Most dogs quickly start volunteering to step onto the dog training platform more frequently and remaining there for longer periods of duration – which the handler continues to reinforce with food treats. Then the handler can start using cues and reinforcement to shape the specific behaviors she wants from the dog.

Behaviors that can be easily taught using a dog training place board include:

• Stand/Stay
• Sit/Stay
• Down/Stay
• Back Up (dog is encouraged to step onto the platform with his back feet only)
• “Front” (a behavior that is used in obedience competition, requiring the dog to come directly to the handler and sit very straight close to and in front of the handler)
• “Return to Heel” (again, used in obedience competitions, requiring the dog to leave the front position, walk clockwise around/behind the handler to a position at the handler’s left side, i.e., the “heel” position)
• “Side” or “Swing Finish” (another obedience move where the dog pivots counter-clockwise from a front position to the heel position on the handler’s left side)

To start teaching each of these behaviors, the platform is placed in the goal location (relative to the handler) and the dog is lured or shaped into the desired position, and reinforced for reaching that location, going to the location on cue, remaining in that location on cue, and eventually, going to and remaining in a certain position in that location on cue.

Denise Fenzi, founder of Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, an online school dedicated to providing high-quality instruction for competitive dog sports, frequently uses platforms when training her dogs. “I use them because it’s black and white for the dog,” she says. “It’s easier at first for them to learn Stay by staying on the platform as opposed to staying in an undefined spot on the ground. The same attribute makes place boards hard to beat for teaching the dog precision work – where the dog needs to be in a very specific position.”

Fenzi has another tip about using platforms to work on the “Stay” behavior. She often “sends” her dogs to a place board from a distance, rather than positioning them on the platform and then walking away. This way, the act of walking away doesn’t predict a recall or draw the dog off the platform to follow the handler.

Dog Training Platforms for Fitness

You can also use a dog training platform to lead your dog through exercises that will build his fitness, coordination, and flexibility. Veterinary physical therapy or fitness instructors often use dog training platforms to encourage the dog to step up and down and to perform certain stretches in a slow, controlled manner.

Cato Outdoors, maker of the Cato Board dog training platform, has a collection of videos that show you how a platform can be used for dog fitness exercises here.

Best Dog Training Platforms

There are three companies that make place boards for dog training:

Blue-9 is the maker of a platform it calls the KLIMB, a 24” by 24” training platform that can be used without legs for a height of 4 inches, with optional short legs (set of four sold separately) for a height of 6 inches, or with the standard (included) legs for a height of 12 inches. KLIMBS can be attached to other Klimbs to create larger platforms, and can even be stacked securely to create taller platforms. $160.  Blue-9 offers a very good (and free!) guide to teaching your dog to use a platform. It can be downloaded from the Blue-9 Resource Library; click on KLIMB Training Quick Start Guide.

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The next two dog training platforms are rectangular, which helps dogs hold their position (being narrower, it’s harder for a dog to turn around while staying on the board):

Cato Outdoors makes the Cato Board, which comes in two sizes, 11 different colors, and can be ordered with either a rubber non-slip surface or an artificial turf surface. The original board measures 24” by 16”, is 3.5 inches tall, weighs 7.7 lbs, and costs $79. Very large or long dogs might be better served by the Cato Board XL, which is 36” by 12” inches and 3.5 inches tall; it sells for $95.

Huntmark’s Dog Training Place Board is available in dark blue or “optic yellow.” It measures 28” by 18” and is 4.5 inches high. It can support up to 200 pounds, and has non-skid rubber feet and a raised rubber traction surface. It weighs 8 lbs 11 oz. $86.

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In my dogs’ world, “Stay” means “Stay in the exact position I left you in until I release you,” while “Wait” means “Pause for a bit.” I do still sometimes give a release with Wait, but it’s far less formal than a Stay. 

I use Wait multiple times a day. It’s literally a life-saver. “Wait” when I open the car door so you don’t jump out into traffic. “Wait” at the door while I walk out – you’re not coming this time. “Wait” at the top of the stairs while I go first so you don’t trip me, causing me to fall. “Wait” while we’re hiking and you spot a deer or rabbit, so you pause and I can call you back to me and you don’t get lost chasing prey off into the woods.

Related: The 10 Most Important Things to Teach A Puppy

It’s easy to teach your dog to wait. Here’s how:

How to Teach Your Dog to Wait for the Food Bowl

1. With your dog sitting, facing you, hold her bowl at chest level (with food in it, topped with tasty treats!) and say “Wait.” 
2. Lower the food bowl toward the floor two inches. If your dog stays sitting, click your clicker (or use a verbal marker) raise the bowl back up again, and feed her a treat from the bowl. If she gets up, say “Oops” and ask her to sit again. If she remains in place, lower the bowl two inches again, mark (click), raise the bowl, and treat. 
3. Repeat this step several times until she consistently remains sitting as you lower the bowl. Mark and treat each time.
4. Gradually move the bowl closer to the floor with succeeding repetitions until you can place it on the floor two feet away from her and pick it back up without her getting up or trying to eat it.
5.  Finally, place the bowl on the floor and say a release cue like “Free!” to tell her to eat. 

A really helpful thing about teaching this behavior is that you have at least one built-in daily training session (possibly two, since many of us feed our dogs twice a day).

How to Teach Your Dog to Wait at the Door

When your dog is solid with Wait at her bowl, you’re ready to generalize the behavior. The next easy place to practice Wait is at the door. Start with your dog sitting or standing – whichever you prefer. (I prefer Sit.)

1. Say “Wait” in a cheerful tone of voice. Begin to open the door just slightly. If your dog starts to go out, say, “Oops!” and close the door (be sure she won’t get caught by the door!). Say “Wait” and try opening the door again. If she stays in place, close the door mark and release. Repeat several times.
2. When your dog consistently doesn’t move for a tiny crack-in-the-door opening, gradually open it wider with each trial, a little bit at a time. Mark and treat each time, but sometimes repeat another Wait without releasing. 
3. Practice cueing your dog to Wait, and opening the door until you can open it completely and she stays in place. Once she’s able to Wait consistently with the door wide open, take one step out. Return, close the door, mark and release.
4. Gradually increase the time the door is open while your dog is still waiting. Sometimes step out and return, sometimes walk out and invite her to come with you, sometimes walk out and close the door leaving her inside (this will be an auto-release cue).
5. Practice Wait every time you head out, even if she’s going to come with you. Consistency is the key to helping your dog learn quickly!

How to Teach Your Dog to Wait on a Walk

To generalize further, practice with your dog on leash. As you’re walking, say, “Wait,” take a few more slow steps and stop. If your dog stops, mark and treat, and continue walking. If your dog continues moving after you stop, let her walk on. When she stops at the end of the leash, mark and treat, and walk on. She should quickly learn to stop when you say “Wait.”

Now, don’t wait – go train your dog!

Read Next: How to Train a Dog to Stay

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In fact, it’s pretty common for dogs to be unable to perform the behavior that their owners are sure they know upon hearing the verbal cue alone – for example, if the owner’s back is turned to the dog when he gives his dog the verbal cue.

There are many compelling reasons to strengthen our dogs’ knowledge of and response to verbal cues – not least of which is that there are actually times when it would be helpful for our dogs to perform the behaviors we want when our back is literally turned!

The stronger their understanding of and response to our verbal cues, the more likely it is for our dogs to respond to those cues in situations where we look different, such as when our hands are full, we are sitting down, we are keeping our eyes on an approaching dog and/or person, or when our dog can’t see us because he’s darting toward the delivery van pulling in the driveway.

How to Teach a Verbal Cue

By helping your dog make an association between your verbal cue, the desired behavior, and the delivery of a resulting reinforcer (such as a food treat), you teach your dog how to respond with the appropriate behavior when you ask for it. You are giving him a choice: the opportunity to be reinforced for performing a particular behavior, or not. If he chooses “not,” then your job is to figure out how to help him want to choose to do the behavior.

First, you will properly introduce the cue and help him understand what it means. While there are several different ways to do this, we’ll walk you through the process with a couple of basic behaviors using one of our favorite training techniques: the lure-reward method. The steps are:

1. Get the behavior. Encourage the dog to do the behavior by using a treat as a lure to explain to him what you want. When he does the behavior for the lure, “mark” the moment that he does the desired behavior (with the click of a clicker or a verbal marker, such as the word “Yes!”) and give him a treat. (Note: For some dogs and/or for some behaviors, you may need to lure/shape – marking and giving treats for pieces of the behavior until you build the final behavior. See “Shaping Your Dog’s Behavior,” WDJ January 2017.)

2. Add the cue. When your dog will easily offer the behavior for the lure, use your verbal cue just prior to luring the behavior. You are essentially explaining to him, “This word means the same thing as this luring motion I’ve been doing.” Continue to mark and treat as appropriate throughout the process.

3. Add a pause. After several repetitions, pause for a few seconds after you say the cue, to give his brain a chance to process the word; then lure the behavior. (“Several” will vary from dog to dog. Some dogs will get it quickly; some dogs need more repetitions to understand the process. You will come to know how many repetitions is appropriate for your dog.)

4. Vary the pause. As you proceed with cue-pause-lure, begin to vary how long you wait before you lure. Sometimes, use the lure after just a second or two; sometimes wait several seconds. Luring quickly keeps him from getting frustrated. Waiting longer before you lure gives him more time to think.

5. Reinforce offered behaviors. At this point, some dogs will begin to offer the behavior before you lure. If yours does, the first time he does it, mark, treat, and party! Tell your dog how brilliant he is, give him several treats (or a special high-value treat you’ve saved for this occasion), and give him a break before you try again. Know that just because he did it once doesn’t mean he will do it every time – you may still have to do some cue-pause-lure repetitions, but it means you are well on the way to getting the behavior “on cue.” Congratulations!

6. Fade the lure. Some dogs won’t begin to offer the behavior so easily, which means you will need to “fade” the lure. This means you will continue to cue-pause-lure, but gradually decrease the amount of luring help you give him.

For example, if you were moving the lure six inches, try moving it just four inches; if he commits to finishing the behavior, whisk the lure away, mark the completion of the behavior without the treat in front of his nose, then give him the treat.

Also, be conscious at this stage that you do not inadvertently use other body-language hints or “prompts” to help your dog do the behavior, such as moving a hand toward the floor for the “down.” If you do use these prompts, you will have to fade them later to have the behavior truly on verbal cue alone.

Continue with your repetitions, fading the treat more and more, until your dog will reliably offer the behavior without the lure. Congratulations!

Note: Notice that I do not use “air cookies” – pretending to lure but not actually having a treat in your hand. To me, this is lying to your dog, and you still have to fade the “air cookie.” You might as well just skip this extra step and move right to fading the lure.

Verbal Cue for “Sit”

Sitting is one the most basic of canine behaviors. It’s an easy behavior for most dogs to do, and a great “incompatible behavior” to ask for when you don’t want your dog doing something else, such as jumping up on people. It also can become a useful “default” behavior – the behavior you teach your dog to offer when he’s not sure what else to do, or when he’s asking for something – like, your attention or his dinner.

Here’s how to teach your dog a verbal “Sit” cue using this process.

1. Get the behavior. Do not use your verbal “Sit” cue for this step. Simply use a food lure to encourage your dog to sit, by placing it at the tip of his nose and slowly lifting up a little. (If you go too fast you will “outrun” him and he will lose his connection to the lure.)

With some dogs you can move the treat back over the head a little; other dogs will find this aversive and back away from you. Experiment a little by moving the lure in different places – back a little, forward a little, up a little more, up toward your chest – until you find the place that invites him to sit.

If he doesn’t lure into a sit fairly easily, lure/shape it by marking and giving him a treat him for any upward head movement that follows the treat, and for any lowering of the hindquarters, until he is all the way in a sitting position.

2. Add the cue. When your dog will sit easily for the lure, it’s time to add the cue. Say “Sit!” in a cheerful tone of voice (remember, it’s an invitation, not a command!), and lure him into a sit position. Repeat this at least a half-dozen times. Continue to mark (with the click of a clicker or a verbal marker, such as the word “Yes!”) and give him a treat for sits throughout the process.

3. Add a pause. Now say “Sit” in a happy voice and pause a few seconds. If he sits, mark and treat and party – you have a canine genius! More likely he won’t sit for just the cue yet, so after two to three seconds, lure him to sit, then mark and treat. Repeat several times.

4. Vary the pause. Continue to “Sit”-pause-lure, but now, start to vary how long you pause before luring to give your dog’s brain time to process the information and respond. Sometimes lure after just a one-second pause, sometimes two to three seconds, and sometimes wait as long as five or six seconds.

5. Reinforce offered behaviors. Some dogs will begin to offer sits at this stage with the longer pauses. Mark and treat and party!

