How to Teach Your Dog to Stay

Teaching your dog the "stay" command is very important to having an obedient pet. It is also very easy to accomplish!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Training treats

1. Start with your dog laying on the ground and you sitting in front of it. Give it a treat and praise.

2. Slowly place a treat on the ground in front of the dog. When it tries to grab the treat, block it with your hand and say "stay" calmly and slowly.

3. Keep your hand blocking the treat from the dog's mouth, and repeat "stay" calmly and slowly. When the dog is relaxed, withdraw your hand while simultaneously giving a command such as "go" or "ok". When the dog grabs the treat, praise it lavishly.

4. Repeat until you can slowly draw your hand away while saying "stay", and the dog will not try to grab the treat until you give the "go" command.

5. Every time you repeat, wait 5 seconds longer before you say "go".

Tips & Warnings

• When you are comfortable with your pet's accomplishment, you can start holding the treats in your hand and moving away from your pet while telling it stay.
• You can use the "stay" command to impress visitors, calm or discipline your pet, protect strangers, or keep your pet out of areas you don't want it in.