to “stay”. The word you use doesn’t matter, as long as it’s easy for you to remember, and you can use it consistently. (I generally recommend not using “OK” as your release; use something a little more unique, that you wouldn’t typically use in your everyday language).
Often when people start to train this exercise, I will see them put their dog on a “stay”, back away a few steps and then call the dog to them. This is very confusing for him. Pretty soon the dog anticipates being called, and thinks, “Well, I’ll just go ahead and get up now because they’re going to call me in a minute anyway”. Seems like a perfectly logical and rational thought to me.
To help clarify to the dog what you want, I recommend using two different commands: Stay vs. Wait
When I use the word “stay”, I mean “plop your butt down and don’t move until I come back to you”. Train the stay so that your dog NEVER gets up until you are next to him, and release him. That makes the command pretty clear. He is NEVER to move on his own from a “stay”.
Once your stay is really solid, THEN you can start working on the “wait” command. “Wait” means, “plop your butt down and don’t move until I call you”. (And don’t forget to use your release word first). It is a totally different exercise from “stay”.
Using these two different commands will help your dog to distinguish between when he can get up and when he can’t.
Happy Training!
Oops! I meant THIS!!