Continue to repeat this step, and remember that he may still need some luring. Just because he sits in response to the cue sometimes without luring doesn’t mean he fully understands.

Repeat this step until he responds to your verbal “Sit” cue without the lure 80 to 90 percent of the time. At that point you can say he knows the cue – and you may still need to assist with your lure from time to time when he doesn’t respond due to the cue. (None of us are perfect!) It’s better to lure when needed than to repeat the cue and risk “learned irrelevance,” where the cue loses its meaning. Sometimes even very well-trained dogs need a little help to get it right!

6. Fade the lure. If you have one of those dogs who just doesn’t get it with the cue-pause-lure step, you will need to fade the lure. Give him your cheerful “Sit” cue, pause, and begin to lure. As soon as he appears to be committed to sitting, whisk the lure out of sight behind your back and let him finish the sit without the lure in front of his nose. (If you keep the treat in view, he may try to follow it!) Mark and treat. Gradually lure less and less, whisking the treat out of sight sooner in the sit sequence, until, lo and behold, you don’t have to lure at all. Mark, treat, and party!

We’re Down

We start to teach “Down” as soon as we can easily lure our dog into the sit position, even if “Sit” isn’t yet reliably on verbal cue. It can be a more challenging behavior for many dogs than the sit, but the same procedure works.

1. Get the behavior. Do not use your verbal “Down” cue for this step. Simply use your lure to encourage your dog to lie down, by placing it at the tip of his nose and slowly moving it straight down toward the floor.

Some dogs will follow the treat straight to the floor and lie down the first time you lure, but most need a little lure/shaping here: move the treat down a little, mark and treat. Move it down a little more, mark and treat. Continue to lure him a little farther each time until he is all the way down.

If he stands up, you may have moved the lure too far, too fast, or moved it away from him rather than straight toward the floor and he got up to follow it. Try again, with smaller increments, and make sure the treat is moving straight toward the floor.

2. Add the cue. When your dog will lie down easily for the lure, it’s time to add the cue. Say “Down!” in a cheerful tone of voice (invitation, not command!), and lure him into a down position. Repeat this at least a half-dozen times. Continue to mark and give treats for downs throughout the process.

3. Add a pause. Now say “Down” in a happy voice and pause a few seconds. Make sure you have the treat in a neutral position at your side or behind your back. If you hold it up at your chest, you are giving your dog a body language signal to sit. Because dogs are primarily body language communicators, he will likely pay more attention to your “Sit” signal than your verbal “Down” cue.

If he lies down when you say the cue, mark and treat and party – you have a canine genius! More likely he won’t lie down for just the cue yet, so after two to three seconds, lure him to lie down, then mark and treat. Repeat several times.

4. Vary the pause. Continue to “Down”-pause-lure, but now start to vary how long you pause before luring. Sometimes lure after just a one-second pause, sometimes two to three seconds, and sometimes wait as long as five or six seconds.

5. Reinforce offered behaviors. Some dogs will begin to offer downs at this stage with the longer pauses. Mark and treat and party!

Continue to repeat this step, and remember that he may still need some luring. Just because he lies down in response to the cue without luring sometimes, doesn’t mean he fully understands. Repeat until he responds to your “Down” cue without the lure 80 to 90 percent of the time. Remember, it’s better to lure as needed than to repeat the cue and risk “learned irrelevance,” where the cue loses its meaning.

6. Fade the lure. If you have one of the many dogs who just doesn’t get it with the cue-pause-lure step, you will need to fade the lure.

Give him your cheerful “Down” cue, pause, and begin to lure. As soon as he appears to be committed to lying down, whisk the lure out of sight behind your back and let him finish the down without the lure in front of his nose. Mark and treat. Gradually lure less and less, whisking the treat out of sight sooner in the down sequence, until, lo and behold, you don’t have to lure at all. Mark, treat, and party!

Another Language

You can use this same process to put many different behaviors solidly on verbal cue. First get your dog to do the behavior, then add the cue, then fade the lure. It is very important to begin fading the lure as soon as he will reliably perform the behavior so that your dog and you don’t become dependent on the presence of the lure to make the behavior happen.

We are a verbal species, and while it is critically important for us to understand our dogs’ body language communications, there is something quite compelling about helping our non-verbal canines learn our language. It is very gratifying – and incredibly valuable for strengthening the dog-human bond – when your dog understands and responds to your verbal cues. Just decide what behavior you want on verbal cue, and get started!

The post How to Teach Verbal Cues appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

After I learned about positive reinforcement training, though, I came to understand that teaching a stay behavior doesn’t need to have anything to do with power and control, and instead is a matter of reinforcement and trust.

A really solid stay is a beautiful thing to observe. A dog is cued to stay, and despite distractions around him, he won’t move from his spot. I am especially impressed when I see a dog looking happy and relaxed while staying put, fully trusting that he’ll be released eventually.

The icing on the cake is that this behavior is actually pretty simple to teach, and as a bonus, it can be a really fun process for both the trainer and her dog.

Once your dog has learned to stay on cue, the behavior can come in handy. In the past week alone, I’ve asked my dog to stay a number of times: When I opened the door for a delivery, when we moved a heavy piece of furniture and didn’t want him underfoot, and when I needed to wipe very hot pasta sauce off the kitchen floor (don’t ask).

Your Dog Should Choose to Stay

When I’m teaching a dog what I want him to do when I ask him to “stay,” I aim to make sure he knows he has a choice in the matter. He can stay, or he can get up and walk away. Yes, that’s right – he can leave if he wants to, right in the middle of a training session. Does this surprise you? Let me explain.

I give my canine students full agency to end a training session whenever they want. They’re never obliged to participate. It’s my job to keep them engaged and interested in what I’m teaching them.

I also set up the environment to make it far more likely that the dog will offer me the behavior I’m looking for, and in turn this will provide me with the opportunity to reinforce that behavior. If I’ve done my job right, the dog I’m teaching won’t be interested in getting up to leave. He’s allowed to – and I won’t stop him if he does – but he won’t want to.

Coercion is completely unnecessary when teaching a stay. When we train using rewards to reinforce behaviors, we make it more likely that our dog will choose to do the behavior we reward. In other words, we greatly increase the odds that he’ll offer that behavior when given the opportunity.

That’s how you end up with a dog who looks relaxed in a stay position, rather than worried, vigilant, restless, or on the verge of standing up and leaving. When I see those worried dogs, I think to myself how simple it would be to turn that situation into one the dog trusts. “You want me to stay here? Sure thing, happy to! Take as long as you need!”

How to Prepare Your Dog to Learn to Stay

Before we get started, make sure you have the prerequisites in place:

A dog who’s had the opportunity to expend some energy. Don’t try to work on this behavior when your dog is bursting at the seams and hasn’t yet been for a walk or had some play time. On the other hand, avoid wearing him out completely before practicing. You want him to be a little spent, but still have enough energy to use his brain.

Food, and lots of it. Cut treats into a very small size, like the size of your pinky fingernail for a large dog, and half that size for a smaller dog. You’ll be using a lot of food and feeding repetitively. That means avoid working immediately after feeding your dog when his tummy’s full, and alternately, avoid working when your dog is really hungry. A hungry dog is far too interested in getting immediate access to the food, and he’ll struggle to relax into the exercise.

A mat, towel, or rug. In the early stages, you’ll be using this item as a target on the floor to help your dog identify where he’s supposed to be. Avoid using your dog’s bed for this exercise. Your dog’s bed should be as free as possible from any rules or requests for behavior, in my opinion.

That’s his sanctuary, his own free space. Grab something else instead.

How to Train Your Dog to Stay: the 3 D’s of Learning to Stay

We’ll split the training exercises into three categories:

Distance – how far you can move away from your dog.

Distraction – what kinds of movements you can make and other environmental distractions you can add to the equation.

Duration – how long your dog can stay put before you release him.

We’ll work each of these categories separately at first. Keeping them separate will make it easier for your dog to be successful. We’ll start with the easiest level in each category, and we’ll gradually make the exercises more difficult as your dog masters each level.

But every time we make things a little harder in one category, we’ll make sure to keep the other two categories at a level your dog already knows really well. For example, when we’re working on increasing the distance between you and your dog, we’ll make sure we keep the other two categories at an easy level. We’ll never increase the distance and the duration and the distraction levels simultaneously. That would just be unfair to your dog and would slow your progress.

Verbal Cues for Teaching Stay

You’ll want a verbal cue or a hand gesture, or maybe both. Personally, I use only a hand gesture with my own dog. It looks a little like a “Stop!” hand gesture: hand positioned vertically, palm facing my dog, and fingers together. It doesn’t matter what gesture you choose, as long as you and all family members are consistent. For example, if I keep my fingers together, but my husband opens his fingers (like he’s flashing the number five), that can be confusing to our dog during the training process.

It’s not necessary to place your hand close to your dog’s face. In fact, that can be intimidating and uncomfortable for him. I keep my elbow somewhat bent and my hand about 12 inches in front of my body.

The standard verbal cue is “Stay,” of course, but you’re welcome to use whatever other word you want. If you choose to teach both a verbal cue and a hand gesture, I suggest you begin teaching only the hand gesture at first. It’s easier for dogs to learn visual cues before verbal ones.

Once your dog understands the visual cue, you can then add your verbal cue to your training sessions by saying it just prior to showing your hand gesture. After many repetitions of saying “Stay” before showing him the hand gesture, he will have associated the two, and you should be able to drop the hand gesture.

Choose a Release Word

Before we get started on teaching your dog to stay on cue, you need to choose what word you’ll use to let him know he’s now free to move around. You can use whatever word you want! In fact, the more unconventional your release word, the less likely your dog will be accidentally released by someone else saying the word, or by you saying the word in regular conversation.

For example, I see lots of people use the word “Okay!” to release their dogs. I think it’s a perfectly fine word to use, except that it can sometimes cause some confusion for the dog when that same word is used in casual conversation while he’s been asked to stay.

Imagine asking your dog to stay, and shortly after, a family member tells you, “I’m just running to store, I’ll be right back.” What is your likely response to that? “Okay!” … and oopsie, you’ve just unintentionally released your dog from his stay.

To release my dog, I say his name followed by “Let’s go!” but that’s just a suggestion. I’ve had clients use funny words like “potato” and “shazam!”

Choose whatever release word you like, as long as it’s unlikely to slip out during a casual conversation. It’s also a great habit to say your dog’s name before giving him your release word. It lets him know that you’re addressing him, that the next thing that comes out of your mouth is something he should pay attention to, and helps eliminate confusion.

Ready, Set, Stay!

The first exercise is incredibly easy:

1. Choose a quiet spot in your home that will allow you to walk a few steps away from your dog and where there are few to no distractions. Grab about 15 small treats.

2. Ask your dog to lie down on a mat, and stand facing him.

3. Show him your hand gesture for “stay” and immediately lean down and place a treat on the floor between your dog’s outstretched front legs, then stand straight again.

4. Repeat this until you’ve gone through all 15 treats.

That’s it. You’re done. It doesn’t seem like much, but you have already begun teaching your dog that lying on a mat and not moving is really kind of fun!

Getting Your Dog to Stay at a DISTANCE

The next exercise is set up the same way, except now you’ll start moving away from your dog, one step at a time. The lesson you’re teaching your dog is “even though I’m moving, the best thing for you to do now is to stay where you are.”

Once you have your treats in hand, and your dog is lying on his mat, facing you, you will:

1. Show your dog the stay cue and then take a single step backward.

2. Return to your dog, lean down, and place a treat on the floor between your dog’s outstretched front legs. Why on the floor? Because if you deliver the treat to his mouth, you’ll soon notice he will start to stretch his neck and body upward and toward your hand to get the treat. Soon, he’ll be standing!

3. Repeat this single-step exercise five times. You will have gone through five treats.

4. Now show him the hand gesture and then take two steps back.

5. Return to your dog. Lean down and deliver the treat.

6. Repeat this two-step exercise five times. You will have gone through five more treats.

7. Now take three steps backward, return to your dog, and deliver the treat. When you’ve done this five times, you should be out of treats.

Releasing the Stay

It’s time to release your dog from his stay.

1. Stand still and resist the urge to make a gesture with your hands or body. We want the release word to become significant and to not be overshadowed by any movement you might make.

2. Say your dog’s name, followed by a brief pause (so he doesn’t learn to start to rise when he hears his name), then say your release word. For example, “Fido (brief pause), let’s go!”

3. Then, after you’ve finished saying your release word, you can invite your dog to move off of his mat by clapping your hands and moving backward quickly, or clapping your thighs and using a high-pitched playful voice (for example).

