# Training Stay



## Tiffany05 (Feb 17, 2011)

So I've watched videos saying that first you work on duration and then distance. I can get my puppy to stay for about a minute between a treat, but she doesn't understand the hand signal (or command) for stay or free at all yet. Do I wait till she understands those commands, before I go for distance? Do I still need a longer duration? I know this is a very amateur question, but I just feel like I'm screwing this simple trick up.


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## Blazings (Jan 24, 2011)

Hi  I'm not very experienced with puppies, so I won't be giving advise about that. But for other that can help you, it's a good thing to include the age of your puppy and how long you have been training these commands with it


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## gsdraven (Jul 8, 2009)

Tiffany05 said:


> So I've watched videos saying that first you work on duration and then distance. I can get my puppy to stay for about a minute between a treat, but she doesn't understand the hand signal (or command) for stay or free at all yet. Do I wait till she understands those commands, before I go for distance? Do I still need a longer duration? I know this is a very amateur question, but I just feel like I'm screwing this simple trick up.


Why do you think she doesn't know the command "stay" if she is staying for a minute? Can you break down exactly what you are doing (what you say, what hand movements you make and where you are standing relative to your dog)? I think it will help others know what you are doing wrong in order to tell you how to fix it.


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## valreegrl (Nov 11, 2009)

Your right, the breakdown of stay is distance, duration, distraction.

The key is to stay at the level where the pup is not getting frustrated, or adding too much distance or duration for that pups level. Also, the rule of thumb is normally 5 times done correctly before moving forward to the next step. 
Another tip: when practicing a stay, always go back to the front before releasing. Never call your dog to you after a stay. 

This is an example curriculum for stay:

1.) Ask for stay, pup right in front. Wait a couple seconds mark and reward. (Mark with either clicker/good) Do this 5 times.
2.) Ask for stay, pup right in front. Wait 10-15 seconds mark and reward. Do this 5 times.
3.) Ask for stay, pup right in front. Wait 15-30 seconds mark and reward. Do this 5 times. 
4.) Ask for stay, pup right in front. Wait 30-45 seconds mark and reward. Do this 5 times. 

Up to about a minute, then add distance.

5.) Ask for stay, take a step to the side (at this point stepping back will only encourage your dog to follow). Wait a couple seconds, step back and reward. 5 times.
6.) Ask for stay, take a step to the side. Wait 10-15 seconds, step back and reward. 5 times.

Up to about a minute again. Then add more distance. 

7.) As for a stay, take two steps to the side. Wait a couple seconds, step back and reward. 

Work this by taking a step to both sides of the dog. Once you have this done up to a minute, take a step back. Then continue to add distance again. 

Then comes distraction, and with distraction you start right back in front of your dog again adding duration than distance again in the same order.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

I use the above technique as well and it's very effective. Except I don't ask, I tell.


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## Tiffany05 (Feb 17, 2011)

Blazings said:


> Hi  I'm not very experienced with puppies, so I won't be giving advise about that. But for other that can help you, it's a good thing to include the age of your puppy and how long you have been training these commands with it


She is basically 10 weeks now and I've been working on it for about a week. I know she is just a puppy, but she has basically all the other real basics down pretty good. 



gsdraven said:


> Why do you think she doesn't know the command "stay" if she is staying for a minute? Can you break down exactly what you are doing (what you say, what hand movements you make and where you are standing relative to your dog)? I think it will help others know what you are doing wrong in order to tell you how to fix it.


I stand about a foot away from her and have her sit. Then I give the generic hand signal for stay and say the german command for stay at the same time. Half the time she jumps at my hand, though. I then click and give her treats at varying intervals. When I try and release her, I say "free", give a dramatic arm movement all while stepping back. She, though, will continue to sit there for another 5 seconds.


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## Tiffany05 (Feb 17, 2011)

valreegrl said:


> Your right, the breakdown of stay is distance, duration, distraction.
> 
> The key is to stay at the level where the pup is not getting frustrated, or adding too much distance or duration for that pups level. Also, the rule of thumb is normally 5 times done correctly before moving forward to the next step.
> Another tip: when practicing a stay, always go back to the front before releasing. Never call your dog to you after a stay.
> ...



Thank you so much for this! I'll start doing this method!


