# How to Stay



## SlashingAxe (Aug 4, 2014)

Alright well Slash has got sit down pretty good. A lil hesitation when on walks but he almost has that nailed too. He's learning down and shake(I like when he holds my hand lol) almost got those down but I'm having difficulty with the stay command. He follows me everywhere so when I try to say stay and walk back a feet or two he starts moving towards me. He's nowhere close to learning this command as I haven't been able to go more than three feet away I'm lucky if I can take a step or two back. I usually have him in the sit position then tell him to stay and take a step back saying good stay if he didn't move. Idk if that info helps any on trying to figure out how to help


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

Look up Kikopup on youtube. She has an excellent video on teaching stay. Sounds like you're going too far too fast. You need to build it up slowly over time.


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## Shade (Feb 20, 2012)

Stay is hard for pups, it's much more natural to follow you around.

Start very small, lay the basics. Reward in the position you want then simply do the same while facing them, stepping away comes later when they realize you're rewarding for holding the position. Remember to keep frustration out of it as much as possible, if the dog breaks the stay simple reposition and try again. You might get 2 seconds one day and 5 seconds the next day, don't worry about 'keeping up' with anyone and just focus on the dog in front of you


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## SlashingAxe (Aug 4, 2014)

Wow I never realized how fast I was moving along no wonder he hasn't come close to understanding. Didn't realize I should be rewarding him at the very beginning before I even step back so he knows holding his position is what I want him to do(I failed to realize myself that he is staying still at the beginning but doesn't understand that I want him to hold that position). The video was great as well her dogs are amazing I'll be sure to check out her other videos. I shall try this later in the day see if I make any little progress


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

Here's how I train "stay": http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/training-our-puppy-basic/153300-training-stay.html#post2057182


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## MichaelE (Dec 15, 2012)

I used Lisl's Kong to teach 'stay' or bleiben. The Kong and lots of praise was the reward. 

From a sit or down I would use a verbal command and a hand signal together and toss her Kong a couple of yards. We kept repeating this for longer distances over a couple of days until her Kong was thrown out of sight. Then _I_ did the disappearing act while she stayed. If she moved, we started from scratch. Calmly and patiently.

If she moved I would physically replace her into her position while repeating the commands for each. She understood very quickly what I wanted.

Now we do it all the time, every day we play or work.

She has now learned 'Halt!, stay' after being released. She already knew the halt command from stopping at intersections on our walks.

Lisl is so easy to teach.


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## SlashingAxe (Aug 4, 2014)

Some great advice I liked the bungee method seems its a common way to teach the stay command. I definitely was trying to do distance and duration at the same time and that was my mistake. Hopefully I can get this command taught quickly since its a pretty important one in my opinion. I'm sure the time will vary but what's usually the time it takes for a dog to learn this command?


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

It's hard to put a time frame on any command because there are a lot of variables, and it also depends on the criteria you're looking for. A brief stay with you close to her at home is going to be easier and faster to train than the same thing in a distracting environment. Your skill and timing as a trainer is a factor, and how much time and effort you put into it will make a difference too. 

Halo learned quickly, but she's always been super engaged and ready to "work" with me, and I was using methods that were successful with previous puppies, so I had an idea what I was doing. I spent time every day, and once she was doing well at home, I'd go to other places and work on it, like next to a baseball field while kids were practicing, a busy street corner with lots of traffic, at all three strip malls in town, outside the bowling alley and the supermarket, which had automatic doors opening and closing and people walking by with shopping carts, etc. - all on leash, of course. But still, longer distances and longer duration did take some time to work up to.


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## lalachka (Aug 13, 2013)

cm and how long did all that take


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## MichaelE (Dec 15, 2012)

Before Lisl, Ossie was the only other GSD I had that was realiable in a long blind stay.

The others never did learn because I could not find a way to make them understand. That was my fault.

The same methods I tried with the others worked with Ossie, but slowly, and Lisl, I think came out of the womb knowing everything I was going to teach her. Scary smart. Unfasslich!

Lisl knew a long blind stay in two days...with distractions.

