|
Dog Obedience Training & Exercises |
 Dog Obedience Training - Build Confidence and Trust within Your Dog
Obedience training is one of the most important things you can do with your dog. It helps build confidence and trust and hopefully will allow you to transform your dog into one that will listen to you and obey you at all times.
This is important for the safety of your dog and of other people and their animals as well. Today we will briefly cover the "stay" command... The "stay" command is an important one for your dog to know.
After all you don"t want him/her to run off after the postman do you OK, maybe not a good question!
Begin by giving your dog the "sit" command. Then say "stay" while giving him a hand signal of your hand flat in front of him with your palm facing him. Give him verbal praise and stand still for a couple of seconds, then give him a treat, wait a couple seconds, and then release him with an "ok" to allow him to get up out of position.
Repeat this exercise and each time add on another second, up to 5 seconds in the sit position.
Once your dog is comfortable with the 5 second "stay," then you will be able to build up to a 10 second "stay." To do this, ask your dog to "sit." Right when he sits, give the command to "stay." Verbally praise him calmly and give him a treat and continue to praise him as you give him another treat. It is fine to give him two or three treats during a 10 second "stay."
Your dog will quickly learn that staying still equals a treat! However, if your dog starts to move from the sit position, tell him in an unemotional tone "eh-eh," "wrong," or "no", Remove the treat from his view and ask him to "sit" again.
If he still does not sit, take the treat and lure him again into the sit position, but don"t give him the treat. Once he is sitting again, say "stay" again and repeat the exercise. If your dog continues to get up during this training exercise, you may be moving too quickly for him.
Again, you want your dog to succeed, so it is better to go back to shorter intervals and work on those again, than to push him to do something he is not ready for yet.
If your dog has been succeeding consistently at the 10 second "stay," you can now try something new. As your dog is in the sit position, begin to walk around your dog slowly, staying close to him.
He will be watching you and will probably want to get up, so say "stay" every 90 degrees of the circle you are making. Praise him for staying still and give him a treat.
Again, if your dog tries to move from position, say "eh-eh," "wrong," or "no." Then, if he stays seated, praise him, and remind him to "stay." Don"t give a treat when you release him from the command. The reward is for the action of "staying" not "moving."
Practice this exercise around the house and in the backyard, in a controlled environment at first, then with lots of distractions. Next, try it when you are out for a walk. However, this should only be done if you are very confident in his ability to succeed.
It would be worthwhile you take some time and help your dog learn this and several of the other basic obedience exercises!
Related Items:
|
Large Dog Training Articles 
