How To Teach Your Dog To Stay

How To Teach Your Dog To Stay

You may be tempted to teach your dog all the tricks under the sun, but it's important to master the basics first. Some people will teach their pooch tricks like dancing and how to high five, but fail to teach them things like how to stay in one spot on command.

We can honestly say that teaching your dog to 'stay' is probably one of the handiest things they can learn. Plus, its super important for safety purposes too. What happens if there's danger looming ahead and you need your dog to stay exactly where they are, but they end up disobeying you and running around all over the shop?

Stay is important for waiting to crossroads, obedience and basically getting Fido to stay put. And trust us, there are times when you will need them to abide by this rule. 'Stay' might seem like a tough command to teach, especially if your pooch is a huge bundle of energy. But in reality - it's very simple to teach. It just takes A LOT of repetition. Your dog may not get it the first time, or the second, or the twentieth time.

You have to get them to do a stay every single day as often as possible for it to really bed in. But the benefit of 'stay' is it's a command you can do literally anywhere. You can do it when you're cooking and you don't want Fido to come too close, or when your out on a walk and you need them to stay whilst you get their lead ready.

So, if you're wondering how to get Fido to sit patiently in one spot until you tell them to move, here are some top tips.

Phase one

Get your dog to do a sit and give them a reward for doing so. Before you even attempt to master a 'stay' it's a good idea to simply spend a bit of time working on your dog's sit. Work on getting them to do a sit, and not coming out of the sit until you tell them a release command (like OK). Don't move anywhere at this point. Once they can do a sit without moving you can advance to phase two.

Phase two

Make sure you are stood just in front of them maybe about a metre away.

First take one step to the left whilst saying the word 'stay' and giving a hand signal. You could point at them or put your hand up.

If they don't move when you step aside, give them a reward.

OK so you've managed to move one, step, don't start to expect miracles. This command needs to be built up slowly.

Keep working on that for a while until your pooch catches on.

Next, mover around to the right slightly perhaps two or three steps in a circle around your dog. Keep saying the stay command and doing the hand signals. If they move, go back and start again and repeat until they don't. When they eventually stay still, give them a reward and lots of praise.

Next try to do a whole circle around your dog getting them to stay.

Phase three

Now you can move around in a circle, it's time to work on moving further away from your pooch. So now stand in front of them, and work on taking one step at a time backwards. Once they get it, you can move further and further away, rewarding and praising them every time they abide. Keep working on your dog's stay as often as possible until you can literally walk anywhere, and they will stay put like a good doggy!

Good luck!

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