Sit/stay
- Thread starter rishabh99
- Start date
Sit/stay and down/stay will both work from the same principle, so I won't retype for the down/stay.
To start, put your leashed dog into a sit and firmly pet him starting from his head to as far down his back as you can reach without bending over too much. Make sure the dog is positioned in the classic left-side heel position. Next, put your hand in front of your dogs eyes (you don't have to touch him) and say "stay". Then take one step so that you are standing directly in front of the dog. Wait one second, return to your starting point and praise; a very simple "Good" and a quick pet. Repeat this sequence, moving further and further away and increasing the time spent in a stay. If your dog breaks the stay, correct as soon as the butt starts to lift. Put them back in the sit and start from the first little step again. Also, don't just go to the end of the leash and stand there counting the seconds. Move around, side-step, do a jig, anything movement wise. This will serve to teach your dog to remain in a stay around distraction and gives your dog something to focus on besides how much time has passed.
To stop running out the door, use a "wait" command. To practice, find any sort of doorway in your house. Next, as you approach the doorway, tell the dog "Sparky, wait" and do a sort of chopping motion in front of the dog. You have now put up an invisible barrier which the dog may not cross before you give the release command. You step through the door and face the dog,wait only one second or so to start with, then praise and release the dog to go through the doorway. Repeat 7-10 times a session and make sure to practice going both ways. Increase the time as you feel your dog understands. If they start to move through the doorway, tell them "No, wait" as you're putting them back into where you had them. In a "wait", the dog can sit, stand, lie down, sniff around, just not cross that boundry until you say so. This is different from "stay". Stay means to hold that exact position until you have returned to the dog and released him. You can call your dog to you from a 'wait" but never a stay.
To start, put your leashed dog into a sit and firmly pet him starting from his head to as far down his back as you can reach without bending over too much. Make sure the dog is positioned in the classic left-side heel position. Next, put your hand in front of your dogs eyes (you don't have to touch him) and say "stay". Then take one step so that you are standing directly in front of the dog. Wait one second, return to your starting point and praise; a very simple "Good" and a quick pet. Repeat this sequence, moving further and further away and increasing the time spent in a stay. If your dog breaks the stay, correct as soon as the butt starts to lift. Put them back in the sit and start from the first little step again. Also, don't just go to the end of the leash and stand there counting the seconds. Move around, side-step, do a jig, anything movement wise. This will serve to teach your dog to remain in a stay around distraction and gives your dog something to focus on besides how much time has passed.
To stop running out the door, use a "wait" command. To practice, find any sort of doorway in your house. Next, as you approach the doorway, tell the dog "Sparky, wait" and do a sort of chopping motion in front of the dog. You have now put up an invisible barrier which the dog may not cross before you give the release command. You step through the door and face the dog,wait only one second or so to start with, then praise and release the dog to go through the doorway. Repeat 7-10 times a session and make sure to practice going both ways. Increase the time as you feel your dog understands. If they start to move through the doorway, tell them "No, wait" as you're putting them back into where you had them. In a "wait", the dog can sit, stand, lie down, sniff around, just not cross that boundry until you say so. This is different from "stay". Stay means to hold that exact position until you have returned to the dog and released him. You can call your dog to you from a 'wait" but never a stay.
R
Good instructions, Zoom.
I might add that in the very beginning, it's important to keep a steady gentle upward tension on the lead so that the puppy does not move. As you repeat this exercise over time, you can gradully and gently lessen the tension on the lead as the puppy learns to maintain his position.
Do not allow a lot of slack in the lead, and in the beginning as the puppy is learning, if he starts to move, put the tension back in the leash, repeat the SIT command (but not stay) and verbally praise him for sitting.
The stay exercise is complicated for dogs, and must be retrained and reinforced at many different locations, and proofed with many different types of escalating distractions for a really firm stay to be learned. It is NOT hard to teach, but one must be consistent, inventive, positive, dominant, and firm to accomplish the stay. One should always keep this exercise interesting and challenging to the dog. It should really be a game about who can win, with the dog understanding that to stay is to win and be rewarded.
To this end, return often to the dog on a variable schedule to reward him, release him, return and leave him without release, verbally praise, and in general keep the dog guessing what is about to happen next.
I have had great success using this method in teaching dogs stays, increasing distance and out of sight time gradually.
