Mary Allen
A dutifully waiting dog is useful in many situations and provides security. This is how you teach your wagging tail the command “stay”.
In everyday life, it is useful in many situations when the dog sits on command and stays in the desired place. If you want to peek out from between parked cars to see if you can cross the street, it’s useful if the wagging tail waits patiently on the curb. Even if he has to wait in front of the bakery until the Sunday rolls are bought, the “stay” command is practical. But how do you teach your four-legged friend to stay put? That’s how it’s done:
Basic obedience
Before you can ask your dog to stay seated, it is clear that he must master the “sit” command. This lesson is fundamental to dog training and should be followed by every dog.
The first steps
With the “Stay” command, you literally have to proceed step by step. Have your dog sit. Then stand in front of him. Raise one hand, palm it out towards your pooch and clearly say “stay” (or whatever command you want to use for staying practice, but it should always be the same).
Now slowly take a small step backward, i.e. away from your dog. While doing this, remain facing him head-on and also keep your hand up and out towards him. If he wants to follow you, lean your weight slightly toward him, wait until he’s relaxed, and say “stay” again.
Reconciliation
Immediately after taking the one step back, take a step forward toward your dog so that you are back in the starting position. If your dog has waited obediently while sitting, put your hand down and praise him.
Praise wisely
It is important that you do not immediately burst into joy when you return to the dog, but rather calmly (plenty of praise for this). Over-excited joy will add agitation to the exercise, and you also run the risk of tempting your dog to jump out of the seat without your prompting. The risk of this is particularly great in young, impetuous dogs. You also risk giving such positive feedback on the “sit and stay” exercise that you make it unnecessarily difficult for your dog to wait calmly and calmly, as the anticipation of your praise is driving the proverbial bumblebees up its butt. Quiet praise, which of course doesn’t have to be less affectionate, is a better choice here.
At a greater distance
If your dog sits calmly, you can slowly increase the distance. Then don’t just take one step away from him, but two, later three, etc. However, only increase the number of steps if your dog is waiting completely calmly. If you want too much too quickly, you risk the previous training success.
Behind your back
If you can move several steps away from your tail wag and it stays put, you should move on to the next step. Don’t face your dog anymore, turn your back to him. You will see that this makes an enormous difference once again. A dog that doesn’t feel like it’s being watched acts completely differently than when you let your gaze rest on it.
Again, start slowly and take small, literal steps: take a step away, turn around, and walk back to the dog. If this works well, gradually increase the distance as described above. If, after a few weeks of training, your dog still sits and waits obediently when you are twenty or thirty meters away from him without looking at him, you have done everything right.
Extra lesson for professionals
If step 6 works absolutely reliably for you, modify the exercise so that you don’t walk away in the direction of your dog’s gaze, but also go in the other direction, i.e. behind his back.
This is actually the supreme discipline as most dogs here tend to look after their owners. If the head doesn’t reach far enough, many animals move around briefly to be able to watch their master or mistress better. Strictly speaking, that shouldn’t happen. Therefore, also approach this exercise in very small steps and give your dog a chance to slowly learn the behavior that you want from him.
Consistency brings security
Consistency and clarity in training not only make life much easier for you, but also for your dog. You should therefore insist that your dog remains seated after your return until you have given it a free command (e.g. “Run!”) or another command.
If you allow your dog to decide for itself when to get up after a well-executed lesson, you risk unnecessary danger. You want e.g. For example, don’t precede the road to see if it’s clear, return to your dog, who then runs into the road without command. Consistency is the be-all and end-all and the key to more security.
With enough rest and perseverance, your darling will learn the important commands very quickly. So you can be on the road together with a good feeling.