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## Kayla's Dad (Jul 2, 2007)

Sounds like you and your puppy are doing great----and you might be a tad bit impatient with getting some results. Remember at that age, repetition in small increments adds up to a great foundation. Keep your sessions short with the puppy. Continue to repeat the exercise(s) at numerous intervals during the day. Repitition, not duration is what will aid in your success at this age. Make and keep it fun!

Have you started to teach a leave it command with your puppy? Another great command and can help with your work around baby and cat as well? Don't have either so outside of suggesting working on teaching this command, will leave advice/training tips to those with the experience in that area.

BTW, what's the pup's name? And have you posted pics yet?

Good luck and have fun with your pack!


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## valreegrl (Nov 11, 2009)

Yup, at that age their attention span is fairly short. 

To teach "leave it" suggested by Kayla's Dad:

Start with reward in one hand, closed fist around the treat. Say "leave it" and drop your hand for her to sniff. The pup will naturally try to get at it. Once she turns her attention away from that hand, click and say "take it" and offer a treat from the other hand. (Note: The dog never gets the leave it treat.) 
Again, 5 times.
Then open your fist and say "leave it", if she goes to take the treat close your fist and put it behind your back. Then restart. Once she turns attention away click and "take it" with the other hand. 5 times.
Harder, set the treat on the floor and say "leave it". If the pup goes to take the treat, cover it up with your foot. Restart. Again, attention turns away then "take it" click and reward. 
Even harder, drop the treat on the floor and say "leave it". Same as above to recover, reward. 

I like to turn this into a game once they really "get" the training. I will drop 2-3 treats between rewards. I also ask for a down and line them up in front of them as well. 
Set them on the paw, etc. This gets them really thinking and paying attention so I jackpot reward at this stage. 

Hopefully that was easy to understand. If I have a moment, I will try to get it on video for a visual reference.

FYI: Another good practice at this stage is just keeping rewards in your pocket. That way you can use your foundation training to build family manners. Getting into the trash, ask for a leave it then reward. Pick up a sock, leave it. Etc. I also like to use sits/stays as I work around the house as well, along with other things. My treat bag is usually attached to me during puppyhood.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Here's how I teach stay: http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...basic/127273-training-issues.html#post1723463


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## Tiffany05 (Feb 17, 2011)

Thanks for the continued tips and help!!! Everyone is so very helpful and great here!  She does know the command leave it pretty good. I can even put a treat on her paw. It is pretty useful, but when she is too distracted or just doesn't want to, she won't leave it, but she is very young still. She seems to really like to train. I'll keep the sessions short, but sometimes she comes up to me, sits, and seems like she wants more, but I guess I'm no dog language expert. She already knows the word commands for: sit, come, go potty, crate, focus, and gentle. And she knows the hand signal for lay down. She doesn't do them every time of course, but that will come. 



valreegrl said:


> FYI: Another good practice at this stage is just keeping rewards in your pocket. That way you can use your foundation training to build family manners. Getting into the trash, ask for a leave it then reward. Pick up a sock, leave it. Etc. I also like to use sits/stays as I work around the house as well, along with other things. My treat bag is usually attached to me during puppyhood.


I have a jacket on at almost all times, and I'm starting to call it my dog jacket. In one pocket is the clicker and the other the treats. lol. It also helps when I have to quickly go outside to take her to the bathroom since I live in a winter wonderland. 



Kayla's Dad said:


> BTW, what's the pup's name? And have you posted pics yet?


Her name is Misty.  I haven't posted any pics except of my avatar. I'll try getting at that soon. I believe I would post that under the pictures forum. She is a dark sable with a nice dark face. She is such a beautiful dog... well in my eyes anyways. lol.


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## bruiser (Feb 14, 2011)

*Thank You....*



valreegrl said:


> Your right, the breakdown of stay is distance, duration, distraction.
> 
> The key is to stay at the level where the pup is not getting frustrated, or adding too much distance or duration for that pups level. Also, the rule of thumb is normally 5 times done correctly before moving forward to the next step.
> Another tip: when practicing a stay, always go back to the front before releasing. Never call your dog to you after a stay.
> ...