I might add that in the very beginning, it's important to keep a steady gentle upward tension on the lead so that the puppy does not move. As you repeat this exercise over time, you can gradully and gently lessen the tension on the lead as the puppy learns to maintain his position.
Do not allow a lot of slack in the lead, and in the beginning as the puppy is learning, if he starts to move, put the tension back in the leash, repeat the SIT command (but not stay) and verbally praise him for sitting.
The stay exercise is complicated for dogs, and must be retrained and reinforced at many different locations, and proofed with many different types of escalating distractions for a really firm stay to be learned. It is NOT hard to teach, but one must be consistent, inventive, positive, dominant, and firm to accomplish the stay. One should always keep this exercise interesting and challenging to the dog. It should really be a game about who can win, with the dog understanding that to stay is to win and be rewarded.
To this end, return often to the dog on a variable schedule to reward him, release him, return and leave him without release, verbally praise, and in general keep the dog guessing what is about to happen next.
I have had great success using this method in teaching dogs stays, increasing distance and out of sight time gradually.
A common misconception many people have.
Just because you use treats in training does neither mean that your dog will
(a) not obey if you don't have treats or
(b) will always need to get a treat as a reward.
Neither is true.
Fact is that food is a powerful motivator and it is much easier to initially train a behavior by using treats, because the dog wants to earn that treat and will work more eagerly. Do you like to do things when nothing is in it for you?
Once a behavior is solid, you start fading out the treats. When in the beginning you give a treat for each success, later on you progress to what is called a "variable reward schedule" (VRS), slowly increasing the number of times the dog only gets praise for doing an exercise properly, or increasing the duration of an exercise etc.
Dogs catch on quickly what pays off and what doesn't. I started training sit/stays and down/stays with my current dog when he was only 3 months old , with a very simple method:
I don't like dogs begging at the table during mealtimes. Ever since I trained my first dog 25 years ago, the iron rule was "when people eat, you stay in your designated spot until the boss says it's ok to get up". For Quigley, this spot is the office doorway across from the dining room. We started out very simple: the dog stays (either sits, downs or stands) in his spot while we eat and the reward for not moving from there are a few table scraps. They are delivered with lots of praise if the dog stayed, but if he left his place during mealtime, all he gets is a "I'm sorry, you didn't earn it".
Trust me, they catch on within just a few days. As the behavior becomes more solid (and your work on sits and downs alone progresses), you can remind the dog to stay in a specific position (sit/down).
If you work on that diligently, the one minute "long sit" and three minute "long down" exercises in novice obedience will be a breeze, since it's very likely to take longer than that for you to finish a meal.
Just because you use treats in training does neither mean that your dog will
(a) not obey if you don't have treats or
(b) will always need to get a treat as a reward.
Neither is true.
Fact is that food is a powerful motivator and it is much easier to initially train a behavior by using treats, because the dog wants to earn that treat and will work more eagerly. Do you like to do things when nothing is in it for you?
Once a behavior is solid, you start fading out the treats. When in the beginning you give a treat for each success, later on you progress to what is called a "variable reward schedule" (VRS), slowly increasing the number of times the dog only gets praise for doing an exercise properly, or increasing the duration of an exercise etc.
Dogs catch on quickly what pays off and what doesn't. I started training sit/stays and down/stays with my current dog when he was only 3 months old , with a very simple method:
I don't like dogs begging at the table during mealtimes. Ever since I trained my first dog 25 years ago, the iron rule was "when people eat, you stay in your designated spot until the boss says it's ok to get up". For Quigley, this spot is the office doorway across from the dining room. We started out very simple: the dog stays (either sits, downs or stands) in his spot while we eat and the reward for not moving from there are a few table scraps. They are delivered with lots of praise if the dog stayed, but if he left his place during mealtime, all he gets is a "I'm sorry, you didn't earn it".
Trust me, they catch on within just a few days. As the behavior becomes more solid (and your work on sits and downs alone progresses), you can remind the dog to stay in a specific position (sit/down).
If you work on that diligently, the one minute "long sit" and three minute "long down" exercises in novice obedience will be a breeze, since it's very likely to take longer than that for you to finish a meal.
T
Mordy said:
A common misconception many people have.
Just because you use treats in training does neither mean that your dog will
(a) not obey if you don't have treats or
(b) will always need to get a treat as a reward.
Neither is true.
Fact is that food is a powerful motivator and it is much easier to initially train a behavior by using treats, because the dog wants to earn that treat and will work more eagerly. Do you like to do things when nothing is in it for you?
