How To Teach A Puppy To Stay in 4 Simple Steps

Last updated on October 22nd, 2016 at 06:15 pm

Training a puppy is an exciting experience for you and your pet. Having a dog is like getting a therapy session everyday whereby one gets relief from stress and playing with our furry friends is no less than a workout in itself.  After a brief introduction, we will discuss effective methods on how to teach a puppy to stay.

how to train a dog to stay

How to teach a puppy to stay

Having a dog is good, but having an obedient one is even better.

Dogs that have been trained are more alert, aware and are always eager to please their owners. When friends come over it’s always nice to have a dog that will listen to your commands. Otherwise, you run the risk of running behind them, protecting your guest and looking  foolish in front of people you know.

Dogs by nature are very playful and very intelligent. Labradors are the particularly so, when compared to other dog breeds. Keeping your dog healthy, sharp and disciplined eases tension and makes housekeeping easier as well. It takes time, efforts and hard work combined with love to teach your dog few tricks.

You do not need to put their dogs in obedience classes if you can train them at home. The best option is to train the dog when it’s a puppy. They are more receptive to commands and learn quickly. A lot of new dog owners wonder how to teach a puppy to stay. It is no rocket science and the actual method is simple enough.

How to Teach a Dog to Stay

So how do you teach your dog to do tricks? The answer is very simple. It is by putting in constant effort in training the dog. One of the first tricks to teach a puppy is how to “stay”. But, how do you teach a dog to stay? The classical conditioning theory developed by Ivan Pavlov states that any living organism can be taught certain traits by using a conditioned stimulus with a conditioned response. In simple words, you can use treats, praise or toys to get your dog to obey your commands It is important to remember that not all dogs are food motivated-so training them would involve new toys and liberal validation.

Teaching any animal to obey any command requires patience,commitment and consistency.

Step 1: At first, when you begin to train your dog how to stay, you will have treats ready and identify a place where you want your dog to go. The place in question can be a mat, blanket, towel etc. near the dog house. Simply point towards the mat and command “go to your mat”. If your dog doesn’t understand what you are trying to indicate, then guide him towards the mat and make him stand on top of it and then pet him and give him a treat. Repeat this for ten to fifteen times till the dog learns to associate the mat and the treats together.

Once the dog is familiar with your command “go to your mat” wait for some time before you give him the next treat. This is the first step that every dog owner should follow when they start with obedience training or just teaching few tricks. These are the very basic things to start with and once the dog learns this it becomes easier to teach a little more complicated task like shutting the door etc.

Step 2: Change the Treat and Command Slightly When Your Dog Has Mastered the First One

After ensuring that the dog can recognize his mat and the command you deliver you can move on to the next step. At this point, distance yourself a bit farther  away from the mat, throw a small piece of treat on the mat and say “Go to your mat”. he dog should follow your hand

How to train a dog to stay

How to teach a dog to stay

gesture, by walking to the mat for the treat. Do this ten to fifteen times, reducing the time taken to throw the treat and by increasing the distance from the mat. This way, the dog learns that by following your command and hand gesture he/she is being given treats. Its newest task is applauded by its owner, often making him more eager to learn more tricks.

Step 3: Follow these two steps till your dog becomes familiar with your command. Once this is done, you can move on to the next step where you first stand at a distance. Then,  place a dog treat in one hand and with the other hand, gesture while saying “Go to your mat”. By now the dog knows to associate the action with treats, so he/she will obediently walk up to the mat. When the dog reaches the mat, reward it by giving him the treat. You have now successfully taught your dog to obey your commands.

Step 4: Now comes the hard part of teaching it to stay in his/her area, dog house or on the mat. To do this gently tug at your dogs collar and make it sit down, and reward him. When he is seated, hold him there while repeating “Stay” several times. When you say “Go”release him and when he proves what a good dog he is, reward him once again, . When he complies, give his reward.    how to teach puppy to stay

Soon, when you give your dog a command, you will know that your dog will listen to you until you give him a release command.It is always nice to reward your dogs for their obedience, with treats, affection or toys, as previously mentioned. 

Always be  calm and not irritated while you teach your dog. Every animal tends to respond well when being taught with love. Dogs are believed to have emotions, so it’s always wise not to be too authoritative or harsh when teaching.

Teaching something new to your dog will in return help you to becoming more patient. It’s the owner’s responsibility to make the dog understand its boundaries, so the dog knows what they can and cannot do.

Elyce Nicholls
Elyce Nicholls

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