Teach Your Dog How to Sit and Stay
- In This Quick Guide:
- The Sit Command
- The Stay Command
The basic obedience commands for dogs start with Sit and Stay. These commands should be a part of every dog’s vocabulary simply because they make life with a dog much easier. Life is also safer for dogs who respond reliably to these commands.
All of these commands will be taught using a step-by-step approach. Don’t be tempted to skip ahead, even if your dog has had some previous training. Repeat each step as it’s taught until your dog is ready to move on; that will help ensure reliable behavior. If your dog has already had some of this training, a refresher never hurts. Introduce one new thing (obedience exercise or trick) per training session. If you introduce multiple things, your dog will be confused and not know how this new knowledge should go together.
The Sit Command
Teaching your dog to Sit is easy; teaching him to Sit and hold still is a little harder, but we’ll take this in small steps and set him up to succeed.
- With the leash on your dog, hold it in one hand and have a treat in the other.
- Show your dog the treat. When he reaches up to sniff it, tell him, “Fido, Sit,” and move the treat above his head toward his tail.
- As his head comes up, his hips will go down.
- As his hips touch the ground, praise him, “Good to Sit!” and pop the treat in his mouth.
- Practice a total of five times and stop for this training session.
Come back later and repeat the steps. When your dog is Sitting when he hears the command (usually after a few training sessions), delay the treat a heartbeat or two and then give it to him. This will cause him to hold still for that bit of time, changing the definition of Sit from “Move your hips to the ground” to “Move your hips to the ground and hold still for a heartbeat.”
Over the next several days, gradually increase the wait for the treat, from a heartbeat or two to several seconds (no more than ten seconds right now). But make this change gradually, and only when your dog is succeeding by holding still. If he’s bouncing up from the Sit, withhold the treat and praise, and the next time, ask him to hold it for a shorter period of time.
The Stay Command
The Stay will teach your dog to continue to hold the Sit position as you step away from him.
- With the leash on your dog, held in one hand, have some treats in your pocket and one in your other hand.
- Have your dog Sit, reward him with praise and a treat, but do not release him. Open your now-empty hand and with the palm toward your dog, tell him “Stay” in a conversational tone of voice. (Not the happy tone of voice used for praise.) Do not step away yet.
- Wait ten seconds, praise and reward your dog, and then release him.
- Repeat for a total of five repetitions and then give your dog a break for a few minutes. Toss the ball or rub his tummy.
When you begin a new training session, repeat numbers 1 and 2 above, but take a step away from your dog after telling him to Stay. Wait ten seconds, step back to him, praise and reward him, and release him. Repeat for a total of five repetitions and then give your dog a break.
As you teach the Stay, increase the time, or the distance, or your position to him, but never add more than one training criteria at a time. Don’t increase the time of the stay and take extra steps at the same time. When you add something new, you might also want to relax one of the older criteria.
For example, your training schedule over several days (or even over a couple of weeks) might look like this:
- Increase the time to thirty seconds.
- Take two steps away for twenty seconds.
- Take three steps away for twenty seconds.
- Take three steps away for thirty seconds.
- Take two steps to the right for twenty seconds.
- Take two steps to the left for twenty seconds.
Remember to keep training sessions short, sweet, and positive, so that your dog has a chance to succeed. Later, with practice, he’ll be able to obey the commands for longer periods of time. Be sure to read our Quick Guide, Teach Your Dog How to Watch, Heel, and Come for more obedience techniques. Happy training!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Dog Tricks by Liz Palika
