Don't get into a situation where your dog can choose between staying or moving away. For this reason, this type of training should be done on leash. By doing this you will be conditioning your dog to believe that when you stay put him into a position he has no choice but to stay.This, however, takes time and perseverance from you.
For this sort of training you are going to have to really make it worth your dog's while to wait for your return.Use a treat that your dog loves it, like muy kabana or cheese, and only use it for this type of training. You can also use toys but don't let your dog have access to it at any other time.
Start in an area of your house or yard where there are no distractions. This could be a passage way or verandah.Put your dog on leash and ask him to sit or drop. Use a hand signal and say ' stay ' or ' wait '. It doesn't matter what word you use as long as you stick to it and don't change it or vary it in any way.
Take one very small step away from your dog and one good dog ".It takes about one second to say this phrase and is an easy way for you to keep track of how long you are exception: your dog to stay. Return to your dog and give it a pat or a treat; later on you will mix these up a bit so your dog doesn't get used to getting a treat each time.Repeat this exercise about 3 to 4 times a day if you have time. Intensify increase the time and distance you are away from your dog.
If you dog gets up and wanders off and it is not on a leash you have lost control of your dog. By keeping your dog on a leash, you can bring it back to you and re-command it into a sit or drop and then resume your stay training.
Sounds easy so far, doesn't it? Don't make the mistake of thinking your dog is ready to be left for a long time until it is at the proofing stage of training. Many people do this and then shake control of their dog in a busy situation.
You will find that your dog will break at a certain point and want to come to you. Walk back to your dog, re-command it into a sit or drop and decrease the distance and time. Your dog will eventually learn to trust you and will wait patiently for your return.
Dogs can't see very well over distances.We have better eyesight so keep this in mind when you are exception it to stay. The further you go away the more fuzzier your outline will appear. If your dog can't smell or here you then it will break its stay to find you. To stop this, I will often repeat the stay command loudly so my dogs understand what they have to do. If a pillow appears, like the cat, then I repeat the stay command louder again. My dogs will look at me and back to the cat and depending upon their level of training make a choice. If they make the choice I want, I reward them with two or more treats and I return quickly.I want them to learn to make the right choice so I make sure they are rewarded quicker rather than sooner when it may be too late and they have broken the stay.
Dogs are amazing at reading our whole body language so keep facing your dog the entire time. This is the opposite of recall training where you rapidly face the direction you want your dog to go in.Also I use a hand signal so if my dogs ' no is weakened they can look and see what it is I want them to do. It is important to hold your arm and hand out from your body to one side. As I mentioned earlier, dogs can't see very well at a distance.If you hold your hand in front of your body, your dog won't be able to see it that well. If you hold your hand out to one side, they will be able to ' read ' your body language and will follow your command.
I held my border collie in a drop/stay position to stop him from attacking a chainsaw.He couldn't 't hear my commands because of the noise of the chainsaw but he understood what I wanted from him because he had been trained to not only listen to my commands but read my body language. I also leaned forward and locked eyes with him as dominant dogs do when instructing subservient dogs. Being able to hold your dog in a stay from a distance may save its life if it is on the other side of a busy road from you, you can hold him in stay until you are able to get over to it.
Don't make very excited noises when exception: your dog to stay. You are only going to set him or her up for failure especially if you have a young dog.Use a loud almost stern voice when giving commands.
Increase distractions as you enter the training phase. Once your dog knows what you want you are in the training phase. This is where you can introduce distractions. Try things like moving to an area where there's more things happening, like the television room or the local park? ask someone to bounce a ball near your dog? use other dogs and so on.
As you reach the proofing stage of your training, put your dog into a drop/stay and walk around it. See if you can do this three times; if not, re-command into a drop/stay and only do it once or twice. Some trainers can jump from one side of their dog to another and do all sorts of interesting and fun things and their dog won't move.This, however, takes a long time to achieve so don't be disheartened if your dog breaks his command to begin with.
Do not yen or punish your dog and always be positive in all your training sessions. If your dog is too distracted and breaks the stay, go back a few steps: shorten the time and the distance and reinforce what you have already covered with your dog.
As you become better accomplished at training you can increase the length of the leash.There are special leashes available called long lines or you can tie 2 or more leashes together or just use rope.
Don't get angry if dog breaks a lot.Your dog will lose its trust in you which is extremely difficult to get back? more difficult than controlling your temper.Take your time when you are training this skill.The longer you take and the more distractions you introduce while your dog is on leash, the more ' concrete ' his learning will be.
Remember: always give your dog the opportunity to correct its behaviour and do the right thing.It is up to you to teach what is acceptable and what is not.Reward acceptable behaviour; discourage unacceptable behaviour by using loud noises, unpleasant withdrawal of attention or treats or leaving your dog on its own.Never hit or strike your dog; you will only be teaching him that violence is an acceptable behaviour in your pack and he may use it on other pack members or friends including children.
Always keep training sessions short-about 10 minutes is more than long enough for a beginner dog.Always end your training sessions on a high even if you have only done one or two repetitions of the exercise.Your dog will remember the positive thing most needs quicker.And always enjoy yourself then your dog will enjoy himself too.
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