Simple Tricks to Teach Your Dog to ‘Stay’
Teaching your dog to stay stationary and not perform any form of action is a difficult task for an animal to understand. Because you are not asking for your dog to actually ‘do’ something, such as ‘sit’ and ‘lie down’, they have to comprehend how to remain still and hold its current position.
How to teach your dog to stay
Start by combining ‘stay’ with another command that your dog already has familiarity with, like the ‘sit’ action. Once your dog sits, don’t immediately rush to praise him, but tell him to ‘stay’ using the same tone you use for other commands. After holding that position for a few seconds reward your dog with praise and a treat. Before praising your dog use a release word, such as trainers use, which may be ‘Okay, good boy/girl!’, or ‘Good, well done!’
Stand close to your dog, as this will help them stay in the position as you are near to them, and they won’t make as much of an attempt to try to get to you. Encourage your dog with body language.
If your dog should break the stay, then go through the process of sitting and staying again. A few seconds at the start of training will suffice and then gradually build up the amount of time your dog remains in the stay position. Always reward with praise, and eventually your dog will understand exactly what you expect of him.
Gradually move further away from your dog and ensure that each ‘stay’ lasts a few seconds longer than the last. After mastering the ‘sit and stay’ command, you will be able to then slowly introduce the ‘stay and down’ command, which will mean your dog will lay down when you require him to.
Mirjam shows people how to deal with dog behavioral problems by offering advice on dog training solutions and other topics.
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