Once a behavior is solid, you start fading out the treats. When in the beginning you give a treat for each success, later on you progress to what is called a "variable reward schedule" (VRS), slowly increasing the number of times the dog only gets praise for doing an exercise properly, or increasing the duration of an exercise etc.
Just because you use treats in training does neither mean that your dog will
(a) not obey if you don't have treats or
(b) will always need to get a treat as a reward.
Neither is true.
Fact is that food is a powerful motivator and it is much easier to initially train a behavior by using treats, because the dog wants to earn that treat and will work more eagerly. Do you like to do things when nothing is in it for you?
Once a behavior is solid, you start fading out the treats. When in the beginning you give a treat for each success, later on you progress to what is called a "variable reward schedule" (VRS), slowly increasing the number of times the dog only gets praise for doing an exercise properly, or increasing the duration of an exercise etc.
In fact, many say training with treats make a MORE reliable dog. Why do people love to gamble? A BIG reward could be coming, but they don't know when! SO the must keep playing to get that reward! Same thing for the dog. Once you put the dog onto a variable reward schedule, the dog is "gambling" for that treat, in a way. And we all probably know how badly people become addicted to gambling! Well, my dogs are addicted to working for me in hopes of a reward as well!
Well said Mordy and Tessa. I have always used treats, motivation and reward to train my Doberman everything from basic obedience to advanced, to agility. He stays in a down for 10 minutes (or more if I want him to) with me 200 feet away, hiding behind a tree or otherwise out of sight. I don't have to use treats every time or at all anymore. He can be at a dead run and I call out to him, "halt" and he stops, then "down" and he downs. I have good control over him in most situations and it has all been taught using treats.
I totally understand where you guys are coming from. When i have a treat in my hand he gets really exited and dosnt even listen. He will sit and if i dont give him a treat he will go into a down, without me even saying anything. Then he rolls over. How do i teach him to listen first and then do what is asked. I also want him to make eye contact with me so he can wait for the next command.
R
You should be proud of your dog. He is offering behaviors to see if he can figure out what you want.
Attention is a precision exercise that takes time to perfect. A class is a good place to begin to learn how to teach focused attention for a dog.
Ignore the behaviors the dog is presenting if they are not what you are looking for. Use the food as a lure in the beginning to elicit behaviors. Once you are able to get the dog to perform the behavior, give the behavior a name. Such as "SIT". Once the dog learns to present SIT when you say SIT, food is used as a REWARD instead of a lure. Reward the best and quickest sits. And so on.
Attention is a precision exercise that takes time to perfect. A class is a good place to begin to learn how to teach focused attention for a dog.
Ignore the behaviors the dog is presenting if they are not what you are looking for. Use the food as a lure in the beginning to elicit behaviors. Once you are able to get the dog to perform the behavior, give the behavior a name. Such as "SIT". Once the dog learns to present SIT when you say SIT, food is used as a REWARD instead of a lure. Reward the best and quickest sits. And so on.
Rishabh99, don't show him that you have the treat.
Of course dogs are smart and will catch on to treat bags on your body etc., but don't present the treat and give a command, do the exercise first and then bring out the treat to reward.
Ignore anything else he does when you are working on a particular command, all the "extra" behavior will extinguish itself if it is not rewarded. You get the most precision by using a clicker.
As for eye contact, play the "watch me" game. Take a treat in your hand and hold it out as far to your side as you can. Show him the treat is there, but don't give it to him until he takes his eyes off the treat and looks at you. Again, the clicker is a great help with this.
If you want a really great book on obedience training all the way to utility level, check out "Clicker Training for Obedience: Shaping Top Performance--Positively" by Morgan Spector. Amazon has it on sale right now for under $20.
Of course dogs are smart and will catch on to treat bags on your body etc., but don't present the treat and give a command, do the exercise first and then bring out the treat to reward.
Ignore anything else he does when you are working on a particular command, all the "extra" behavior will extinguish itself if it is not rewarded. You get the most precision by using a clicker.
As for eye contact, play the "watch me" game. Take a treat in your hand and hold it out as far to your side as you can. Show him the treat is there, but don't give it to him until he takes his eyes off the treat and looks at you. Again, the clicker is a great help with this.
