Updated on May 7, 2023
Training your dog to obey your commands is essential for responsible pet ownership. Besides strengthening your bond with your dog, this is also a great way to ensure everyone’s safety, including other canines and humans. Teaching your dog to “stay” is a critical skill. How to train a dog to remain is the topic of today’s post.
After you’ve got the hang of simple instructions like “sit,” you may go on to more complex ones like “stay.” Training a puppy to remain is crucial for regulating their impulses, keeping them under control, and keeping them safe.
Techniques for teaching Fido to stay 2023
The best method for teaching your dog to “stay”
Beginning with the “stay” command, your puppy should be taught basic obedience.
This is the most crucial stage of training because it lays the groundwork for the desired behaviour.
Have your dog come straight up to you and sit or lie down. After they are in place, signal “stop” by holding out your hand with the palm facing front. In doing so, call out “stay.”
Keep your hand out and your gaze locked on the puppy for as long as you need it to stay still. In the beginning of your training, you should just hold the stay for a few seconds, no more than three.
You can let go of their hand when you’ve counted to three and given them a release word. This will send a message to your dog that they may finally unwind.
When your dog successfully maintains the stay, praise and treat him.
In a nutshell, here’s the formula you should be using:
Instruct the canine to take a seated or lying position.
Keep repeating “Stay” while making the sign.
You have three seconds.
Let the person go free.
A rousing round of applause for your pooch!
It’s crucial to start any training slowly and not overwhelm your dog. That’s why it’s smart to start by keeping the stay in effect for the shortest possible duration. In little time at all, you’ll be steadily lengthening the workouts and ramping up the challenge.
Words of Freedom: A Note
While teaching your dog to remain, a release word is sometimes overlooked yet crucial. Your dog should remain in a stay until you give them the signal to return. If they hear the release word, they know they can let go of the stay.
By letting go of their hand and saying something like “ok” or “good work,” you may signal to them that they’re done and they’ll come back to you. It’s largely second nature. In contrast, by incorporating a distinct release phrase, you may teach your dog to maintain the stay even if you loosen your grip, and to only release it when you provide the signal.
An comment regarding gestures
A hand motion is not required, but it does work better than nothing at all to grab the puppies’ attention. Your dog will be reminded to obey the command by it.
This suggests that if your dog can see you, even if they can’t hear you, they will still heed your directions. (In some cases, this could save a life!)
Increase the difficulty of the stays immediately.
Now that your puppy learns how to “remain,” you can begin teaching him or her the three “Ds” that will make the command more difficult. Time, distance, and interruptions all fall within this category. It is crucial that they learn to stay still in spite of the three Ds.
Training should be done one at a time, with each new element gradually increasing the difficulty of the command.
How to get a dog to stay for a longer period of time.
The first “D” to teach your puppy is patience, and it’s all about getting him or her to stay for longer.
Start by increasing the time your puppy stays after he or she can do so for a few seconds. Gradually increase the amount.
Training them in this manner is no different from training them to remain stationary. Tell them to sit down, then give them the “stay” sign with your hand. Then, instead of waiting three counts, you may release the stay after counting to five and reward your dog.
Your puppy may get it after a shorter period of time, in which case you can attempt a longer one. Increase the duration of the stay from three to five to ten seconds, and then to thirty.
You and your dog will feel more at ease with the remain command after he can maintain it for at least 30 seconds. The stays can now be separated outwards.
Having a fidgety puppy
Don’t wait for your dog to bust out of a stay if you’ve been trying to convince them to remain and they’ve shown signs of wanting to move. Instead, put a stop to it early and reward them, especially when they are young and just starting out in training. You should practically catch them in the act of excellent behaviour so that you may praise them for it.
How to train your dog to refrain from approaching strangers
The next step is to train your puppy to be calm and patient when being separated from you.
Try not to do too much too quickly, just as when you first train your dog to stay. Because of this, you should start with modest distances and short amounts of time while training them to remain while gradually increasing the distance between you and them.
You should start by telling your dog to stay in the standard position.
Take two steps back after you’ve told them to remain. The directive can be kept in effect so long as the hand motion is kept up. Once you begin to move, the dog will be reminded of the behaviour you need from them. The next step is to turn around and free your dog from the stay as you approach them.
Give them some kudos, you know you want to.
You want to increase the distance slowly, just like you did with the length of time they held the stay.
First, back up a few of paces, then a few more. It won’t be long before you realise you can command your dog to stay from a good distance.
To recap, you should be following this pattern now:
Instruct the canine to take a seated or lying position.
Make a hand motion that means “Stay” and see what happens.
Keep the hand motion going while you back away from the dog.
Go back towards your dog.
Ignore the stay and let them go.
Congratulate them on a job well done.
