Cindy’s Other Blog

Teaching your dog to stay is imperative not only for his safety, but in order to make him more pleasant to be around as well. However, this is not always as easy as it may seem.

If your dog is misbehaving, the best solution is to assert your alpha status. There are several methods to do this, but one of the most common is frequently telling your dog to “stay.” When you give your dog the command to “stay,” they should not move even when you do. Unfortunately, this is the opposite of what usually happens when this command is said.

First, teach the dog to ’sit’ on command utilizing the word and hand signals. I snap my fingers while flipping my extended index finger at a downward angle toward the ground at the same time. This attracts the dog’s attention without impeding my hands with a clicker. It also indicates the correct direction for the dog’s rear. Astonishingly, it works quite well.

Then with the pup, teen, or adult dog in the sit, I thrust a hand in the dog’s direction, palm first, fingers raised, giving the voice command to ’stay!’ Not shouting, just distinct and audible over other noises. Hand motions should be exact and unique to a certain command/behavior. Take a step back.

Your dog will most likely try to follow you. When this happens, repeat your unique hand gestures for the “sit” and “stay” commands. If your dog continues to follow you, there is a trick to get them to comply with the “sit” command. Hold a treat or one of your dog’s favorite toys in your hand. Slowly move this over your dog’s head until it is a little behind his eyes. Make sure that it is still in your dog’s line of vision. This movement will force your dog’s chin to move up. If your dog chooses to rotate around rather than just moving his chin, move the toy or treat over their head again until he does move his chin up and sits down. Praise your dog and try the “stay” command again.

But, there is more to teaching a dog to stay than just this one step because you want the dog to stay no matter how far away you go. Once the dog will stay when you take 1 step away from him, take two steps. Then take four and then eight. Generally, the more distant you are, the less control you will have over the dog. The dog instinctively wants to follow the alpha (leader), so this may take some practice.

One technique for getting past this is to strap the dog to a collar and long leash or rope. Wrap the leash around a tree or post several feet behind the dog and hold it as you face him or her. As the dog stands and steps forward, pull the rope and use the voice command and hand gesture. Don’t tug so hard that you throw the dog out of balance. Your purpose is to restrain, not punish the dog. A partner can be used instead of a tree, but only as a secondary choice because dogs might get confused about which person to obey.

If your dog lies down after you step away while practicing “stay,” they will not be remaining still and will therefore not be following your command. You will have to have them sit again, and because of this, you will possibly have to teach your dog an “up” and “sit” command combination before you teach your dog to “stay.” Your dog’s breed and individual personality will play a role in how long it will take your dog to learn the “stay” command, but almost all dogs will eventually be able to learn this useful skill.

Have your dog stay for several seconds. Once this has been completed, tell your dog to “come” using a different tone and a unique hand gesture. Make sure that the gesture for “come” is something that you will be able to do without difficulty but that you will never accidentally do during everyday activities. Any gestures that you use for commands should be unique for each type of behavior you are looking for and should just be used when seeking these behaviors from your dog.

Teaching a dog to stay can take a bit of patience, but it is quite important that your pet learn this command. Each time you practice the “stay” command with your dog, make sure that you progressively make the stay longer. You will know that your dog has successfully learned the command when you can go back inside of the house and your dog remains stationary outside. Of course, once you do get to this point, make sure that you release and praise him after a minute.