Teaching Your Dog "Stay"

Teaching your dog to "stay" is a handy skill when you are doing something and you don't want your four-legged friend all up in your business (or if you want to take cute photos of your dogs sitting politely on a tree stump). Safety wise, it's also one of the primary commands your dog should know. Before we begin on the actual steps, there are a few things you need to decide:

• Are you going to have your dog sitting or laying down when they "stay"? The more comfortable your dogs is, the longer they will actually stay. Example: sitting position will require more effort, but laying down may make your dog feel vulnerable. You need to assess the situation and your dog's temperament to decide what will be the best. 
• You need to decide on a "release" cue. This will be a word or action that tells your dog they no longer need to stay. When choosing a word, try to choose one that you do not use in everyday conversation. Otherwise, you may end up confusing the dog if you have your dog in "stay" while talking to another individual and you end up saying your release cue in conversation.
  
• When handing your dog the treats you will be using for the training of "stay", you will want to reward them either between the paws if they are laying, or by their chest if they are sitting. Most people make the mistake of holding the treat up high, while repeating the word "stay" and them giving them the treat s..l..o..w..l..y.. Don't do that. The treat should be unseen and given quickly when the behavior has been executed. 
•  There are three things you will be working on with the "stay" command: distance, duration and distraction. Distance is how far away from your dog you can be while your dog remains in "stay". Duration is how long your dog is in "stay", and distraction is having your dog stay while there is things going on around them. When training, you want to work on one thing at a time otherwise, you run the risk of just confusing your dog.
  
• Last, you don't want to ask your dog to stay or start a training session during a thunderstorm or on hot pavement or in freezing cold temperatures. That would be a ridiculous request.
  

Ok, so let's get started!

1. Ask your dog to lie down. Instead of giving your dog a treat right away, wait a few seconds while saying something like "yes" or "good boy". Then, give them the treat. If your dog has the issue of bouncing up right away, have two treats available. One treat will be for laying down, and one will be for staying a couple seconds. Repeat, repeat, repeat... once your dog has this nailed down, start increasing the durationof time before the treat is given.
2. While the dog is in down position, give the release cue. When your dog gets up, give them another treat. 

That's pretty much it! Remember, that dogs should only work on behavior training for about 15-minutes per session in order to avoid mental fatigue. To work on distance, slowly walk backwards one step at a time increasing your distance with each training session. You do not want to turn your back on the dog while increasing distance. Instead, maintain eye contact. Finally, to work on distraction, 

When Mistakes Happen:
 When your dog makes a "mistake", make sure you go back a step to an easier progression. Also, be mindful to check if your dog is just mentally tired from training. They will make mistakes if mentally tired. 

With all that said, never punish your dog for making a mistake. Always reward, reward, reward. Training is all about consistency. Once your dog has a behavior nailed down, you still need to practice it regularly. Otherwise, the behavior will slowly start to disappear and you'll have to start back at square one.