4. Praise your dog and play with him for a moment away from his mat. He’s done really well!

5. Soon after your short break, grab some more treats, invite your dog back on the mat, and begin again.This time, try to make it to four steps backward for a few repetitions. If your dog finds this harder and stands up, refer to the trouble-shooting tips below and on the next two pages.

6. If he’s doing well with four steps, resist the urge to go to five steps just yet! Instead, start varying the number of steps you take, always returning to deliver a treat on the floor. Try taking three steps (return and treat), then one step (return and treat), then four steps (return and treat), then two steps (return and treat).

7. When you’re out of treats, stand still and say your release cue, then invite your dog to step off his mat and play with you.

That’s enough for now. Call it a day!

Distance Practice Tips

As you gradually increase the number of steps you take away from your dog, you can begin adding these new elements of difficulty.

Turn Your Back

So far, you’ve been taking steps while moving backward, always facing your dog. Later, when your dog is acing the easier exercises, try turning your back to walk away from your dog instead of stepping backward. Keep it easy at first! If you can take eight steps away from your dog while facing him, try showing him the hand gesture, turning your back, and taking only three steps away before turning back around and returning to him to deliver the treat.

Walk Around a Large Object

Once you’re able to move away from your dog with your back turned to him, try walking around an object that only partially obstructs his view of you before returning to deliver a treat to him. For example, walk around the dining room table (he can still see your legs), or around the island in the kitchen (he can still see the top half of your body).

Disappear from His View Entirely

This one can take some time to work up to. Don’t rush it! When your dog successfully stays on his mat while you walk around an object, try slipping out of his view for just a nano-second. Maybe you can walk away from him in a straight line down a hallway, and after a few steps, slip into a bedroom doorway or behind a corner, and then very quickly reappear. Return to him to deliver a treat between his paws.

Distance Trouble-Shooting Tips

• When you’re stepping away from your dog, move quickly. If you move too slowly, your dog might get up and follow you. You want to move at a pace that will assure him that you’re returning immediately to deliver that treat.
• Don’t pause between stepping back and returning to your dog. Stay in constant motion. Once you reach the maximum number of steps you want to take during a repetition, immediately return in one fluid motion. Your movement should look like that of a ball being tossed in the air; there is no hesitation before returning.
• Be mindful you’re not tossing the treat or letting it drop on the floor from too high up. This might cause it to roll or bounce away from your dog, and he’ll stand to get it. If that does happen, though, let him have it, and invite him back into position on his mat before resuming the practice. It was your mistake, not his.
• If your dog stands up when you bend down to deliver a treat, it’s possible that he’s not comfortable with having someone lean over him. Try bending your knees and squatting to avoid leaning over him, or stand a step farther away from him.
• If your dog successfully stays on his mat while you take two steps backward, but he gets up and follows you when you try three steps, return to an easier level of the exercise and do a few more repetitions before trying three steps again.
• If you have a dog who is used to always training with the use of a clicker and you feel he would do better if you used one for these exercises, you can click to mark the moment just before you begin returning to him. In other words, you would click at your farthest point. But in general, a marker is not necessary when training the stay behavior.

Steps to Training Your Dog to Stay: DURATION

To add duration to the stay behavior, you can begin to pause before returning to your dog to deliver the treat.

Start with a very short pause at first. Take an easy number of steps away from your dog, pause for two seconds, and return to your dog to deliver a treat. Gradually increase the number of seconds you pause. Don’t move ahead too quickly with this part! Resist jumping from a two-second pause to a 10-second pause, and just as you did with the number of steps in the earlier exercises, vary the length of your pauses.

For example, once you’re able to consistently pause for five seconds before returning to your dog, and your dog is looking nice and relaxed, try varying your next repetitions between five seconds, then three seconds, then one second, then increase to six seconds, then back to two seconds. Keep it variable as you slowly increase the number of seconds.

Don’t forget to practice your dog’s release cue every now and then! Once he’s off the mat, praise him playfully. Then invite him back to his mat for more training and treats.

You might notice that it takes a little more effort to convince him to get up when you release him. That’s great! It means he’s enjoying the stay exercise. It’s fine if he chooses to stay on the mat. A release cue simply means “You can move, now” – not “You have to move now!”

Duration Trouble-Shooting Tips

• If your dog appears to become less tolerant of the longer pauses, he might be anticipating that the next pause will always be longer than the last one. That can become frustrating and demotivating. You don’t always need to keep making the exercise more difficult in a linear fashion. Once in a while, throw in an easy repetition or two to keep your dog interested in the game.
• Avoid staring at your dog while you pause. He’ll think you’re expecting him to do something, and you might notice him start to offer you behaviors that he knows. Keep facing your dog, but “act casual.” I sometimes look around the room calmly, blinking softly. Or I’ll inspect my fingernails.

Steps to Training Your Dog to Stay: DISTRACTION

Distractions need to be introduced gradually into your training. So far, you’ve been working in a quiet environment and all of your movements have been pretty consistent. You have been moving away from your dog and returning to him to give him a treat.

Now you can start to change the game up a bit. Instead of moving in a straight line away from him, you can start moving in a circle around him. But wait! You’ll need to proceed with this exercise the same way you did with the distance exercises: One step at a time.

Once you have your treats in hand, and your dog is lying on his mat, facing you, you will:

1. Show him your hand gesture, and then take a single step a little to the right. Imagine you are beginning to walk a circle around your dog, counter-clockwise.

2. Return to face your dog after that one single step. Lean down and place a treat on the floor between his outstretched front legs.

3. Repeat this single-step-to-the-right exercise five times, showing your hand gesture before each repetition.

4. Now take two steps counter-clockwise.

5. Return to your dog. Lean down and deliver the treat.

6. Repeat this two-step exercise five times.

7. Now take three steps counter-clockwise, return to your dog, and deliver the treat.

8. Once you have successfully done a few repetitions at the halfway mark – i.e., you’ve reached your dog’s tail end – you can then try walking all the way around the dog.

When you’ve successfully done a handful of repetitions in one direction, it’s time to start doing the same exercise, but in the clockwise direction. Again, start with one step at a time. This might feel repetitive, but this type of gradual progress is the best way to get that nice, relaxed response from your dog when you ask him to stay.

Distraction Trouble-Shooting Tips

• If your dog stands when you’re walking a full circle around him, step around him more quickly. He might turn and shift his weight to watch you walk. That’s okay. If you’re quick, he won’t have time to stand up. Once you’ve gone around a couple of times, he’ll understand what to expect and he’ll relax into the exercise.
• Be mindful of his tail! Sometimes dogs will be quick to stand if we come too close to his tail. I can’t blame them! If you notice this, give his tail end a wider berth. That should help reassure him.
• If your dog struggles to stay put, look around for things in the environment that might be making it hard for him. Are there distractions like food or toys on the floor, or another dog close by? Are you working next to a busy area of the house, or maybe next to a door? Is there an appliance nearby that keeps turning on and off noisily?

More Distraction Practice Exercises for Learning Stay

Add Silly Movements

So far, you’ve kept your body movements relatively quiet. Now, begin adding more movements that can serve as a distraction that your dog learns to ignore. For example, after walking a short distance away from your dog, briefly wave your arms around before returning to him immediately to reward him. Or perform a few dance steps, get silly with it! If your dog gets up, tone it down a bit until he understands that he’s still expected to hold the stay. Then you can turn up the silliness quotient again.

Add a Low-Value Toy

Grab a low-value toy or object and hold it behind your back, out of your dog’s view. Stand back a few steps from him, show him your stay gesture, then extend your other arm to the side to show him the object. Quickly hide it behind you again and then deliver a treat to him. Repeat this several times. When your dog does well, you can begin shaking the toy a bit, or even squeaking it just once or twice. Remember to reward your dog after every single successful repetition.

Add a High-Value Toy

Repeat the previous exercise, but with a toy you know your dog really wants.

In the end, teaching a stay behavior is all about rewarding your dog heavily for staying in one place. It’s also about releasing him often during practice so that he learns to trust that he’ll be allowed to move soon enough, which should help him to relax while he waits.

Nancy Tucker, CPDT-KA, is a full-time trainer, behavior consultant, and seminar presenter in Quebec, Canada.

The post How to Train A Dog to Stay appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

The good news: You don’t have to be a professional trainer to reap the advantages of trainers’ effective tactics!

A couple of factors are pivotal to the success of this approach. The first is to recognize that there are no “good” nor “bad” behaviors. Behavior is just information and communication. Once you understand this key element you can shift your goals from stopping “bad” behavior to looking for ways to encourage the behavior that you want to see again and again.

Second: Recognize that when your dog is doing something that you don’t like he may often not be giving you a hard time, but instead he might be having a hard time. If you support and guide your dog in learning the behaviors that will result in reinforcements, you won’t have to spend so much time contemplating punishment scenarios.

Dogs who already display unwanted behaviors (such as jumping up, barking when people come over, pulling on leash, etc.) may have you trying ways to stop or decrease the behavior – punishment-based reactions. But punishment can result in potentially dangerous side effects (including canine apathy, aggression, escape/avoidance, and generalized fear).

Worse – the punishment is frequently ineffective, because the dog has no clue what he should be doing instead!

Planning Ahead for Dog Training Success

The proactive approach is to know in advance about what you would like for your dog to be doing, and actively teach him to do these things – or to simply “catch him in the act” of doing these things and reinforce those behaviors!

For example, instead of focusing on your dog’s jumping and fretting about how to make him stop it, “mark” (with the click of a clicker or a verbal marker, such as the word “Yes!”) and reinforce him when he’s got four paws on the floor. Teach him to sit on cue, or train a “default sit” (where he is reinforced for sitting any time you are paying attention to him and haven’t given him any cue). Continue marking and reinforcing sitting and “four on the floor” and you’ll see more of it. And do it before he has an opportunity to jump!

In addition to reinforcing easy alternatives to the undesired behavior, think about your environment. Arranging antecedents – the things that occur right before the behavior you want or don’t want – allows you to set up your situation so that your dog will have the best chance at successfully doing the stuff you like, and not doing the stuff you don’t like.

To use our jumping example again: Position a baby gate or exercise pen that separates your dog from visitors. Demonstrate how they can greet or pet your dog over the gate when all four of the dog’s feet are on the floor, but should take their hands away if the dog is jumping. Or, plan to greet visitors with your dog on-leash while working on your training. This way you are setting your dog up to be successful by preventing him from practicing jumping.

The post A Proactive Approach appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

“Stay!” I remind her, as I follow her gaze just in time to see Dorothy, the neighbor’s mostly-white calico cat fade into the brush. Thankfully, Bonnie stays, although she is quivering with excitement, and on the tips of her toes. I exit the pasture and return to Bonnie’s side, then give her an “Okay!” release cue, trusting that dog-savvy Dorothy has had ample time to find a safe perch in the woods. Bonnie dashes into the brush on her happy but fruitless cat-quest. She returns a few moments later when I call her back, grinning from ear-to-ear. We just “Premacked” Bonnie’s “stay.”

The cue “Stay,” in my world, means “Stay in the exact position I left you in until I release you,” as opposed to “Wait,” which simply means “Pause.” I tell my dogs to “Wait” when I go out the door, because they are free to move around as soon as the door closes. I use “Stay” when I really do need my dogs to be solidly, reliably parked in one spot for a length of time. I don’t use it nearly as much as I did when I was actively competing in obedience and rally, but it still comes in handy at times.

Old Way/New Way
When coercion training was the only game in town, we used to teach stays by telling the dog to sit and stay, marching to the end of the leash, and turning around to glare sternly at the dog, as if daring her to move. If she did, we scuttled back in, leash in hand, and delivered a resounding “correction” (i.e. punishment) for the transgression by yanking, hard, on the dog’s choke collar. It was not uncommon to see dogs cringing in fear as their owners rushed back to them, or jumping up and running off across the training ring in an attempt to avoid the impending punishment.

Of course, the enlightened positive reinforcement-based trainer of today wouldn’t dream of using this method. The last thing we want to do is cause our dogs to be fearful and run from us. Rather than punishing the dog for moving, we reinforce her for staying. It’s as simple as that.

There are lots of different ways to reinforce a stay behavior. In Bonnie’s case above, I used the “Premack Principle,” which says you can use a higher probability/value behavior to reinforce a lower probability/value behavior. I reinforced her for staying (the not-so-fun behavior) by giving her permission to chase the cat (the more-fun behavior).

Of course, Bonnie already knew what stay meant, because I had trained her to stay in a less distracting environment – the safe and quiet confines of the training center. Without corrections; we train the stay behavior with clicker and treats, starting with a stay of very short duration – a second or two, and gradually shaping for longer and longer stays. Here’s how:

Teaching the Stay
While your dog is in a “sit” or “down,” say “Stay” and hold up a treat for one second. If he stays in place, click your clicker or say “Yes!” and feed him the treat. At first, hold the treat right in front of his nose, if necessary, to keep him in place. If he gets up, say “Oops!” in a cheerful voice, whisk the treat behind your back, and ask him to sit again.

