Dog training: Stay

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The "Stay" request is different from "Settle Down." Whereas "Settle Down" means wait quietly in the designated spot but in any body position that is comfortable, "Stay" means remain in place and in the specific body position requested. Both "Settle Down" and the various "Stay" commands have many useful applications. "Settle Down" or "Wait" is generally used for longer periods of time at home, on picnics, in the car or in the veterinarian's waiting room. "Stay" is used for shorter periods. "Sit-stay" is useful when opening the front door, when getting out of your car, when greeting people. "Down-stay" is effective for controlling your dog around rambunctious children or fearful and aggressive dogs. "Stand-stay" and "Bang" (see Tricks) are essential when grooming the dog or during physical examinations in the veterinary clinic.

A good "Settle Down" command is the foundation for teaching specific stays. Once the pup has learned to stay put in a specific location, it is easier to teach it to stay in a specific body position. Also, when teaching the inhibitory "Off" command, you may already have discovered your pup voluntarily settled down or performed quite respectable stand-stays, sit-stays and down-stays of its own accord. Similarly, some family members have already enticed the pup to perform fairly lengthy and solid stays during the stay-delay exercise. The success of teaching "Stay" depends upon: 1) starting with very short stays, so your puppy may succeed from the outset and 2) frequently rewarding your pup while it remains in the appropriate position.

How to teach the 'stay' command

To teach stays, simply increase the length of time of the Stay-Delays discussed earlier. Start off with extremely short stays, so your pup may succeed and be rewarded for succeeding. Increase the length of the stays only very gradually. Do not push your pup to the point of failure. You will get frustrated, and your pup will probably be punished. This is not fair for either of you. Training is meant to be an enjoyable learning experience. Sadly though, some people do just about everything wrong when teaching stays. They command the puppy as if it were in boot camp, force it into position, stare at it menacingly whilst it remains in position, offering not a single word of thanks as they proceed to push the pup to the very precipice of failure, and then, when  [Continued]

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