There is a police department somewhere wishing they had a dog of this caliber.


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## Gib_laut (Jul 25, 2014)

Depends on the dog too. If a dog is nervous by nature then it's harder for it to keep that down stay. If a dog has a rock solid temperment then it's easier for that dog to stay in the down stay. 

That's why some dogs you can add distractions quickly and some you can't.


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

How long it takes to teach will depend on the dog, how well you teach it, the distractions you add in, as well as how engaged the dog is. 

One thing I'll tell you about stay is it is usually a very boring command for a dog. Don't do very long practices. Split it up into short sessions throughout the day. For mine, stay practice is usually about 5 minutes max. If your dog has a shorter attention span, keep an eye on how much time before he loses interest in practice. Try to end practice before he loses interest, when he's still excited to work with you. If you have positive training from beginning to end, you end up with a dog who is excited to work with you for longer and longer periods of time because they don't end a training session thinking it was a chore.


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## lalachka (Aug 13, 2013)

if the reply is for me then I was wondering how long it took cm for everything she listed. our stay is fine. I was just curious how long it took her to do all that


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## Pax8 (Apr 8, 2014)

lalachka said:


> if the reply is for me then I was wondering how long it took cm for everything she listed. our stay is fine. I was just curious how long it took her to do all that


Just meant as a general comment. Though mine took about two weeks for a solid stay with any distraction I could throw at him - walking fifty feet away, throwing treats and toys around him, having dogs go tearing by, pretty much everything. We practiced in three-five minute sessions three times a day.


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## lalachka (Aug 13, 2013)

my criteria of a solid stay is a dog staying down while another unknown dog is running at him possibly aggressively. I'd like to know how long that takes and if it's achievable


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## Gib_laut (Jul 25, 2014)

lalachka said:


> my criteria of a solid stay is a dog staying down while another unknown dog is running at him possibly aggressively. I'd like to know how long that takes and if it's achievable


A dog that stays while an aggressive dog is charging him is a stupid dog


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## lalachka (Aug 13, 2013)

how do I train my dog to be stupid?
seems some people here were successful at doing thst. I read stories all the time about how they put their dogs in a down and dealt with the dog. I didn't think it's possible but how can I doubt respected forum members?? no way


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## Gib_laut (Jul 25, 2014)

If the handler is standing between the charging dog and their dog then no the dog shouldn't break it's down. 

I've had my 14 month old pup in a down stay 10 feet away from me while another dog was barking and lunging to the end of the leash from across the street while me and the owner were yelling at each other lol

Go to a Schutzhund club. There's dogs doing down stays while other dogs are barking and running around ALL THE TIME.


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## lalachka (Aug 13, 2013)

a dog barking and lunging on the leash is different. but i will ask my trainer


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## SlashingAxe (Aug 4, 2014)

I tried about an hour ago and man is this one tough. It's at least going in the right direction finally trying the things mentioned on this post so thank you everyone for the tips. Slash will stay for like a very short time now at least but it's something and can kinda move away a bit so I'm sure with more training this will improve especially since I have the next two days off from work


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## lalachka (Aug 13, 2013)

and gb, make up your mind. either the dog is stupid or your dog has done it or other dogs do it all the time in schh club


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

It's hard to say how long "all that" took, Halo will be 6 years old in November so it was a long time ago and I can't recall exactly, but also parts of it took longer than other parts. I can say that when she was 5 months old I had her running to a mat she'd never seen before and doing an automatic down on it until released in a single training session of about 10 minutes. 

I do have some old threads about Halo's early training where you can read what she was doing and when:

5 months old: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/pictures-pictures-pictures/106752-halo-does-mat-work.html

Almost 6 months old: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/braggs/108179-halo-bragg.html

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/braggs/108565-huuuuge-halo-bragg-long-sorry.html

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...108629-pictures-halos-puppy-2-graduation.html

7-1/2 months old: http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...training-walks-lake-chabot-starring-halo.html

A couple of weeks shy of a year old: http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/braggs/121795-halo-brag-you-set-very-high-standard.html


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