Thanks so much for this...I was having a heck of a time with stay. We've been trying it this way and it's working great 

Bruiser will have it down in no time...sometimes he trains me and sometimes I train him


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## valreegrl (Nov 11, 2009)

bruiser said:


> Thanks so much for this...I was having a heck of a time with stay. We've been trying it this way and it's working great
> 
> Bruiser will have it down in no time...sometimes he trains me and sometimes I train him


Great  

With training, the key is not to push too far too fast. Break the steps down and work it out, especially with puppies.


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## bruiser (Feb 14, 2011)

valreegrl said:


> Great
> 
> With training, the key is not to push too far too fast. Break the steps down and work it out, especially with puppies.



I kept calling him after he stayed for a few seconds and I think that was what was confusing him. Now I go back to him and it's made all the difference. He's so smart and easy to train as long as it's fun 

We start puppy kindergarten class this Sunday...it should be fun...
thanks again...


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## Melgrj7 (Jul 5, 2009)

Here is a copy/paste from another forum on how I taught Nash to stay:


To teach stay I just waited until he was holding still, in what ever position he was in, and c/t after 1 second, then 2 seconds, then 3 seconds, then 1 second, then 5 seconds, then 3 seconds, then 7 seconds, then 2 seconds, then 6 seconds, then 10 seconds, then 2 seconds. And so on until he would offer the behavior of staying in one spot/position for a full minute. We did this over several short sessions in a day. After he was offering that for a full minute I added the cue "stay". Then I just kept c/t for various lengths of times. We did this in a few rooms in the house.

Once we got up to 10 minutes in the house (they was my goal) I decided to work with distractions next before distance. I had someone walk past him, as they were walking past him I c/t for him not moving. I made sure to c/t just as they were about to walk past so he didn't really have a chance to get up. We did that distraction a few times. Then I had them walk closer to him, then in a circle around him, then jump up and down. Always c/t just as they entered and then if it was a little bit longer one I kept feeding him treats for staying there. Then I took a piece of cheese, told him to stay and threw it, I c/t just as I threw it which caused him to look at me and stay in position. He got a jack pot for that. Then I threw it different ways, over top of him, threw a few pieces. When he started looking back at me as I threw something or any distraction started I added the stay command. Then we worked on distractions in different rooms.

Then we worked on distance. I walked 1 step way, c/t, then 2, ct/, then 3 c/t, then 6 ct/, then 2 ct/, then 9 c/t and so on until I was 20 steps away. Then I again added the stay cue. We worked up to me being across the room quickly, in 2 short sessions. Then I started taking a step out of the room, c/t (always walking back to him to feed him the treat). 

Next I combined distance and time. I took a few steps away, and waited for 5 seconds, c/t. Then at just a few steps I ping ponged around with lengths of time until he was at a full minute at a few steps (this went very quicky, within a few minutes he got up to a full minute). Then I would add on a few more steps and do the same, then a few more, until we got to across the room. Then I went in closer again (to probably about 6 steps away from him) and worked on a little bit longer time. I stayed at that distance until we were up to 3 minutes, then I increased the distance again and worked our way back up to 3 minutes. We continued on that way until I could be across the room for 3 minutes. Then I went in closer again and worked our time up to 5 minutes, and worked the distance in at 5 minutes. And we continued to progress until I could be across the room for 10 minutes. 

Then I went out of sight for 5 seconds, c/t. And we worked our time up out of sight by ping ponging the time around (5 seconds, then 2, then 6, then 1, then 9, then 4, then 1, then 2, then 15, then 8 . . .) until we had a one minute out of sight stay. We will work this up to 10 minutes eventually. 

Once we could do a 10 minute in sight stay and a 1 minute out of sight stay in every room of the house we went to the back yard (on a long line) and did all of the above again. Then we did it in the front yard. Then down the street. Then at my parents house and places around their house. Then we went to a petstore and worked on stays. 

I went very slow with stay as I want it to be a very solid command.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

Here's my "stay" method from the other thread:

Can you describe how they taught stay? That might be the problem. For one thing, you only work on one of the "D"s at a time - Distance, Duration, and Distraction. Only after she's mastered each part do you try to include one of the others. For example, she can hold a stay if you walk 4 steps away OR she can hold a stay for 15 seconds with you right there rewarding her every few seconds. You don't immediately jump to 15 seconds with you 4 steps away, and NEVER in a distracting environment! 