Repeat this step until he realizes that getting up makes the treat disappear. Very gradually extend the length of time you ask for the stay, just a second or two longer every half-dozen successful repetitions. As he gets the idea, start taking the treat away from his nose so he’s holding the stay without the lure.

Always use a release word to end the stay. This will help your dog understand that the stay isn’t over until you release him. I suggest you return to him and pause for varying amounts of time before you give the release so he understands that he doesn’t get up just because you returned, but that he actually has to wait for you to give him the cue. If you release him immediately every time you return, he’ll think your return is the release cue.

The word “Okay” is often used as a release cue (I use it!), but is sometimes not recommended because of its common use in conversation. Perhaps you have your dog on a down-stay at the beach and you turn to your spouse and say, “Okay, let’s go to the movies tonight.” Whoops – there goes your dog! Other frequently used release cues include “free,” “free dog,” “all done,” “at ease,” “release,” “wheee!” You can, of course, use any word or words you want; they have no meaning to your dog until you give them meaning by associating them with the release.

When releasing your dog from the stay, get excited, encourage him to get up, and praise him when he does. It’s important that he actually gets up when you give the release – so you know he understands the stay is over.

Many roads to Rome
Like all good positively trained behaviors, there are a variety of ways to go about teaching “stay.”

Jessica Miller, one of the PMCTs (Pat Miller Certified Trainers) at Peaceable Paws, likes to use a mat to help a dog stay in place. She says, “I like to start teaching stay as a mat behavior first. Once the dog has a good ‘go to mat’ and gets reinforced for being on the mat a lot (for duration), I then begin to add the ‘stay’ cue as a sort of ‘mat for duration.’ The good thing about this is that once you’ve reinforced being on the mat a lot most dogs don’t want to get up. I then begin working on generalizing it to other areas/surfaces. They get the picture pretty quickly.

“This worked wonderfully for my start-line stay in agility and for group long stays in obedience competition. I started with the mat in both venues (because they were specific situations in which I wanted a solid stay) and then after about two sessions I took the mat away and the stay remained. If the behavior starts to deteriorate, bring the mat back for a few attempts. You could ‘fade’ the mat (use a smaller and smaller piece until it’s gone), but I’ve never had to. Once the mat was gone the cue and behavior remained pretty solid.”

C.C. Casale, a PMCT with her own training business, South Paw Pet Care, in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, goes high-tech to reinforce her dogs’ stays.

“I like to use the Manners Minder Remote Reward Training System to teach stay. In this instance it works much like a clicker, since it can be set to make a beep sound before dispensing, so the dog receives a positive alert that he is doing the right thing and a reward is on its way!

“This creates further incentive, which tends to speed up the process of moving toward and working on ‘stay for duration.’ I set the machine to manual so I (and my clients) can use the hand held remote control to dispense treats based on the schedule of reinforcement we have chosen for that session and moment.“We first work on prolonged stays with no distance between the dog and trainer. Then we increase the distance based on the rate of success and reward the dog for longer and longer stays. The machine allows us to dispense a single treat or several, so we ending training sessions on a high note by ‘jackpotting’ with several treats for meeting whichever criteria we have set for that session. It’s pretty fun to see dogs (especially high-energy ones) get excited about staying in place.

“This method has worked well for me. As an added benefit, the familiarity the dog and client get with the Manners Minder then translates to using the tool for other training behaviors like ‘go to your place.’ ”

Bob Ryder, PMCT, CPDT-KA, of Pawsative Transformations in Normal, Illinois, uses arcs, tethers, and exercise to increase his success with stays.

“I keep it pretty simple, starting with a super high rate of reinforcement for a sit or down stay (whichever comes more naturally for the dog), and moving in small arcs around the dog. I might use a tether briefly if necessary. I increase distance in half-step increments making the arcs into portions of concentric circles. Once the dog is solid at that level, I begin moving away in direct lines as I finish each arc, returning each time to reward from up close. First I’ll back away while facing the dog. Then I’ll work at a shorter distance again, now moving away from the dog and facing 90 degrees away. When that’s solid, I work at a short distance again and retreat from the dog facing 180 degrees away.

“For young and energetic dogs, we work after some exercise. It makes a big difference!”

Way to relax!
A number of trainers use the Karen Overall Protocol for Relaxation (PFR) as a tool to teach dogs to stay on cue. Although designed to help anxious dogs learn how to relax, the PFR is a perfect tool for teaching stays, as it breaks the behavior down into very small increments (see “Karen Overall’s Protocol for Relaxation,” next page). Sean Howard, PMCT, of Up With Pup, in Toronto, Canada, and Elizabeth Adamec, of Sweet Wag, in Boston, Massachusetts, both like to take advantage of the specificity of the PFR. Adamec says, “I have most of my clients work on Overall’s Protocol for Relaxation starting week one, twice a day. I tell them, now is your chance to talk at your dog non-stop. Say ‘Stay’ all you want, it doesn’t matter. Think of it as doggy yoga. It’s about being calm and understanding and not caring if they mess up. Use your Yogi voice. I tell them to try to sound like a new-age DVD on how to be peaceful. Then when we are ready to do stays a few weeks later the dogs are all primed up.

“It works like a dream. Takes the pressure off the client to be perfect at first, and that takes the pressure off the dog. I started doing it this way after I noticed that my private clients with crazy dogs did the best on their stays. It’s because all of the work they’ve been doing with the PFR twice a day.”

Howard adds, “I use Karen Overall’s PFR with great success to build to an extended series of stays in a variety of stimulating scenarios; my favorites are having a client walk to the door to have a conversation, open their dog’s food bin, and so on.”

So, for the sake of your neighbor’s cat, the squirrels in your yard, your dog’s safety and your own peace of mind, it’s worth investing the time and energy into teaching your dog a good, reliable stay behavior. For the sake of your relationship with your dog, choose one of the modern, positive, fun methods described here to teach it, so your dog will happily stay without the need for stern gazes and threats of punishment.

Thanks to Shagay Anselment of The Canine Connection, Chico, CA, for demonstrating some of the techniques in this article. See “Resources,” for contact information.

The post Stay Happy appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

Repeat this step several times until she consistently remains sitting as you lower the bowl. Gradually move the bowl closer to the floor with succeeding repetitions until you can place it on the floor without your dog trying to get up or eat it. Finally, place the bowl on the floor and tell her to eat. After she has had a few bites, lift the bowl up and try again, lowering the bowl a little farther this time. Repeat these steps until you can place the bowl on the floor in one motion and she doesn’t move until you tell her she can.

Generalize the “Wait” to other training scenarios by controlling the delivery of the reinforcer. For example, for “wait at the door,” have your dog sit and wait while you move your hand toward the door a few inches, click and treat. If she gets up, say Oops!” and have her sit again while you move your hand toward the door one inch. Click and treat. Gradually move your hand closer toward the doorknob, then jiggle the doorknob, then open the door a crack, then wider and wider until you can open the door without her getting up. If she gets up while you are opening the door, say “Oops!”, close the door, and try again. When she will wait with the door wide open, you can sometimes release her to go out the door, and sometimes go out the door without her.

The post Wait for Your Food Bowl appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

– Teach your dog to “Wait” and use the behavior consistently as part of your “say please” program (sit and wait for your food bowl), and to keep your dog safe (wait at doorways and getting out of cars).

– Teach your dog to “Stay” and use the behavior when you need to park your dog more solidly (for photo portraits, training class, obedience competition), when you need her to stay in position for a discrete period.

– Practice frequently, in short sessions. Set up the exercise so it’s easy for her to succeed. “Wait” and “stay” should indicate that your dog has an opportunity to earn something rewarding.

Recently, I was struck by the realization that while “Wait!” is one of the most valuable cues I use with my dogs, it’s a behavior we didn’t usually teach in old-fashioned choke-chain obedience classes. Oh, we taught rock-solid obedience ring “Stays.” Some trainers substituted the word “wait” for “stay” to differentiate between recalls (“wait” means you’re going to get up and come to me when I call you) and the one-minute and three-minute sit-and-down-stays (stay means you are never to move no matter what happens until I come back to release you). Generally, though, we didn’t use “Wait” to mean “pause” as many of us dog owners do today. “Wait” is a valuable cue; I’d be lost without it.

Of course, a cue takes on whatever meaning you give to it when you teach your dog a new word or hand signal. We tend to use words that are meaningful to us (they are much easier to remember!) but if you wanted, you could teach your dog that “Banana!” means sit, “Orange” means down, “Pumpkin” means stay, and “Kiwi” means wait. As long as you teach your dog what behavior you want him to associate with your words and use them consistently, your dog will learn the meaning you’ve assigned to them and the cues will work for you.

Given that most trainers are well aware of this, it might surprise you to discover the intensity with which trainers sometimes debate the meaning of the cues “wait” and “stay.” The whole debate is silly; our cues mean whatever we teach our dogs they mean. I’ll explain how I use (and train) the wait and stay cues. Regardless of the words you choose to use and how you choose to use them, I hope you’ll discover the immense value of distinguishing between the wait and stay behaviors.

Cueing “Wait” and “Stay”

I teach that “Wait!” means pause. If I’m leaving the house, I have my dogs sit and wait at the door as I leave. No door darters here! They know that as soon as the door closes they are free to run around the house doing acceptable doggie things. Mostly they go lie down, after a few barks from Lucy the Corgi and Missy the Aussie, who are both routinely a little stressed about being left behind. I teach that “Stay!” means “stay in the exact position I left you in until I return to your side and release you” – the standard obedience competition-style stay.

I use “wait” everywhere. I hardly ever use “stay.” If some, but not all, of our dogs are coming with me, I might ask two to wait while I invite the other two to move through the door. (Body blocking is useful for this maneuver.) All my dogs sit and wait for their food bowls – an excellent good manners behavior and an important part of a “say please” program. This reminds them that it’s my food – the leader controls all the good stuff – and I’m sharing it with them out of the goodness of my benevolent-leader heart.

My dogs “wait” if they’re getting in or out of the car. They “wait” if we’re walking off-leash and they’re getting too far ahead of me on the path. They “wait” if they’re asking to hop up on the sofa or the bed and I don’t want them up yet. They “wait” on the stair landing so I can safely walk down the stairs without tripping over a jumble of dogs.

I teach my dogs the “wait” behavior using both food bowls and doors. In my basic adult and puppy good manners classes, I teach “wait” using food bowls only (we just don’t have enough doors to go around), and save “stay” for my upper level classes. While the stay behavior certainly has value, most dog owners mean “pause” when they say “stay,” rather than “stay in the exact position I left you in until I return and release you.” I want them to learn the difference between the two behaviors early on, and teach their dogs the easier, more useful one first.

Food Bowl Waits

The easiest way to teach “wait” is to help your dog succeed by shaping the behavior in small steps. Any time your dog stops succeeding, you’ve made the steps too big, or tried to take too many steps too quickly. Always seek to find the place where your dog wins and move forward from that place in tiny steps. (See “Fun Dog Training Techniques Using Shaping,” March 2006.)

Note: If your dog guards her food bowl aggressively, don’t teach this exercise until you have successfully modified the resource-guarding behavior. (See “Eliminate Aggressive Dog Guarding Behaviors,” September 2001.) With your dog sitting perpendicular to you, hold a bowl of your dog’s food at your chest level and tell her to “wait.” Move the food bowl (with food it in, topped with tasty treats) about 4 to 6 inches toward the floor. If your dog stays sitting, click your clicker (or use a verbal marker such as “Yes!” or a tongue click) and feed her a treat from the bowl.

If your dog gets up, cheerfully say “Oops!” and raise the bowl back up, and ask her to sit again. Your “Oops!” is what’s known as a “no-reward marker.” It lets your dog know that getting up from the sit makes the food bowl go away.

If she remains sitting, lower the bowl 4 to 6 inches again. Click and give her a treat if she’s still sitting.

If she gets up a second time, say “Oops!” and raise the bowl, and then have her sit. On your next try, only lower the bowl an inch or two. Click and treat for each success.

Repeat this step several times until your dog consistently remains sitting as you lower the bowl. Gradually move the bowl closer to the floor with succeeding repetitions until you can place it on the floor two feet away from your dog without her trying to get up or eat it. After each repetition, stand up straight and raise the bowl all the way back up.

Finally, place the bowl on the floor and give your dog permission to eat. After she has had a few bites, lift the bowl up and try again.

Repeat these steps, alternating between picking up the bowl before she eats and giving her permission to eat, until you can consistently place the bowl on the floor and she doesn’t move until you tell her she can. One of the great things about “food bowl waits” is that if you feed your dog twice a day, you already have two natural training sessions built into your schedule!

