Stay

Today's blog post will be focusing on teaching stay. I'll be using a twelve-weeks-old Keeshond puppy as a test subject because little Tallinn will be more fun than theoretical troubleshooting and she's more than a little photogenic.

What to do
First, have the dog sit and tell them firmly (but kindly) to stay. Personally, I like to have dogs on hand signals too so paired with the "stay" position your hand as depicted in the picture below with my dog, Razza.

Granted hand motions do not mean that much to little puppies who are really just starting to learn. With Tallinn, I just said "stay" and took a step (or two) away then went back to reward her with a treat.

Tallinn was actually great at picking up stay given she doesn't really know sit or down yet. I found that rushing away while she was busy chewing her last piece of treat worked wonders because she was too distracted to care.

After the dog starts staying semi-reliably start to add a release word like "okay" to free the dog before rewarding them. For most dogs this is more than a few sessions into learning what "stay" means so feel free to wait to introduce it.




Troubleshooting
In the future, I would consider trying having a second person hold the dog to give a more excitable dog a better chance at staying to be rewarded. Just teaching the concept of staying in one place is difficult in the beginning so it's just not worth it (unless your dog already knows either sit or down) to discriminate as long as they're staying roughly in the same space.

Tallinn's Best Attempt at Stay

Note: Tallinn was already quite tired from an earlier long dog walk.

Come

Many prefer to train "stay" before "come", but teaching a dog to come when called is simply a lot easier to do than making a young dog sit still for any length of time.

I like to train a dog or young puppy to come by having two people a few feet apart sitting on the ground. Have one person hold the dog while the other calls the dog, and squeaks a toy or offers treats. Next have person one release the dog and watch as the dog travels to person two. Person two will then need to reward the dog with praise, treats or a toy.

If the dog is older, or already knows how to stay on command then having two people isn't really necessary, but taking a different command out of the situation makes it easier for the dog to focus.


Helpful Links
Video of training stay and come
Alternative verbal method
Alternative which turns training into a game

Update: July 7th, 2014
Did this activity with 12 weeks old Tallinn today and it was a lot of fun!

Not only did she learn that coming to people is a good thing (we tried to pair it with the word "come"), but she was very tired and slept for hours afterward (our favorite part).

Down

Now that you've theoretically been practicing sit with your dog every day for more than a week, let's go ahead and introduce down. Training your dog to lay down is interesting because (in my experience) 50% of dogs want to lay down and be mentally checked out, the other 50% would much rather obstinately operate on selective hearing and well not lay down.

Much like I explained in my "The Sit" post, this is a command that different trainers all have different approaches and opinions on. Dog obedience instructors I've had despise the use of food in introducing a command because they usually think it's distracting. Personally, I want my extremely food-driven dog to think of laying down on command fondly. Praise will work just fine if your dog is attentive and listens well.

To begin with have the dog sit next to you in a heeling position. Then take your right hand and step in front of the dog and squat down and hover your flat hand in front of the dog about a half foot above the ground.

Kneel down with the dog while saying "down" (if you want the dog to be on a verbal cue...you can just stick with the visual hand signal). When the dog lays down completely reward him/her.

Other sets of instructions for how to train your dog to lay down are Dog Training Central and Petplace. For trouble shooting I recommend visiting The Dog Guide.

Puppies Update
The 2.5 week old litter has their eyes open and are starting to play and develop personalities.

Heel

There's a lot to be said for being able to take your dog for a walk and not have to deal with pulling or lagging. Towards the end of this post I'll include a couple photos of the now four day old puppies.

Training

When it comes to teaching your dog to heel I've found that it's all about practice. All one really needs to start the process is a leash and some motivating treats. Personally, I would recommend a chain collar and a non-extending leash because leashes that extend make no sense when you want the dog to stay by your side and the chain collar if you don't abuse it and hurt the dog is good for small corrections.

Given my background in AKC dog performance events I have the dog always on my left because that's just what is accepted. If your dog is a companion dog the side which the dog heels on doesn't really matter, just in my case I see no point having the dog heel on a side which I don't want them to in competition (aside from agility).

All you need to do is hold the leash in your hand (attached to the dog's collar obviously) with a little looseness. Think of the looseness as a little slack for the dog to miss a step occasionally. Some people with stronger dogs will need to hold the loose part of the leash in their other hand so as to maintain control while the dog is still learning.

Otherwise just reward your dog when they are doing what you want them to. I would do some figure 8s and turn a lot so your dog gets use to having to watch you for direction.

Puppies
My dog's great niece's 5 puppies were born Thursday the 10th. They're all spoken for and going to great homes.

The Sit

Training a dog to sit is one of those basic obedience commands. Sometimes the training process for sitting is quick--other times not so much. 

Know Your Dog

Praise is a wonderful reward for many dogs. If your dog works for praise definitely use it to your benefit. Nevertheless, I've found that especially in a Keeshond (which Razza is, pictured below), treats are the perfect motivator. Others try to train their dogs using classical conditioning off treats to clickers.

Razza sitting on a rock at the Portland, Oregon waterfront 3/23/14. 

Teaching

With your dog on a leash, use either a treat or your fingers to guide your dog's head back. Repeat this a few times and remember to reward each time your dog sits--consistency is key. 

If the dog isn't following the tendency to naturally sit when guided then take them for a long walk first. Particularly for energetic dogs, focus can be a difficult thing to grasp, so give your dog a better chance (and some exercise) and work on heeling (the topic of the next post) then return to sit.