How to Teach a Dog to "Stay"

By D. Thomas Webb

Perhaps the hardest of the basic commands to learn, when you teach a dog to stay, you must invest more time, love, and patience than any of the other commands. Unlike the "sit" command, "stay" requires your dog to do something completely unnatural and against his basic instincts. For this reason, before you attempt to teach a dog to stay, be sure that you are willing to spend the necessary time. It can take from a few days to a few months, depending on the dog, and many people quit too soon out of frustration.

We're going to assume that the dog already knows the "sit" command, as this is the starting position in "stay" training. While you can teach a dog to stay from a standing position, it makes the task much harder, as the dog will think he can move at will. Some trainers will suggest that you teach the dog to "heel" first, and start your stay training from this position. You can actually do it either way, but teaching "heel" is tougher than teaching "sit".

Okay, now we teach a dog to stay...

1. Find a training area with few or no distractions. The "stay" command will require the dog's complete attention, so find a nice quiet place to begin. We can introduce distractions once the dog has learned the basic command.

2. While standing, have the dog sit in front of you so that you are facing each other. Reach out with your hand, palm out, and place it directly in front of the pooch's nose. In your command voice, say "Stay!". Remember to get his attention first by saying his name before giving the command. Hold this position for about 20 to 30 seconds, then drop your hand and praise the dog's good behavior with a "Good Stay!" and a pat on the head. Chances are that, at first, your dog will try to stand or move while you are in the stay position. When this happens, do not scold the dog. Simply return him to the sit position and try again. Eventually, your pooch will begin to understand what you want, and that giving it to you will result in praise, which he desperately desires.

3.Once the dog is consistently staying with your hand in his face, gradually start to put some distance between you after giving the stay command. Start by slowly taking one step back and waiting about 15 seconds before dropping your hand and giving praise. At the beginning, the pooch will try to follow. When he does, just return him to the sit position and start again.

4. Once he has mastered this, begin using just the verbal command, without putting your hand in his face. This may seem like your starting all over, but, actually, doing this too soon will only serve to confuse the dog and make the training much harder.

5. Now you can gradually begin to increase both the distance that you move away and the time you require him to stay. Remember here that each change you make in distance is a new experience for the pooch, and you will have to treat each extension as a new task.

6. You will eventually get to a point where you can put the dog in "stay" and be able to move around normally without him breaking the position. At this point, it is necessary to teach the release command ("OK!" is a good one!). This will tell the pooch that it's OK to break the position and move around. Remember, too, that once you release him, it is always good to give him the praise he desires. This will continually reinforce the training.

Remember, to teach a dog to stay requires time, patience, and, above all, consistency. But, having this command at your disposal will make your life together much better.

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