Wait at the Door

With your dog sitting at your side in front of a door, tell her to “wait.” (It works best if you use a door that opens away from you; if the door opens in, it’s much harder to use it to block the dog if she starts to go out, especially once you’re past the “open it a crack” stage.) Move your hand a few inches toward the doorknob. If your dog doesn’t move, click your clicker or use your verbal marker, and feed her a tasty treat. Repeat this step several times, moving your hand closer toward the doorknob in small increments, clicking and giving her a treat each time she stays sitting.

Remember that you’re shaping the behavior in tiny steps. If she gets up, say “Oops!” and have her sit, then try again. If she gets up two or three times in a row, you’re advancing too quickly; go back to moving your hand only a few inches toward the knob, and make your increments even smaller.

When she’ll stay sitting as you move your hand toward the door, try actually touching the knob. Click and give her a treat if she stays in place. Then jiggle the door knob. Click and reward her for not moving. Repeat several times, clicking and giving her a treat each time, before slowly opening the door a crack.

If your dog doesn’t move, click and treat. If she does get up, say “Oops!” and close the door. You’re teaching her that getting up makes the door close – if she wants the possible opportunity to go out, she needs to keep sitting.

Gradually open the door a bit more, an inch or two at a time. Any time she gets up, say “Oops!” and close the door, and try again. If you get two or three “oopses” in a row you’re doing too much; back up a few steps and progress more slowly. Click and reward her for not moving, several times at each step. When you can open the door all the way, take one step through it, stop, turn around and face your dog. Wait a few seconds, click, then return to your dog and give her a food reward.

When she’s really solid with you walking out the door, you can sometimes invite her to go out the door ahead of you, with you or after you – her “real life reward” – and sometimes walk through and close the door, leaving her inside as you would if you were leaving for work. Once the door has closed, she’s free to get up and move around.

One of the wonderful things about the “wait” cue is that dogs do seem to generalize it pretty easily. If you teach it at a door in your home, they’ll understand pretty quickly when you ask them to “Wait!” when you open the car door – a great safety behavior so your dog doesn’t jump out on the highway if you have to get out of the car on the side of the road to change a flat tire.

Once you’ve taught “wait” with the food bowl and door, try it on an on-leash walk. If your dog starts to move too far out in front of you, say “Wait!” If she doesn’t pause of her own accord, stop moving and the leash will stop her (don’t jerk her to a stop!). A few repetitions of this and she’ll figure it out in no time.

Teaching “Stay”

I really don’t use the formal stay very much. In fact, the only times I’ve asked any of my dogs to stay in the past two months were for a family dog-group photo and in a training class.

I teach “stay” as a much more precisely defined behavior than “wait.” It means, “Stay in the exact position I left you in, until I return to you and release you from the stay.”

There are three components to this behavior: duration, distraction, and distance. You will need to teach those three elements – the “three Ds” – separately.

1. Duration: Your dog will stay for however long you ask. Naturally, this is a shaped behavior – you’ll start with duration of a few seconds and gradually work your way up to longer and longer stays.

2. Distraction: Your dog will stay even if there are lots of fun and exciting things going on around her. Again, you shape this by starting with small distractions and moving up to bigger and better ones.

3. Distance: Your dog will stay even if you are very far away from her. It should be no surprise that you shape this one, too. Move away a very small distance and work up to longer distances.

Before you begin, decide what your “release” cue will be. This will be the word you use to tell your dog the stay is over and she must get up. A lot of trainers use the word “okay,” and like so many other things in dog training, there is disagreement over its use. Some argue that “okay” is used so much in conversation that your dog is likely to be released from a stay by accident. Other commonly used release words include “release,” “break,” “all done,” and “free” or “free dog.” I’ve used “okay” for more than 30 years and have yet to accidentally release my dog from a stay.

Duration of Time

Of necessity, you must start with the duration piece of the ” three Ds.” You can’t work on distance and distraction until your dog will stay for a reasonably extended period of time (30 to 60 seconds, minimum). Ask your dog to sit facing you. Wait a second or two, click, treat, and release. Be sure to deliver the treat directly to her mouth, at nose level, so she doesn’t jump up to get it before you release her!

If she gets up before you can click, say “Oops!” and whisk the treat behind your back and ask her to sit again. Repeat this step until she realizes that getting up makes the treat disappear. Ask her to sit again. If necessary, hold a treat at your chest, or even let her nibble on it right in front of her nose, to keep her sitting until you can click. When you know she’ll stay for at least two seconds, you can begin to say “Stay!” after you’ve asked her to sit, and before you click, treat, and release.

You can also use a hand prompt for the stay, if you wish, by holding out your hand with your palm toward your dog’s nose. If you do this, resist the temptation to hold your hand out for the entire stay – your dog will become dependent on your hand to maintain the stay behavior and it will be hard to “fade” it later.

Gradually shape for longer stays by extending the length of time you have her sit before you release her. As soon as you can, fade the use of the treat to keep her sitting. When she’ll stay for more than a few seconds, you can click and treat several times during the stay, so she understands that the click of the clicker doesn’t mean “release.” At first I repeat the stay cue after I click and treat, to help my dog succeed. Over time, I fade the use of the additional stay cues and the hand prompt.

I mentioned that the release cue means your dog must get up. This is the only way you know for sure she understands that she was released from the stay. If you use it to mean “You can get up if you want but you don’t have to,” you won’t know for sure if she heard or understood the release. If you make sure she gets up after the release, you’ll know she’s getting it.

Purposeful Training Distractions

I like to add distractions before I add distance, just in case distractions happen incidentally when I’ve moved away from my dog. To shape the distraction component, start small:

• Move one arm slightly. Click and treat.

• Move that arm a little more. Click and treat.

• Move both arms a little. Click and treat.

• Move both arms a little more. Click and treat.

• Hop once. Click and treat.

• Hop twice. Click and treat.

• Hop several times. Click and treat.

• Hop while moving your arms. Click and treat.

• Jog in place. Click and treat.

• Jog in place while moving your arms. Click and treat.

• Have a person walk by. Click and treat.

• Have a person walk by tossing a ball in the air. Click and treat.

• Have a person walk by bouncing a ball. Click and treat.

• Have a person jog by. Click and treat.

• Have a person walk by with another dog on leash. Click and treat.

The possibilities are endless!

Adding Distance to “Stay!”

Adding distance is the ultimate goal of training the stay behavior: to be able to walk away from your dog and leave her in a solid stay. We add distance last because the stay needs to be solid before you leave your dog, to maximize your likelihood of success. Again, add distance in small steps, to help your dog succeed.

I start with a half-step back, click, return to my starting position, and treat. Each time you leave your dog you’ll click when you’re away – sending your dog the message that she’s getting rewarded for staying when you’re a distance from her, but return all the way to her to deliver the treat, so you don’t inadvertently lure her out of position. One step at a time, move farther and farther away, move to the side, move behind her, until she’ll stay wherever you are. Then begin adding duration and distractions as well as distance, and you’re done! Almost.

The final step to a really solid stay is “stay with human out of sight.” The most common use of this behavior is for upper-level obedience competition – the Open Class in AKC obedience includes a three-minute out-of-sight sit-stay and a five-minute out-of-sight down-stay. Few owners expect their dogs to stay frozen in place in the real world while they go shopping, if for no other reason than the safety risk. Leaving a dog tied in public outside a store is risky, to say nothing of the huge risk of leaving them untethered and out of your sight.

To teach an out-of-sight stay, go back to shaping. Your dog is already solid on distance, distraction, and duration. As you practice your stays, occasionally step through the doorway and out of sight for a second, and return before your dog has time to realize you’re gone. Click, return, and treat. As you gradually increase the time you’re out of the room, you can set up a mirror at an angle that will let you observe the dog in your absence, so you don’t click while she’s making a mistake. Be careful – if your dog learns that she can watch you in the mirror, it will defeat the purpose of being out of sight.

Sit Means Stay?

Some trainers insist that a “Stay” cue is redundant. They teach their dogs that the sit cue means “Sit and stay sitting until I tell you to do something else.” If they tell a dog to “Down” it means “Lie down and stay down until I tell you to do something else.” Same with “Stand” or any other position cue.

One of the many things I love about positive training is that we now accept that there are many different (positive) ways to train. So yes, it is certainly possible to eliminate the “Stay” cue by teaching the dog that a position cue means to hold that position until I tell you to get up. I fully understand and respect the trainers who do it that way. More power to them – and I choose not to.

I like the wait and stay cues, and I also know that there are many time I ask my dogs to do something like “Go lie down” because I want them to go away from me and settle somewhere — and I know I won’t remember to tell them when it’s okay for them to move around again When I’ve asked for a stay I know I have to pay attention until I release them again, so I set us both up to succeed by teaching “stay” as a separate cue.

“Wait” is Most Useful

If I could only teach my dogs one of these behaviors, I’d choose “wait.” My assistant, Shirley, recently adopted a young Siberian Husky that she was fostering for the shelter in order to modify the pup’s resource-guarding behavior. Shirley brings Myah to work with her, and because people come and go all day, she has lots of opportunities to use the Wait cue, to remind Myah not to exit the office as people enter and leave. Shirley mentioned to me the other day that “Wait” was the most useful cue she’d taught her dog. I have to agree.

Pat Miller, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, is Whole Dog Journal’s Training Editor. Miller lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center. Pat is also author of The Power of Positive Dog Training; Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog; Positive Perspectives II: Know Your Dog, Train Your Dog; and Play with Your Dog.

The post Training the Dog to Stay appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

Behavior professionals often define “reliable” as responding appropriately to the cue at least 80 percent of the time. That means your dog sits at least 8 out of 10 times when you ask him to. It’s unreasonable to expect 100 percent reliability from your dog. After all, we humans are the ones with the bigger brains, and we aren’t perfectly reliable 100 percent of the time – so why should our dogs be? It’s quite possible that your dog sits reliably at home, in the environment where you spend the most time training. Sitting on cue at the training center, at the farmer’s market, at your daughter’s soccer game, when the grass is wet, or in an infinite number of other possible environments, may be an entirely different matter.

It takes commitment to your training program to achieve reliability under a wide variety of conditions. Let’s explore some of the elements that make for true reliability.

Generalization
This is the concept that trips up so many beginning dog owners/trainers. You work hard at home all week training your dog to perfection, but when you return to class you’re dismayed and disappointed when you try to show off your dog’s accomplishments and he won’t perform. It’s enough to make you give up on training. DON’T!

Maybe you missed the part where your trainer told you that as soon as your dog can do a behavior in the privacy of your own home you need to take the show on the road and practice in lots of other places. If you only practice “sit” in the kitchen in front of the refrigerator, then your dog thinks “Sit!” means “Sit in the kitchen in front of the refrigerator.” When you ask him to sit at the training center and he doesn’t respond you’re thinking, “Stupid dog, he knows what ‘sit’ means,” and he’s thinking, “But I can’t sit here, there’s no refrigerator!”

As soon as your dog will sit for you in one room of your house, practice in all the other rooms. Take him out in the backyard and practice there. Then in the front yard, on your walks around the block and at the dog park. Practice at the vet hospital, at the groomer’s, at your favorite pet supply store, and when you take him to visit friends and family. Practice everywhere!

You also need to practice when you are in different positions. If you usually train standing up, try asking him to sit while you’re sitting on the sofa (television commercials are a perfect training opportunity). Try it when you’re lying on the floor. Turn away from him and ask him to sit. You could even try it while you’re practicing various yoga positions!

It may seem like a lot of work at first, but the good news is that generalization, well, generalizes! The more new behaviors you make the effort to generalize, the easier it becomes for each new behavior along your training journey. Once you’ve generalized “sit” it will be a little easier for “down,” “wait,” “leave it,” “come,” and all the other good manners behaviors you’re trying to teach your dog.

“Proofing” for distractions
Proofing is really just solid training. It simply means teaching your dog to respond to your cues when there are other interesting, exciting, fun, sometimes scary, things happening around him – things we call “distractions.” The secret to proofing is convincing your dog that you are consistently more interesting, more fun, more exciting, and more reinforcing than the distractions. When I used to teach in Santa Cruz, California, I told my students they had to be more interesting than a dead seal. Here in Maryland it’s dead squirrels rather than dead seals, but the concept is the same: If you are wonderful and the training game is wonderful, your dog has no reason to ignore you in favor of dead smelly things – he’s already having as much fun as he could possibly imagine.

Patty Ruzzo, longtime renowned positive trainer who, sadly, passed away last summer, encouraged people to be “variable and unpredictable” as a way to be irresistibly interesting to their dogs. If your dog never knows what fun stuff you’re going to offer at any moment, he stays glued to you in eager anticipation. The tug toy or plush squeaky you could pull out of your pocket without notice is just as compelling as the squirrel who might run across his path.

