2torial #0933:
Learn2 Train Your Dog to Sit and Stay

Sittin' pretty

Have you ever walked by a store or restaurant on a busy street and seen a dog quietly sitting at the door waiting for its owner? Ever wondered why your dog won't do that?

The sit and stay commands are invaluable skills for any dog, no matter what size, temperament, or age.

When you train your dog to sit and stay, it will have less trouble behaving in social settings and sitting calmly when strangers pet it, or when it's waiting at the vet's office. You'll even be able to take your dog to areas where you know other dogs will be with less worry.

Still doubting your wild puppy can learn this skill? Believe it or not, that dog waiting outside of the store isn't any smarter or better than yours. Its owner just knew good dog training basics, and made the time and effort to follow through with them over and over until the dog learned them well.

If you're just beginning the training process, it's important to realize the key to training your dog any command is patience. Don't expect it to learn to sit and stay in a couple of hours.

Dogs (and, incidentally, people) learn best from positive reinforcement--praise and other rewards for good behavior. Reward your dog consistently with praise and/or treats every time it does something correctly. But limit treats to when you're training. Otherwise, your dog will come to expect treats as the norm, and won't think of them as rewards.

When your dog makes a mistake, correct it verbally. Physical discipline will only slow the learning process down. Negative reinforcement, or discipline, should be used only when your dog has done something really out of line, like if it's bitten a stranger or attacked another dog without provocation.

Finally, keep your training sessions short and entertaining; three 10-minute practice sessions throughout the day will be far more effective than one 30-minute session. If you keep your sessions fun and brief, your dog will look forward to them--and so will you.

Train your dog to sit

For most dogs, the sit command is the easiest to learn. It will also be the most immediately useful for you. To begin, take your dog to an area that's free of distractions, like your back yard, an empty room (meaning no television or radio on, and no other people or animals), or an empty field. Put some treats in your pocket before you go.

• Hold a treat in front of the dog's nose, so it knows you have food in your hand.

• Pull the hand with the treat up and toward the dog, so it's above the dog's nose. The dog's rear should automatically begin lowering toward the ground.

• As the dog adopts the sit position, say "Sit" clearly and firmly once. Praise the dog and give it a treat when it obeys the command.

If the dog doesn't sit when the treat is held over its nose, but instead cranes its neck up or jumps, pull your hand with the treat fully out of its reach and put the treat in your pocket. Then try again, this time reinforcing the action by gently pushing down on its rump. As soon as the dog sits, praise it and give it a treat.

Once you've executed the sit command with the treat five or six times successfully, take a break. Try again when both of you are rested and ready. When you feel the dog fully understands the sit command, begin to only use the treat every other time, and then every third time. Keep scaling back the food reinforcement until the dog is sitting with no reinforcement other than praise.

Practice the "stay" hand signal

Once you've firmly established the sit command, it's time to start teaching the dog to stay. But first you need to get the hand signal down. The "stay" hand signal is the most important component of the stay command, because it's the most immediately recognizable signal to the dog. Practice it a few times before using it on your dog.

The stay hand signal is a blocking hand motion. Bring your hand around in an abrupt sweeping motion; your palm should stop directly in front of where the dog's nose would be without touching it, and your fingers should be outstretched. Because your dog's vision will be blocked, it will take this motion to mean "stay still" right away. Practice this signal a few times before you try it with your dog. You should only give the hand signal once for each time you say, "Stay."

Give the "stay" command

Now that you have the "stay" hand signal down, it's time to put it to use. You'll need a leash for this step (in case the dog doesn't stay right away).

• Have the dog sit while you're holding the leash. You can either be standing in front of or beside the dog.

• Holding only the end of the leash, quickly step in front of the dog (facing it). Give the hand signal and say "Stay" in a firm, commanding voice. Back two steps away from the dog.

• Hold the signal for 5 to 10 seconds. While the dog is in "stay" position, talk to it softly, encouraging it to maintain eye contact. Then step toward the dog, praise it loudly, and give it a treat.

• Slowly increase the time and distance with each lesson. For example, on the third try, step three steps back; then four, and then five.

• Just as you weaned the dog off of treats when you trained it to sit, slowly cut back on the treats as a reward. Replace them with verbal praise.

If the dog stands or won't stay, go and get it physically. Don't call its name, because you don't want your dog to associate coming to you with punishment. Take the dog back to the spot where it was supposed to stay, and have it sit again. Then repeat the process. When you're more confident of your dog's ability to sit and stay, drop the leash, but don't detach it, just in case you need to retrieve the dog if it moves away.

Add distractions and distance

Now it's time to add some distractions to the equation. While keeping eye contact with your sitting and staying hound, hop around on one foot or talk to someone else--or go to a park where there are many other dogs for a practice session. If the dog moves out of the stay position, which it most likely will at first, go retrieve it physically, and start the process again at a lower level of distraction. Repeat this lesson during several sessions.

When you think the dog has mastered the "stay" command in the presence of multiple distractions, you can begin to distance yourself (but stay in sight). Eventually, you can try breaking eye contact. Tell the dog to stay, and then engage yourself in an activity that requires you not to look at the dog. Watch from the corner of your eye, and if you see the dog breaking the stay, quickly say "No!" It might return to the stay position right away. Otherwise, physically lead it back to the spot and start again.

When your dog remains in the stay position without eye contact, it's time for the final leap--moving out of the dog's sight altogether. The best place to try this first is your house, where you can go into another room. Tell the dog to sit and stay in one room, and then walk into another. Wait 10 seconds, then return. As before, praise and reinforce with a treat if it holds the position.

If your dog has no problem, increase the amount of time you're out of the room to 1 minute, then 10, and so on. Only after many successful practice sessions should you move this command to a different environment.

Once you've patiently taught your dog the sit and stay commands, you'll find you have much more control over your pet. Because you'll be able to take your dog with you to public places, you'll be able to spend more time together and become even better friends than before.

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