What to do if your dog attempts to stand up
It’s crucial to get your dog back into place before rewarding them because they might be standing up a little early. If they usually stand when you approach them, try to persuading them to sit before you compliment them. Kids get the ability to maintain the right stance and wait to move unless directed to do so as a result.
How to deal with a puppy that won’t stop following you
You may need to modify this activity if your puppy is eager to follow you at all times, even if it’s just one step away. Get them to sit and stare at you like nothing has changed. Next, recline comfortably. This is one strategy for creating separation between you and your dog without provoking him to chase after you. When that’s done, you may increase the separation in the same manner.
Add up the time and distance.
As soon as your dog has mastered both prolonged and remote stays, you may up the ante by having them execute both at once.
Get your dog in place and give the standard stay command. Step back a little while keeping eye contact and the hand gesture going.
Once you’ve gotten some distance away (say, ten feet), count to 10. (Don’t push it too far, you want to give your dog the best chance of succeeding!)
Afterwards, as usual, you’ll want to return to your dog and unlock them from their restraint. If they’ve done well, then they deserve a large reward.
How to teach your dog to stay despite distractions
Finally, we get to the fourth and last D: diversion. Even though it is crucial, educating a puppy to remain focused in the face of distractions is difficult. This is due to the fact that if you have control over your dog, they won’t be able to flee from danger.
To constantly give your new puppy the greatest environment possible should be your main priority. Don’t render their success impossible. Don’t wait to teach this one until you’re confident your dog can perform all of the stays. It means that you’ll be spending some time with your puppy once more, albeit for brief intervals.
You must now provide a distraction, something that would typically grab your puppy’s interest. Use their preferred toy as an example.
Encourage them to keep their hands folded while you get them to sit down facing you. To keep their attention on you and what you want them to do, keep making the motion and maintaining eye contact. Keep the hand you’re not using to do it with their plaything. The dog should be released from the stay and given a treat once it has remained for the stipulated number of seconds.
Make the challenge harder if they appear determined to defeat you. To get them to stay, all you need to do is squeak the toy at them.
Hope they don’t wake up too early. It’s okay if they glance away from you briefly to inspect the toy as long as they don’t try to get up and return their attention to you.
If they can sustain the stay for several seconds while staring back at you, even when you’re squeaking their toy, release them and give them praise.
An overview of how to train your dog to stay in the face of distractions is provided below:
Give the dog instructions to sit or lie down.
Watch what occurs when you make the “Stay” hand gesture.
The toy should squeak.
After the interruption, continue to stand still for a few seconds.
Give the guy a free pass.
Give a treat to your pet.
Amp up the difficulty
It’s safe to say that this is advanced instruction from where you are. The completion of this goal may take some time.
Raise the stakes as your puppy’s staying skills improve.
To accomplish this, squeak the toy twice instead of once when they are present. If that’s too simple, try holding their attention as you wave the toy around in your hand.
Your goal is to raise the stakes and ramp up the distractions gradually.
Compile all possible outcomes of your stay.
After your puppy is attentive and responding well to the order, you may introduce distance.
Having them sit and remain will allow you to take a few steps back, where you can then squeak the toy and reward the dog with a return trip to you when they drop their guard. Acknowledge their perseverance if they manage to avoid being distracted.
If you want to test your dog’s mettle, wait until he or she has mastered the stay command at a variety of distances and with a variety of distractions. Teaching a dog to stay when you leave is a useful skill. First, pick up the toy and squeak it. The distraction is hard to resist, but perhaps your dog will hold firm.
Return to them and promptly grant them freedom if you have any reason to believe they will violate the stay. You’d prefer have it over with quickly so you can reward excellent behaviour.
Learning to adhere when instructed
If there is something more exciting going on, it could be tough to keep your dog from wandering off. In the wild, it might be a bird or a squirrel. If they are to follow your directions, they must be able to block out this distraction.
By making it as simple as you can for your dog to do this, you can train it to do so by standing or sitting next to it. Place them where they often sit and remain there.
After that, take their favourite toy and throw it a short distance away.
Your dog will naturally want to run after it and bring it back to you so you can play fetch. Additionally, they might give this a few tries. Be patient, and don’t reward them if they violate the stay. If they forget to stay, just remind them and get their attention back on you.
If your dog isn’t staying when this distraction is there, turn it down and try another stay exercise.
If your dog is accustomed to staying through all other conceivable circumstances and is skilled at turning their focus back to you, they should do so even as you throw the toy.
Give your dog the command “remain,” toss the toy, and if it doesn’t break the stay after a few seconds, release it. Shower your dog with praise and rewards. A significant accomplishment is avoiding temptations like a toy or diversionary factors like motion.
You may go this a step further and educate your puppy to wait while you leave the room and then toss a toy once you are gone. They must stand still. If so, release them from custody and award them a prize. All that’s left to do is extend their stay since they’ve gotten the hang of it already. The entire word “remain” is that.