If you want a really great book on obedience training all the way to utility level, check out "Clicker Training for Obedience: Shaping Top Performance--Positively" by Morgan Spector. Amazon has it on sale right now for under $20.
They sell these little pouches at Petsmart you can clip to your pants or belt and put treats in there. To me, it's prizeless.
I think about it that way: I want something from my dog, so my dog is working for me. She couldn't care less that she knows how to sit/stay/rollover....whatever, she could also lay in the sun all day and play with doys.
Would you go to work without getting paid?
I think about it that way: I want something from my dog, so my dog is working for me. She couldn't care less that she knows how to sit/stay/rollover....whatever, she could also lay in the sun all day and play with doys.
Would you go to work without getting paid?
Oh...I started the wait with T-Bone before meals or treats, so she'd get the idea.
I'd have her sit before I put the bowl down and make my handmovement for "wait". I'd slowly put the bowl down about 2 feet away from her. If she got up and moved to it, I would say no or make a noise, make her sit again, lift the bowl up and repeat the whole process. Now, I can put the bowl down and she waits if I tell her...same thing with treat on my hand.
Now that she got the idea of wait, I start walking away and calling her and going through the door. Works great.
I'd have her sit before I put the bowl down and make my handmovement for "wait". I'd slowly put the bowl down about 2 feet away from her. If she got up and moved to it, I would say no or make a noise, make her sit again, lift the bowl up and repeat the whole process. Now, I can put the bowl down and she waits if I tell her...same thing with treat on my hand.
Now that she got the idea of wait, I start walking away and calling her and going through the door. Works great.
I agree wholeheartedly about what the others here have said re treats. Food rewards (IMO) are an integral and crucial part of initial training. Once solidly trained, your dog will obey you without the need for a treat, but to learn the behaviour and get it really deeply ingrained I believe treats are essential. The dogs need some kind of motivation and that's the best way. After time, you can start varying the reward - ie, from food to a toy, to a cuddle, to even a `good boy!'. That way, your dog will always feel that he is getting a reward, it just might not be a food one. We no longer treat our pups for sit, of course, but they always get a `good girl/boy' or a pat on the head or some kind of acknowledgement. That's enough for them. Occasionally I will treat a sit, just to keep them on their toes....I don't feel that it's too much to ask to reward your dog for a good behaviour, even if it is just with a couple of praise words. You'll find your training goes more easily and smoothly if you treat the behaviours to start out, and then gradually eliminate food as a treat as the behaviour becomes more ingrained.
I do that too sometimes. It was funny though a while back in his obedience class, we were to have our dogs sit/stay and I told Lyric to sit and I just walked away. The trainer said, "Don't forget to tell him to stay." And I had a comeback...(something Lyric has learned) I told her, "Oh....well, he automatically stays...unless otherwise posted." So, if I put him in a down or a sit and walk off without telling him, "let's go" or "heel," or something else... the default is to stay. LOL.
Hahahaha that is so funny! I love it...
Ruby has sort of combined two commands on her own now. Because `stop' is followed by `sit' each and every time, she nows sits when I say stop. I haven't corrected her because I only noticed this morning that that's what she does, but I need to correct it because I do want `stop' to be an individual command. But she's a good girl for sitting down anyway! She was being a bit sassy at the park this morning - she knew I wanted to put the lead back on, so she wouldn't come to me, and walked away when I went to her. So I just said, `Oh, ok then. See you!' and walked off. (I had Chester on the lead). She stood there looking at me like, `Mum! That's not fair!'. So she followed, and when I said `stop' she sat down and waited for me to put the leash on. She's NEVER done that before - I was so proud!! People would have thought I was mentally disturbed if they had've seen the way I was praising her for that!! Lol...
Ruby has sort of combined two commands on her own now. Because `stop' is followed by `sit' each and every time, she nows sits when I say stop. I haven't corrected her because I only noticed this morning that that's what she does, but I need to correct it because I do want `stop' to be an individual command. But she's a good girl for sitting down anyway! She was being a bit sassy at the park this morning - she knew I wanted to put the lead back on, so she wouldn't come to me, and walked away when I went to her. So I just said, `Oh, ok then. See you!' and walked off. (I had Chester on the lead). She stood there looking at me like, `Mum! That's not fair!'. So she followed, and when I said `stop' she sat down and waited for me to put the leash on. She's NEVER done that before - I was so proud!! People would have thought I was mentally disturbed if they had've seen the way I was praising her for that!! Lol...