BY FRAN JEWELL
One of the most difficult but important commands to teach any dog is the self-control of “stay.” Most people seem to try to teach it the same way and have unreliable results.
A few of the problems I see happen include:
Teaching “stay” and “come” together. Most people put a dog in a sit, then walk away, then call the dog to them. What the dog learns is that coming (or breaking the stay) gets him the reward!
Trying to teach a dog to “stay” using sit. A dog will be less likely to break a “stay” if he is in the down position.
Never having an end to the “stay,” so the dog learns to just get up when he is bored. There must be a definite beginning to the stay and a definite end to the stay or the dog makes the decision about getting up, not you.
The dog learns that if he crawls somewhere, that’s okay.
To resolve these problems, try these suggestions:
Never teach “stay” and “come” together. When teaching “stay,” start small – just seconds of staying and then a reward. Then move away slowly – one or two steps at a time. Always return to the dog and reward him for staying. Make the stay more fun than anything.
Never make getting up fun. Ignore your dog once you “release” him: no praise, no pets, no nothing. Just ignore your dog. We want the dog to think that staying in the down is as fun as eating cake and ice cream! All is fun DURING the stay, not after the stay.
Always have a beginning and an ending. Use the word “stay” to begin the exercise, and then use a release word like “release,” “alright,” “free dog,” or “all done.” After you say that magic word, the dog gets nothing else.
Always place your treat reward in exactly the same place ON THE GROUND in front of the dog, between his paws. If the dog learns the treat always comes THERE on that SPOT, he won’t move or creep. If you hand the treat to the dog from your hand, he may get up to get the treat. Always put the treat on the ground in the same place.
Be gradual about teaching stay: short TIMES first, and then short DISTANCES, gradually working up to more. Do the same with distractions. Start in a low-distraction environment and be successful before you ask the dog to stay while there are a bunch of dogs playing nearby. GRADUAL is the word in teaching a reliable stay.
Stay is one of the most useful and life-saving tools any dog can be taught. But, it is not one that comes easily. It takes work and commitment on your part to practice to have the dog learn it reliably. If the dog continually is not reliable, then you are probably asking too much too fast. We all seem to do that!
Fran Jewell is an Idaho Press Club award-winning columnist, IAABC-certified dog behavior consultant, NADOI-certified instructor #1096 and the owner of Positive Puppy Dog Training, LLC, in Sun Valley. For more information, visit www.positivepuppy.com or call 208-578-1565.