To accomplish proofing, you’ll need to start in any new environment with a high rate of reinforcement (lots of rewards), and a wide variety of high value reinforcers (lots of different kinds of “good stuff”). Start your training routine with behaviors that are easy for your dog so he can succeed. When a distraction presents itself, reinforce promptly before he has a chance to lose his focus on you. When no distractions loom, randomly surprise your dog with an exciting reinforcer, as he’s come to anticipate. After a short heeling pattern, turn and run the other way (chase = reinforcer), or whip out a hidden rope toy for a quick game of tug. When you release him from a stay, scatter a handful of treats on the ground for a “find it” orgy, or toss a ball in the air for him to catch – have fun with your dog!

At first, keep training sessions short so you can end with success. Having fun can be very tiring; you want to end the session before your energy wanes or your dog’s enthusiasm wavers. As you both build stamina you can increase the length of your sessions and the duration of your dog’s focus.

When your dog has learned to stay very focused on you, you can add even more intense distractions. Owners who show their dogs in obedience and rally competitions want their dogs to be as close to 100 percent reliable as canines can accomplish. They often proof their dogs with distractions such as metal chairs falling over, cats running past, loose dogs, balloons popping, car keys jingling, hot dogs dropping, children running and yelling – anything that might happen at a show to disrupt their dogs’ performances.

Desensitization
Sights and sounds that your dog finds worrisome, disturbing, or downright scary are guaranteed to diminish his reliability. Lucy, our three-year-old Cardigan Corgi, is very sensitive to sounds. When she was a year old I took her through a clicker class at “A Click Above” in Leesburg, Virginia. The class was held in a large warehouse building. While her class was in session there was also an agility class happening at the other end of the training center, with loud crashes, bangs, and cheers and applause as dogs negotiated the equipment and their owners urged them on.

Lucy’s reliability, quite high at home, deteriorated significantly the first two or three weeks of class until she became desensitized to the sounds. At first, I had to just let her take a break whenever sound erupted from the other end of the room – she would shut down from stress and stop performing completely. Then she began to accept sounds of a fairly low intensity – a muffled bang of the teeter at the opposite end of the building, a person encouraging her dog at low to moderate volume.

I helped the process along with counter-conditioning – not just waiting for Lucy to habituate to the commotion, but actively encouraging a positive association with the sounds by feeding her high-value treats whenever a loud noise occurred. By week five she consistently performed her behaviors with 80 percent or better reliability.

Fading lures and prompts
A cue is the initial signal you give your dog to ask for a behavior. A lure is a food treat that you use to show your dog how to perform the behavior (such as putting a treat at the tip of his nose and moving it toward the floor to get him to lie down). A prompt is a signal, such as a movement of your hand, that you use after your cue to help your dog perform the requested behavior. (A lure is one form of prompt; not all prompts are lures.) To be really reliable, your dog needs to respond to your cue at least 80 percent of the time without additional lures or prompts.

If you ask your dog to lie down using the verbal cue “down,” your training goal is to have him respond without you having to point to the floor, bend over, or move a treat toward the floor. If you are still doing those things to get him to “down” then he’s not yet reliable, and you have more training to do.

It’s best to fade lures and prompts early with each new behavior. The longer you use them, the more you and your dog become dependent on them. This means you’ll always have to have a treat in your hand. Most dog owners don’t want that. As soon as you can easily lure your dog into position, start fading the lure as follows:

• Give the cue “Down.”

• Pause 2 to 4 seconds to let him hear and think about the cue.

• Lure him down.

• Repeat.

• If your dog doesn’t catch on and start lying down for the verbal cue after 3 to 4 repetitions, vary the length of the pause after the cue. Sometimes lure quickly, sometimes wait several seconds.

• With subsequent repetitions, use the lure less and less, until you’re just barely suggesting a motion with your lure. You’re trying to jumpstart his brain – getting him to think for himself instead of waiting for you to help him out.

Some trainers fade the lure by replacing the treat with a “down” signal with an empty hand (a prompt), then treating from the other hand. You can do this – and then you still have to go through the same process to fade the prompt. Of course, if you shape behaviors instead of luring them, you can skip fading altogether – there’s nothing to fade! (See “Fun Training Techniques for You and Your Canine!,” March 2006.)

Decreasing the rate of reinforcement
When you first teach your dog a new behavior, you use a continuous schedule of reinforcement. Every time your dog sits at your request, he gets a click and treat. When he sits reliably (8 out of 10 times) you are ready to start using a variable, intermittent reinforcement schedule. You will still treat every time you click, but occasionally you’ll just say “good dog!” and skip the click and treat.

Be sure that you truly vary your reinforcement; dogs quickly discern a pattern – “Oh, she clicks only every fourth time!” – and won’t perform as well for the three times in between clicks. Emulate a slot machine; he never knows when to expect the next payoff, so he’ll keep playing, hoping the next “sit” will win the jackpot.

Remember that if you click, you must give your dog a treat. Recent research conducted by Dr. Jesus Rosales-Ruiz at the University of North Texas conclusively demonstrates that the quality of performance deteriorates rapidly if you click without treating. You can, however, gradually stretch your rate of reinforcement thinner and thinner. At first you skip a click only occasionally, but over time you can skip more.

An intermittent schedule of reinforcement makes a behavior very durable – meaning it’s hard to extinguish (make it go away). It teaches your dog that if he keeps working, eventually a payoff will come. This enables you to have your dog perform several behaviors in a row without having to stop and treat each time – an important skill if you really want to impress friends and family with your trick routine – or enter canine competitions.

Stimulus control
Discussed at length in the October issue, stimulus control is the icing on the reliability cake. Incorporating the concepts above will help you attain this worthy goal. When your dog is truly under stimulus control he will:

• Always perform the behavior when you ask him to (sit when you say sit).

• Never perform the behavior in a training session if you haven’t asked him (never sit if you haven’t asked him to sit).

• Never perform the behavior when you ask him to perform a different behavior (never sit when you ask him to down).

• Never perform a different behavior when you ask him for the behavior (never down when you ask him to sit).

If you’re not quite there yet, start working on generalization, proofing, desensitization, fading lures and prompts, and decreasing your rate of reinforcement. You and your dog have work to do!

Pat Miller, CPDT, is Whole Dog Journal’s Training Editor. Miller lives in Hagerstown, Maryland, site of her Peaceable Paws training center, with her husband Paul. Pat is also the author of The Power of Positive Dog Training and Positive Perspectives: Love Your Dog, Train Your Dog. Thanks to trainer Sarah Richardson, of Chico, California, for demonstrating the techniques in this article.

The post Increase Your Dog’s Reliability appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

We were on our usual morning neighborhood walk. All of a sudden, three children on bikes sped past us on the sidewalk, racing each other on the way to school. The faster and older children raced around the corner, leaving the younger bicyclist in their dust. Just then, the young biker skidded to the side and landed hard on the concrete about 20 feet in front of me.

The boy started crying. I quickly told my dogs to down and stay, and raced up to the child to see if he needed help.

I was not sure what my dogs would actually do. Would they stay as we had trained and practiced? Would they follow me down the street to see the crying boy? Would they venture into the neighbor’s yard after a rogue cat? All seemed very possible – after all, they were rowdy young dogs and the stay behavior, while practiced regularly, had never been really put to the test.

But they did stay for several minutes, just as we’d practiced over and over. I have to admit that I was a little more than surprised and impressed! (By the way, the boy was fine. His hands and knees were slightly skinned, but after a few short minutes, he hopped back on his bike and raced off to school.)

That day taught me what an important foundation behavior stay can be. Obviously, in a minor emergency, a stay is extremely helpful. But a solid stay can make a difference in other facets of life, too:

• Stay is a very useful behavior in everyday situations, like when you’re walking and need to tie your shoe, or if at a pet supply store and need to sign a charge slip.

• Stay helps develop your dog’s self-control and helps a dog settle during exciting times such as when you are fixing dinner or when you are gathering the leash and treats for a walk.

• Stay can be useful at the vet and during grooming.

• It is an essential behavior for dog sports such as competitive obedience and agility.

• It can be a life-saving behavior. For example, a good stay can prevent a dog from racing into the street.

The many faces of stay
What exactly is a stay? It means different things to different people. In fact, there are many “versions” of stay. You’ll need to identify the different ways you will use stay and train for each.

Stay can apply to different positions or places. For example, you may have a sit/stay, a down/stay, and a stand/stay. You may also teach your dog to go to his bed and stay, or to stay in a certain spot while you prepare his food.

Stay can also apply to a mind-set. Many people use stay to mean, “Relax and hang out.” Others such as agility competitors may use stay to mean, “Don’t move, but be alert for the next cue.”

Here are some common stay variations:

• The basic stay: I teach the basic stay as the dog remaining in position and place (sit, down, or stand) until released. For example, when asked to sit or sit/stay, the dog will put his bottom on the ground and remain there until I say “Okay.”

• Wait: While stay is a behavior that asks the dog not to move out of position or place, wait is a more casual version that can mean “hang out patiently for a moment or two, but stay alert because your turn is coming.” I use wait at doorways, for example.

• Go relax or go to bed: This type of stay is less about position and more about place and mind-set. Teach the dog to go to his or her bed or other place and hang out there. This can be taught with or without a distinct release.

• Dog sport stay: For those who play agility or obedience, a ritualized stay behavior is part of both sports. Using a specific cue, signal, or body language to initiate the stay and a specific and unique release cue can aid in a reliable dog sport stay.

Getting a reliable stay can be a challenge, and one of the reasons is that the variations are often taught in a blur – the dog is sometimes asked to stay in one position, sometimes asked to stay in one place, sometimes allowed to leave the position or place without the release, sometimes required to stay in the position until the release, sometimes released to a verbal cue, sometimes released to a hand signal . . . no wonder the dog becomes confused!

Before you start training the stay, develop a distinct picture in your mind of the behavior you are training. For the rest of this article, I’ll use “stay” for the basic stay described above: When you are asking your dog to put her body in a certain position (sit, down, stand) and stay in place until she is formally released.

The controversial cue
When you ask a dog for a stationary behavior (like sit, down, or stand) the expectation is that the dog will stay in that position until released. Essentially, the sit cue means, “Sit and stay there.” So do you need or use a separate stay cue?

While it may seem unnecessary, having a distinct cue for stay can be advantageous in certain situations:

• If you have trained different types of stays, using a distinct cue for each can help your dog understand what is expected.

• Using a stay cue or word can act as a back up or reassurance for your dog in difficult or emergency situations. For example it can mean, “Keep on sitting. You are doing great.”

• If you use the word “stay” with several positions (sit, down, and stand, for example), you may be able to easily transfer it to new or unique positions. For example, if the vet needs your dog to lie on his side, you can gently turn him to the side and then give the “stay” cue to help him know that you would like him to remain in that position while the vet pokes and prods.

• If you are not as consistent as you should be about using a distinct release from a sit or down, having a stay cue can be helpful clarification for you and your dog.

Consider getting the best of both worlds. Teach your dog that sit, down, and stand mean hang out in that position until you are released, and later, once the dog knows the behavior, you can add in a secondary cue or hand signal for stay.

Training the stay
When you first teach your dog to sit, you “mark” her performance of the desired behavior with a click! of a clicker or word such as “Yes!” and give her a treat the moment her bottom hits the ground. Most dogs will quickly place their bottoms on the ground, and then pop up the minute they hear the click! Here’s how you move from a brief sit (or down or stand) to a solid sit/stay:

1. When you ask your dog to sit, gradually extend the time between the dog placing his bottom on the ground and when you click or “yes.” For example, the dog sits and you count a half a second, then click or “yes” and treat; the dog sits, you count one second, then click and treat; the dog sits, you count two seconds then click and treat. Work up to 10 seconds.

2. At this point, alternate longer and shorter times between treating. For example click or “yes” and treat for 10 seconds, 3 seconds, 7 seconds, etc.

3. If your dog pops up, don’t stress! In the process of learning to stay in position, your dog may experiment a little. He may pop out of the position, come up to you, and wonder if it’s treat time. With most beginning behaviors, like sit, down, or come, the dog gets the reward when he is near you or when he comes up to you. So it is understandable that he might give that a try while he is learning to stay.

What can you do? Simply ask your dog to try again and make your criteria easier! This is critical. If your dog breaks the stay twice in a row, or if you are getting fewer than four out of five correct responses, make it easier and build up slower.

In addition, be patient and don’t use verbal scolding or “corrections.” Correcting a dog for leaving a stay may backfire, making him insecure and less likely to succeed the next time.

