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.

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.