She is young and has a short attention span, but I think she's capable of "getting it" if you teach it right. I start facing the dog and back away rather than having them in heel position next to me and stepping away with my back to them. A couple of reasons - if the puppy is even thinking about breaking I can see it and stop it by leaning towards them (moving my body forward, into the dog's space, can make them move back, and is often enough by itself to cause her to relax back into the sit or down before getting all the way up) and using a negative marker ("ah ah"). It's much better to prevent a break than to have to put her back in place after the fact. Walking away from her with your back turned may encourage her to get up and follow you, so I work up to that - personally I think it's more challenging for a puppy who has the instinct to follow you around to grasp the stay concept under those circumstances, so that's more advanced. I WANT my puppies to follow me when I walk away from them. For an older dog that's less of an issue. 

First I take a step back with one foot and immediately step forward again, praise and treat. Take a step back with the other foot, step forward again, praise and treat. This was referred to as the "bungee" method when I first learned it because you snap back towards the dog like a bungee each time you step away. If she will hold the stay, do a few more reps, rewarding each time you return to her, and then release her. Keep the sessions pretty short. If she's still having fun, do another short session. Once she's like a rock with you just stepping back with one foot (this can be in the very first training session), take 2 steps back and immediately return to her, praise and treat. If that's no problem, take one step to the side, return, praise and treat, then the other side, then 2 steps, etc. By this time she she's probably starting to figure out that all she has to do is just sit or lay there and you keep giving her treats! 

Gradually work up to taking more and more steps away, still facing her at this point, and taking more steps to the side. Then try walking 1/4 of the way around her, then halfway around her, then all the way around her, from both directions. Each time you return to her and praise/reward. Release her at the end of the session, but do not mark or reward the release. End the session before she seems bored or if she appears to be getting frustrated. It's better to do a couple of very short training sessions a day with a young puppy than one long one. 

When you can walk all the way around her in both directions and back away from her the length of the room, try stepping away from her with your back turned. She may break - if she does calmly put her back in place and make it easier by just moving a foot around with your back turned, and then both feet before attempting to step away. Always return, praise and reward. Try it with her next to you in heel position rather than facing you. When you can walk away from her the length of the room with your back to her and she won't budge, try ducking out of sight for just a second before returning to her. Gradually, VERY gradually, work up to a few seconds out of sight. 

When you start adding duration, decrease the distance. Stand close and reward often, then release. Work up to longer time before the release but don't be predictable - you don't want her to anticipate and self release. Do 10 seconds one time, then 20 seconds, then 5 seconds, etc. Combine them by taking a couple of steps away, waiting 5 seconds, then return, praise and reward, etc. Gradually work on distance and duration together. When you start working in more distracting environments, decrease both the distance and duration and gradually work your way back up to where you were at home with no distractions. Practice this for 5 or 10 minutes a couple of times a day, and I guarantee she WILL get it! You can also add other stuff later, once she's solid - clap your hands, jump up and down, sing loudly, knock on the wall, run in a circle around her. This is how I trained Halo and she had by far the best stay in each class she was in. We were the envy of everyone in her Family Dog 2 class - truly, there were some snarky (but good natured) comments about how she was making all the other dogs look bad, LOL! Not only were her stays rock solid, I was doing way more advanced stuff with her than anyone else was doing with their dogs during the stay exercises.


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## kidkhmer (Jul 14, 2010)

valreegrl said:


> Your right, the breakdown of stay is distance, duration, distraction.
> 
> The key is to stay at the level where the pup is not getting frustrated, or adding too much distance or duration for that pups level. Also, the rule of thumb is normally 5 times done correctly before moving forward to the next step.
> Another tip: when practicing a stay, always go back to the front before releasing. Never call your dog to you after a stay.
> ...


This is bang on how exactly I trained Karma and she now has a very VERY good stay. After step 7 wbove etc.....try walking around your dog in a complete circle and watch their head try and turn around like something out of a horror movie ! ;-) Once you can do that u know u r making good head way. Pardon the pun.

I will never EVER test it of leash in the street because its just too darn dangerous where I live for traffic BUT in and around the house etc she is excellent.


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