When he can successfully hold the sit at least four out of five times in a training session, then you can make it a little harder by extending the time you ask him to stay. Over the course of several training sessions, gradually increase the time until your dog can comfortably hold the sit for 30 seconds.

4. Don’t worry if your dog pops up after the click. If you would like your dog to stay until you give a distinct release, try this:

Click and immediately place the treat right under the dog’s nose so that he doesn’t need to get up to eat the treat. This placement of the treat will reinforce the position. In fact, if you follow the click with several treats in a row, your dog will learn to stay in position to see what is coming next! Follow the click and treat with a distinct release such as “Okay!”

5. At this point, you can also add in a hand signal or verbal cue for “stay.” Ask your dog to sit, say “stay” or give your hand signal, and continue practicing as noted above.

The three D’s
When training the stay, it can be very helpful to work on the three D’s: duration, distance, and distractions – separately. By consciously building the three D’s into your training, your dog’s stay will become increasingly reliable.

• Duration is simply how long your dog is doing the behavior. You’ve already been working on teaching your dog to hold the sit/stay for 30-second durations. Think about how long you would ideally like your dog to hold a stay. For a sit position, I suggest one to three minutes; for a down position, 2 to 5 minutes.

Note: Some people like to train their dog’s to hold a down for up to 30 minutes. I personally believe this is too long to comfortably be in one position without moving. If you would like your dog to be able to stay for 15, 20, or 30 minutes, consider teaching him to “go to bed,” where he can stay in a place for a longer period of time, but move his body position for comfort!

• Distance refers to both how far away you are from your dog when he is staying. Along with training your dog to stay while you move away, teach your dog to understand that stay means to stay even when your body is in a different position, such as if you turn away, kneel down, or step to the side.

When your dog can hold the sit for 10 to 30 seconds, start varying your distance from him and body position. Take a half step back, turn your body to the side, step slightly to your dog’s side, move your head, lower your body, etc. As your dog becomes more confident, you can gradually increase the distance. At advanced levels, you can teach your dog to stay while you step out of sight.

In the early stages of training, work on distance and duration separately. For example, if you are training for duration, work on increasing the time but keep the distance and your body position within your dog’s comfort level. If you are working on distance, move away from your dog, but only stay at a distance for a few seconds before returning. As your dog’s skill increases, you can combine the two with ease.

Note: To prevent your dog’s anticipation of the release (and his consequently breaking the stay and running to you for a treat) go back to your dog and click and treat while he is still in the position.

• Distraction training is equally important. Once your dog has the basics of sit/stay, begin training in different locations. Each location has different distractions, so you will need to lower your criteria.

For example, if your dog can sit/stay for two minutes in your living room, expect to begin with just three or four seconds in a new location. Start with easy locations, such as your kitchen, living room, and backyard. As your dog’s ability to succeed improves, practice on your daily walks and other places you visit frequently.

At first, add only distractions you can control, so you can stop the distraction if it is setting your dog up to fail. Start small, by waving your arms or jumping up and down, for example, and build slowly.

Eventually, you may need to practice with the things that tend to distract your dog most, such as people walking near your dog, other dogs moving by, or a ball bouncing across the ground. Again, for the best chance of success, set up situations in which you can control the distractions until your dog consistently succeeds at that level. With enough practice, your dog will learn to stay even in the face of the toughest “real-world” distractions.

The secrets of success
The secrets to a successful and reliable stay: Be realistic! Be consistent!

Work with your dog’s stay training at a level he or she can realistically handle. Pushing your dog past his abilities (so that he breaks the stay) is the fastest way for the behavior to fall apart. The more this happens, the harder it will be for your dog to have the confidence needed for a reliable stay. So if your dog breaks his stay, make it easier and build on successes!

Be very consistent when you are training the stay. If your dog is having trouble with the training, make it easier and move forward more gradually. For obvious reasons, calm, confident dogs may progress more quickly. But with patience and consistency, even high energy and insecure dogs can develop a rock-solid stay!

The post Training a Dependable “Stay” appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

RUNAWAY DOG OVERVIEW

– Make sure your fence is secure before you bring that new dog home. Even if it keeps your current dogs safely confined, a canine newcomer may have new talents that test your confinement system.

– Be careful any time you put your dog in a new containment area. Check the area first to ensure it is secure, and watch him after you put him in to be sure he’s not testing the fence.

– Consider the safest approach – always keep your dog indoors when you’re not home.

Otis the Bloodhound was an opportunistic runaway dog. I discovered his talent one day while working at the front desk at the Marin Humane Society, early in my animal protection career. A woman came in asking if we might know where a Bloodhound lived, because he kept visiting her house every day. He was charming, she said, but she worried that he might get hit by a car.

A Bloodhound owner myself at the time, I was curious where this errant Bloodhound might live; it’s not a very common breed. But when I asked the woman for her address, I was dismayed to hear she lived around the corner from me. Could it possibly be MY safely fenced dog who was making house calls around the neighborhood?

It was, indeed. Unbeknownst to me, Otis had discovered a hole in the fence behind some dense bushes. He waited every morning until I was gone, crawled out the hole, spent his day visiting neighbors, and returned home in time to greet me innocently at my back door.

I was lucky. Otis wasn’t a dedicated escape artist – a solid patch to the fence ended his wanderings. Other owners often work much harder to keep their canine fugitives safe at home.

Dogs Who Become Skilled Escape Artists

Roaming is an innate behavior for dogs. They are hunters and scavengers, and left to their own devices will wander a territory far larger than the average backyard. Escaping, however, is a learned behavior. Dogs who are given the opportunity to escape often do. Once they figure out how, they will try harder and harder, even when the fence is belatedly fortified. Dogs who become escape artists hone their skills to a fine edge. Keeping them safely confined at home where they belong can be a huge challenge. Our nation’s animal shelters are full of escape artists.

The best avenue for managing a dog’s wanderlust is to prevent him from wandering in the first place. The problem starts when you bring home the new puppy before you are fully prepared, promising to put up that fence before Rover grows up.

A tiny puppy won’t wander far from the back stoop, even when you leave him out on his own for a bit. Before you know it, though, Rover is six months old, already has a habit of making neighborhood rounds, and you still haven’t finished the fence. When Mr. Jones from down the road calls you up and threatens to shoot Rover if he chases his goats one more time, you rush to the hardware store to buy some metal fence posts and hog wire. Hastily you throw up a pen in the backyard that attaches to the back deck. “That should hold him until I get the rest of those post holes dug!” you think.

As you settle yourself back on the sofa to watch the last half of the football game, Rover is already testing the fence; he’s late for his daily visit to the Smith’s garbage can! He checks out the gate latch, but it doesn’t yield to his tentative pawing and gnawing. He trots around the inside of the enclosure, searching for a way out.

In the far corner he finds a three-inch gap between the wire and the ground and pokes his nose under. Getting his nose on the other side of the fence encourages him to try harder. He starts to worm his way under. The soft ground gives way beneath his claws. He digs harder. Before you can say “end zone,” he’s free, headed for the Smith’s omelet scraps and bacon drippings. You eventually retrieve him and fill the hole, but the damage is done. Rover is on his way to a lifetime career as a master escape artist.

Preferred Escape Methods Depend on the Dog’s Breed

Whether your dog’s escape efforts focus on tooth or claw or he excels in feats of aerial accomplishment depends both on genetics and learning. Dogs who are genetically programmed to dig, such as Terriers, are likely to burrow under the fence, especially if a handy soft spot presents itself.

If, however, the first weak spot in the fence is a loose board, we can inadvertently train Rover and our Terrier to eat their way through fences, turning them into beavers rather than burrowers. Once Rover discovers that the fence is breachable, he’ll test every spot where his teeth can gain purchase, and you’ll forever spend your football-watching time patching his holes.

Herding dogs such as Border Collies and sporting breeds like Labradors have a natural ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Given the opportunity, they’ll often make jumping fences their specialty.

However, you can inadvertently teach a less-athletic dog to bound over fences by starting small.

Confident that a four-foot fence will contain the Beagle-mix you just adopted from the shelter, you leave him in the backyard and go off to work. That night, your new dog greets you in the driveway after terrorizing cottontails in the neighbors’ woods all day. You raise the fence six inches, positive that this will hold him. Flush from his exploits the day before, your dog has to struggle a little harder to make it over 4’6″, but nothing breeds success like success. A little extra oomph, and he’s out again for another rousing day of bunny-bashing.

You raise the fence to five feet this time, absolutely sure there’s no way he can get over that. But again, even more confident of his jumping prowess, your dog tries a wee bit harder, and he’s up and over. There’s a good chance that if you had started with a five-foot fence Snoopy never would have tried to jump it at all. What you’ve done is taught him to jump higher and higher, consistently reinforcing his belief that if he just tries hard enough he can make it.

Bolters have learned to watch for a moment of human inattention, then charge through the tiniest crack in the gate or door.

While the other escape methods work best in the absence of humans, bolting requires the unintentional complicity of the visitor who doesn’t know (or the family member who forgets) that Dash must be manacled and hog-tied before a door is opened to the outside world.

Once again, prevention is the better part of valor. If Dash is taught from early days to wait politely at a door until invited out, he won’t learn the fine art of door-darting.

Preventing Your Dog from Getting Out

You’ve heard this from me before, and you’ll hear it from me again. It’s always easier to prevent a behavior problem from happening than it is to fix it after the fact. There’s no excuse for letting a puppy learn how to be an escape artist. Prevention measures are relatively simple. Don’t let your puppy learn that roaming is rewarding – keep him at home, and stop any embryonic escape attempts in their tracks by taking the following prophylactic measures:

• Provide a safe, secure enclosure. Before the new puppy comes home, make sure your fence is flush to the ground, or even buried a few inches. Check for rotten spots, and crawl behind shrubs and brush to look for holes or loose boards.

• Go overboard on fence height. Raise the fence to at least five feet for a small dog (perhaps higher for very athletic small dogs like Jack Russell Terriers) and six feet for medium to large dogs. Make sure there are no woodpiles, doghouses, deck railings, or other objects close enough to the fence to provide a launch pad.

• Teach your pup to wait at doors until invited through. Use “Wait!” at every door to the outside world, every time you open it, whether you are going to let him go through it or not (see “Training Your Dog to Stay Using Cues,” May 2001).

• Install dog-proof latches on gates. There’s no point in waiting until after he’s been hit by a car to discover that Rover can learn to work the latch. In fact, a padlock will prevent accidental release from the outside by a visitor or intruder at the same time it keeps Rover from practicing his latch-opening skills.

• Minimize male dogs’ motivation to roam by neutering at a young age (eight weeks or not long thereafter), and provide ample exercise and companionship at home (see “When is a Good Time to Spay or Neuter?” June 2000).

• Consider keeping the dog indoors when you’re not home. Boredom and loneliness provide strong motivation to escape, and Rover has plenty of time to plan and execute the great escape when you are not there to interrupt unwanted behaviors such as digging under and chewing through fences.

Retraining Dogs Who Run Away

What if it’s too late for prevention? Maybe you adopted Rover from the shelter after his last adopter taught him to jump a six-foot fence, and then returned him because he kept escaping. Do you give up on Rover, too? Not at all. There are lots of steps you can take to fortify your defenses and keep your escape artist at home, depending on his proclivities.

• Bounders: If you have a scaler, who hooks his nails in the chain link and climbs up and over, you can cover the inside of the fence with a flat, solid surface so his nails can’t get a purchase. A relatively new material, FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) that is now regularly used in animal shelters may withstand tooth and nail, but it may be prohibitively expensive if you have a large fenced area.

Or, you can install a “roof” at the top of the fence that comes in at a 90-degree angle; he won’t be able to reach behind his head and pull himself backward over the ledge when he gets to the top. Some people use wire mesh to create an angled-in barrier – similar to those at the top of prison fences, only without the razor wire! – that impedes jumping.

Another option that I’ve seen work is to top your fences with a “roll bar” that prevents your dog from getting a purchase at the top of the fence and pulling himself over. This is easily installed by running a wire or rope through sections of fat PVC pipe and hanging them along the top of the fence.

If you have a sailor, who gets a good running start and clears the fence with the greatest of ease, plant a hedge or place some other obstacle in his takeoff zone, interrupting his stride and making it impossible for him to jump. If you put your last fence extension inward at a 45-degree angle you may also fool his eye and foil his leap.

• Bolters: The dog who bolts through open doors needs an airlock – a system of double gates so that if he makes it through one, he is still contained behind the next. Self-closing gate springs are a must, to prevent visitors and family members from being careless twice in a row. A good solid recall – teaching Dash to come when called – taught with positive methods, of course, is an excellent backup plan for the door darter (see “Why a Reliable Recall is So Important,” December, 2000). Family members also need to remember not to panic and chase when Dash slips out – a good game of keep-away just makes door-darting more fun for the dog.

