Training Stay

[spyke88]

so our 8mo pup is a smarty pants for the most part.. well i think so anyway... we recently got her from the pound with NO training. she's very timid when out and about and we'll be heading to check out our local obedience club tomorrow.

what i want to know is how on earth do i teach her to stay.

i've tried what most of the websites say with getting her into drop or sit and stepping back etc but as soon as i move a foot or toe or arm she;s up and walking towards me. she's learnt drop and sit brilliantly so much so that she will go purely off hand signals now, she's picking up 'leave it' pretty fast.. we just cant get a hand of stay.

any suggestions would be appreciated

[megan_]

Does she have a release word?

[Tentapride]

You may be moving too fast for her. Start by getting her to understand that she needs to hold her position first for longer than a few seconds. I have an 8mo as well and I am teaching him to hold positions and to wait. I am doing this by withholding the reward until he has held a position for 5 seconds approx and then I will increase this time. I am teaching 'wait' with his dinner. He is highly food motivated so its not so easy for him to look at his dinner and not eat it instantly. I do this by putting him in a sit position and I hold his collar then put the food down about a foot away. I tell him to wait and correct his sit position if he breaks until he has held it for a few seconds. From this I plan to be able to decrease my involvement in holding him and then increase the time he must hold his position before he gets dinner. Once he understands what 'wait' means Iwill then start moving slightly and returning so that he learns to stay. But first things first he needs to learn what 'wait' or 'stay' means.

[Ben and Jerry]

my guy was always abit funny with stays too but now he is alot more stable. When you say stepping back do you mean a step or two or moving say a couple meters back? How i got taught to do my stays was give your command and take one step infront of the dog so feet to paws for a short period of time. Once she is comfortable with that you can increase the duration and distance but when you plan on doing a greater distance only do it for a short duration until you have her comfortable with being at range from you (this was where i use to have trouble with my boy he couldnt be to far away from me). Also look at varying each stay as some dogs can be to smart for there own good and work out when the stay should be over. Besure to also vary when you release her so once you return wait and then release her and if she does well remember lots of treats or play with her favourite toy :D.

How is she when you return behind her, would she stay still or want to move around with you? If she moves around you can work on return behinds seperately and again when she is comfortable with them introduce them to your stays.

Just remember she may have off days if she does look at doing the basics for it again so you don't get frustrated and still set her up for success .

That's how i was taught my stays hopefully it's somewhat helpful to you

[corvus]

'Feed the position'. I would rapid fire treats to her while she's in the right position for maybe 3-5 seconds, then release her with a release word and stop the treats. The rapid fire treats in the right position will get it in her head that it's a good position to be in, and releasing when you stop the treats will act as a "bar closed" cue and tell her she can move, now. It shouldn't take long before you can reduce the reward rate, or perhaps still do the rapid fire rewards for a few seconds, but wait another second before you release her. Slow the rewards down, but only if her position is steady and she doesn't look like she's about to pop up again.

I don't really teach a 'stay' anymore. I use release words and teach them that they stay in the position they've been asked to take until I release them or give them another cue. Look up "It yer choice" or "dog's choice" or "doggy zen" for help with that approach if you want to use it instead.

[Kavik]

How long have you had her? You may be trying to go too fast especially if you have only just gotten her and she is still settling in and learning the rules. Can she stay in position for a while if you remain still? Duration before distance before distraction. And I agree with rewarding in position.

[sheena]

I taught my BC pup to stay by using his dinner. First time I fed him, I showed him the food dish & held it away from him till he offerred "sit", then I immediately clicked & put it on the floor for him to eat. Next meal, same thing, but this time he had to sit a little longer while I lowered the dish a bit further, before I clicked & quickly put it on the floor. Each time getting a little closer to the floor, making sure I rewarded him BEFORE he had a chance to break. It only took a few goes, before I could lower the dish slowly right to the floor while he waited. Then dish on floor, puppy waiting 2 seconds etc, then next time a bit longer. About this time I introduced his release word. Of course if he moved at all during any of this, the dish was quickly removed. It only took about a week & I had him sitting (without asking) & putting his dish down several metres from him, with the other dog hovering (behind a barrier), me doing all sorts of dances & talking to the fairies for up to 30 seconds & he would wait rock solid till I released him. He is now 7 months old & I can put him in a wait, stay 40 meters away & for at least two minutes. I must add, that as well as his food, he was taught from day one, to wait to be released from his crate, through a door, gate etc. I NEVER let him break his stay, if he does, which is rare, he gets put back. He has the most amazing start-line-stay with his agility foundation work, with a speedy release.

[sheena]

Here is a video showing the result of "shaping" our puppy to stay, rather than using physical means like holding collar or tying up. He is 7 months & yes, I know he is a BIG puppy

[spyke88]

thanks guys i'll try getting her to hold her position for longer generally as long as i don't move she'll stay in it for around 5 seconds so i'll work on getting that longer. we have only had her a few weeks and she is only my second dog so i'm still very much learning as i go. my other boy came partially trained and we mainly had to work on issues caused by his prior abuse - fear of men, cigarettes hose etc etc etc etc. thanks for the tips - and the vid. CUTE.

[becks]

I don't use stay, just the name of the position (sit, down, stand), I always use a release word once they understand the concept. In early training I use a clicker - it gives the dog a very clear sound to indicate end of exercise and treat is on the way.

A lot of training is done with getting the dog excited about what they are doing so they are focused, but stays we want the opposite, a calm and relaxed dog. Using a clicker allows me to use gentle strokes and an occasional treat as a reward during the stay and the dog doesn't think the stay is ended just because i have moved towards them, that only ends with the click or 'OK' and a big change in my attitude from calm/quiet to excited. You can also then throw the treat after the OK so the dog knows they can now move.

Start off slowly, if they break the stay because you have waited to long then pop them back into position in the same spot and do a shorter stay and really reward that one.

This is something I do for 'kettle training' ie I practise these basics while waiting for the kettle to boil - keeps the session short and sweet and it can be done several times a day. You then really can see progress happen quite fast.