Teaching your dog how to stay has become more popular than ever. Pets have become very important to many families around the world. It seems like everyone has a dog or pets. People who own dogs spend hours of fun filled fun teaching their pets how to behave.
Dog trainers refer to them as the Three D’s: Duration, Distraction, and Distance. Duration is how long your dog is in the stay command. Distraction is how far away from you dog you actually go. And finally distance is how far away from your dog that you actually go.
In order to teach a dog to stay, you will need to find several ways of varying lengths of time for your dog to remain sitting on cue. You need to be consistent with how long it takes your dog to remain sitting on one command word. This is called a release word. It doesn’t matter if you use the word ‘stay’, ‘down’, or any other variation of it; the dog must remain sitting on the word.
When you begin your training sessions for how to teach a dog to stay, you will use the release word a lot. Your dog should respond to the release word before he gets tired of hearing it. When your dog responds to the release word, offer the command to remain sitting and he should sit. Do not offer the command until your dog has remained sitting on the word. Your dog will quickly become bored and frustrated, and he will not remain sitting on the word any longer.
Try to be as consistent in your training as you can be. If you are having some problems with a training session, make sure you offer the command to stay as many times as possible until the dog responds to it. If you don’t get good response from your puppy, try switching back to the positive note. You may have to do this over a number of days, until your dog does respond to the positive note. Be patient with your dog.
As well as using the release word, another way of getting your dog’s attention is by offering a treat. Pretend that the treat is a ‘bait’ and lure your dog into striking at the treat with his teeth or front paws. Once he tries this command, offer the ‘stay’ command and immediately give him the treat as a reward. This will get your dog’s attention and start the habit of rewarding him for staying on command.
One of the best training tips for how to teach a dog to stay is to use the moving away and staying close commands alternately. By doing this you train your dog that moving away means closing in on an object, whilst still offering the stay command, which is a reaction to moving away. You do not want your dog going running towards something when he only wants to go away from it. Your dog may get confused between the two commands and this could cause him to lose focus and stray off.
One last useful tip is to keep training sessions short but intense. Try and work your dog into a routine, not only to ease the boredom, but to ensure he is learning as quickly as possible. Do not get discouraged if your dog doesn’t immediately learn to stay. You should keep training sessions under a positive note and praise your dog profusely if he performs correctly each time.
If your dog seems to be struggling to stay you should not give up. You may need to add some rewards at this stage. Some good treats to use are goodies like cheese, liver, or chocolate. However, you should not use dog treats as a form of training, as these are distracting and will soon cause your dog to become distracted and stray off.
The final step in how to teach a dog to stay is to use the release word when he has reached his destination. This will link up all the previous commands and your dog should have no problems remembering them. You can use the release word either before or after you have taught the stay command. Also, you must repeat the release word each time you pass over him so that he associates it with movement. Some people prefer to use the release word while others may find it more effective to say the release word when the dog is in their proximity.
In conclusion, I would recommend that you make sure your dog has confidence in you before starting your dog training sessions. Try to avoid using reward based training methods. Try instead to use positive reinforcement techniques and always use the release word when you give your dog treats. Be consistent and remain patient, you will be rewarded.