• Burrowers: If you’re going to bury the fence for a dedicated burrower, bury deep – at least six inches to a foot. If you bury it two inches, you’ll just teach him to dig deeper. You might do better setting the fence in cement, or lining your fence trench with large rocks or small boulders. You definitely need a cement pad at the gate, since you can’t bury the gate.

• Beavers: If Bucky has learned to gnaw his way through your fence you could be in big trouble. Lining the inside of the fence with heavy-duty wire – like chain link – may stop him. It may not, however, and he may break teeth in his attempts to eat his way out. Sheets of FRP are good for this also. Cement block walls can be effective, but may not be aesthetically pleasing. Ceramic tiles can be glued to the blocks to make them more attractive, but they’re not cheap.

A Shocking Solution?

Many dog owners are turning to electric shock collars to keep their dogs contained. Non-visible electronic fences are quite the rage, especially in communities where shortsighted homeowner regulations prohibit the installation of physical fences. Many dog owners are pleased with the results – no unsightly fence to impede their view of the sunset, and Rover magically stays within his delineated boundaries. Many dog owners are not so pleased. There are a myriad of things that can fail with non-visible shock fencing systems. Here are just a few:

■ For most dogs, there is a stimulus strong enough to entice the dog through the fence. For some, it might be that bunny or squirrel venturing a tad too close. Once the dog is outside the fence line, he’s rarely motivated to brave the shock to get back in.

■ Some dogs learn that the shock stops once they cross the line. Dogs who are determined to escape can learn to grit their teeth and risk one shock to get to the other side.

■ Shock collars are a punishment tool, and their use risks all the potential negative side effects of punishment. They can cause fear and/or aggression. If a dog receives a shock while a child is walking by, he may associate the shock with the child and become aggressive toward children. Or mail carriers. Or joggers. Or other dogs. Some dogs have become terrified and refuse to go into their own yards after receiving shocks from the collar during the training process.

■ Electronic equipment can fail. Batteries die, and when the dog no longer hears the warning beep he is free to come and go as he pleases. Some collars have malfunctioned and delivered repeated shocks to hapless, helpless dogs until their owners arrived home from work at the end of the day to rescue them from their torture.

■ The non-visible fence does not, of course, provide the dog with any protection from intruders, so Rover is at the mercy of other dogs or humans who may enter the yard and do bad things.

■ As an advocate of positive, dog-friendly training methods, I simply reject the idea of shocking dogs around the neck for our convenience. I would much prefer a chain-link dog pen with a top, set on a cement pad, for the master escape artist.

Most dog owners want to be able to give Rover the freedom to play in the yard, however, so when all else fails, I am a bit less loath to use electric shock in a situation where the dog learns by doing. I have, on rare occasion, suggested the use of a single strand of battery-powered electric fence wire, installed at nose level on the inside of the physical fence.

While a shock to the neck that comes out of nowhere seems to confuse and even terrify a good number of dogs, an “ouch!” to the nose when they touch something seems to make more sense. After one, or maybe two touches, most dogs leave the fence alone without apparent long-term psychological trauma. A last resort, perhaps, and a very aversive one, but preferable to being hit by a car.

Any Dog Can Escape a Yard

I’m far more careful now than I was in the Otis days; my dogs are never left in the backyard if no one is home to monitor their activities. Still, that doesn’t mean that accidents don’t happen. Just the other day, my phone rang. I answered, and it was Helen, my assistant, calling from the training center a few hundred feet from the house.

“I have Lucy,” she said.

WHAT?!

Lucy was supposed to be safely in the backyard! I dashed out to find the back gate open – left that way by the usually-very-careful guy who mows our lawn. Tucker was safely indoors, Dubhy and Katie were still in the backyard – only Lucy had made the great escape, and she hadn’t gone far.

It can happen to any of us. I was just thankful someone was home.

The post Runaway Dog: Preventing Your Dog From Escaping appeared first on Whole Dog Journal.

Nowhere, perhaps, is the difference between positive and compulsion training more beautifully obvious than with the “sit.” A considerable part of the first session of many compulsion classes is spent teaching owners how to force their dogs to sit by jerking, pushing, and manipulating various body parts. I spend my first night of class talking with my students, explaining how (and why) we are going to train our dogs without using force. Meanwhile my demonstration dog for the night – an obstreperous, untrained dog provided by one of my students, a dog whom I have never met before – emphatically offers sit after sit after sit. Magic? Not really – just an application of the positive reinforcement elements of “operant conditioning,” a training technique that teaches a dog to voluntarily offer the behaviors that we want.

Magic Markers

The key to positive training is remembering to notice and reward the dog when he does something right. A dog sits dozens of times a day, all on his own. If we make it a point to reward him a good percentage of the times when he does, he’ll do it even more, because all living beings repeat behaviors that are rewarding to them. This is why so many dogs jump up on people. We tend to ignore dogs when they’re sitting quietly, and pay attention to them when they jump up. They get rewarded for jumping, so they jump more.

A reward marker is a word or a sound that tells a dog the instant he has exhibited a desirable behavior. Clickers are commonly used as reward markers because the Click! sound is so distinctive and consistent. Reward markers can also consist of the word “Yes!” (or any other word you choose), a “mouth click,” the click of a ball-point pen, or any other consistent, distinct sound. The Click! or “Yes” (or other reward marker) is a promise to the dog that a treat is forthcoming, and every Click! earns a treat.

Positive trainers use treats as rewards because food is a primary motivator – all living things need food to survive – and because a dog can quickly eat his treat and get back to the fun of training. It is possible to train without reward markers and treats by using toys, play, petting, and/or praise as rewards; but in my experience, it’s less effective and less efficient.

Let’s take a look at my first-night demo dog and see how the reward marker works.

I begin class by introducing myself and talking about the philosophy of positive dog training. While I do that, I also have the demo dog’s leash in my hand. I test his response to the clicker by clicking it in my pocket to muffle the sharpness of the sound. Then I feed him an irresistible treat. I click and treat several more times and then, assuming he doesn’t react badly to the sound of the clicker, I bring it out of my pocket and continue the clicks and treats while I talk. Usually, it takes no more than a half-dozen treats to convince the dog to rivet his attention on me.

Once this happens, I stop the constant flow of treats, and hold one up near my chest. Often, the dog will try to jump up for the treat. If he does, I simply whisk the treat out of sight and turn away, without making eye contact or paying him any attention. Eventually he will sit, because it’s easier to look up at me (and the treat) when he’s sitting. The instant he does, I Click! and treat.

It takes most dogs less than three minutes to become sitting machines, offering sit after sit in order to make the Click! happen and earn the treat reward; this is the secret of the “magic marker.” The dog learns that he makes the Click! and treat happen. Trainers jokingly call this the “Helen Keller moment.” Once we open that door, the dog is ready for training.

Putting Sit on Cue

Although the class listens to my comments while I work with the designated demo dog, they also watch his miraculous transformation from an out-of-control busy bee, to sitting at my feet, paying rapt attention to me. His behavior, more than any words I could speak, underscores the effectiveness of positive training.

At this point, I point out that I have not yet asked the dog to sit. With operent conditioning, we get the behavior first, then we add the verbal cue. There is no point in using a word to ask the dog to do something when he has no idea what it means. Once we know we can get the dog to offer the behavior, then we add the word so that he can start to make the association between the word and the behavior.

This is easy with the sit. I take a step backward. The dog gets up to follow his newfound treat machine. I stop, and he sits to make the Click! happen. As his bottom touches the floor I say “Sit!” then Click! and treat. I am telling him – in verbal shorthand – that the behavior he just did is called “Sit.” I repeat this several times, and then I start saying “Sit” just before he sits. By watching his body language, it’s easy for me to predict when he is about to sit. Now I am teaching him that the “Sit!” sound precedes his sit behavior. I click and treat every time.

I suggest to the class that an uneducated observer would think that the dog was responding to the verbal cue when he’s really not. I am predicting the dog’s sit behavior with the word. He does not yet understand that the word is his prompt to sit.

We test this assertion. I ask the dog to sit at a time when his body language tells me he is not about to sit – he is distracted, sniffing the floor, or looking away from me. Lo and behold, he doesn’t sit! I explain that he has not “refused” to sit on cue – he simply didn’t understand the slightly different context. I don’t nag at him with several repetitions of the “Sit” cue. Rather, I get his attention, and when I can see that he is ready to sit, I say the word. He promptly responds. The class gets the message.

Downhill from Here

Teaching the down is not quite as easy as the sit, since dogs are less apt to “offer” the down behavior in a training session than a sit. Once again, a food-treat motivator comes in handy. You can lure your dog into a down by putting a treat in front of his nose and moving it slowly toward the ground. Lots of dogs will follow the lure easily and end up in a perfect down on the first try. Click! and treat!

Some dogs won’t, however. They may not understand what you want them to do, and so they stand up when you try to lure them down. Some dogs are reluctant to lie down because they feel more vulnerable in the down position. In these cases you can “shape” the behavior. Shaping means breaking the final desired behavior into small steps and clicking and rewarding the dog repeatedly at each step along the way. Here is one way to shape the down:

1. Have the dog sit facing you. Hold the treat in front of his nose and move it two inches toward the ground. Click! and treat. Repeat several times until he shows no sign of trying to stand when you move the treat.

2. Have the dog sit. Hold the treat in front of his nose and move it five inches toward the ground. Click! and treat. Repeat several times until he shows no sign of trying to stand when you move the treat. If he does get up, say “Oops!” in a cheerful tone of voice, and try again. If he consistently gets up, go back to two inches, and when he can do two inches without getting up, try three inches. (When your dog has trouble with the transition from one step to the next, make the steps even smaller.)

3. Keep moving the treat closer to the floor until your dog’s nose is touching the ground. Now move the treat away from his nose along the floor, toward you, a few inches. Click and treat when he follows it with his nose. Gradually move the treat farther and farther away from his nose, clicking and treating as he follows without getting up. Eventually he will move one paw forward as he follows the lure. Click! and treat, then continue to lure him with the goodie until he is all of the way down. Click! and jackpot! Give him several treats, one after the other, while you tell him what a wonderful dog he is.

Bingo – you’ve done it! Or rather, the dog has done it. Once. Fortunately, it’s usually much easier the second time. Keep practicing until he will lie down for you easily when you lure him, and then start adding the verbal cue, “Down,” as he does it. Remember, you’re not asking him to “Down” yet, you’re telling him that the behavior he is doing is called “Down.”

As soon as your dog has had an opportunity to hear the word with the behavior a half-dozen times or more, you can use the word first, then lure to help him lie down.

Fading the Lure

Now comes the real challenge – getting your dog to lie down on the verbal cue without the lure. You must “fade” the lure – that is, reduce his (and your) dependence on the treat to get the “Down.”

Have your dog sit facing you, and hold the treat behind your back. Say “Down” in a cheerful tone of voice. He probably will sit and look at you, since he doesn’t know what the word means yet. Give him several seconds to think about it, then put the treat in front of his nose and lure him down. Click! and treat. Then do it again.

Watch him closely when you say “Down.” If he looks at the ground or makes a tentative motion as if to lie down, it’s almost as if he’s asking you if that’s what he’s supposed to do. Tell him “Good boy!” and quickly lure him the rest of the way down for a Click! and treat. If you encourage his tentative movements, you will speed up his response to the verbal cue.

Another way to fade the lure is to use smaller and smaller motions toward the ground with the treat until you’re not moving it at all. Or, motion toward the ground with your empty hand; Click! when he goes down and feed him the treat.

How quickly you accomplish the verbal down depends on the dog and you. I have seen dogs go down on a verbal cue in as few as three repetitions, and I have had students who still need the lure at the conclusion of a six-week class. Timing and persistence are key. If you frequently forget to pause after the verbal cue before you lure, your dog will focus on the lure, and won’t learn the cue.

Formula for Learning

Remember that the more complex a behavior is, the more likely it is that you will have to shape it. The better you are at breaking the behavior into small steps, the easier it is for your dog to understand what you want. Once he figures out that he makes the Click! happen, you can use the same training formula to teach any behavior. Figure out how to get the behavior, Click! it, and put it on cue. Simple. Not always easy – but simple.

The most valuable aspect of this training method is that it teaches a dog how to learn. This is a skill that the two of you can rely on for the rest of his training career – whether for formal competition, or to perform new tricks to impress your friends. His ability and interest in learning behaviors that please you will also help make him a more enjoyable housemate and companion.

Pat Miller is a freelance author and a professional dog trainer in Chattanooga, Tennessee. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.

Thanks to trainer Sandy Thompson, of Sirius Puppy Training in Berkeley, California, for her help demonstrating these techniques in these photographs.

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