How Rosco Learned to Stay and Sit Stay for Greetings

[Adina P]

Disclaimers:

--  Although I love discussing training and believe I have a good grasp of principles for a lay person, I'm not a trainer and have yet to 'finish' any of my dogs or win any obedience titles.  So take this for what it's worth. 

-- DON'T try this at home :-)  These snippets don't give you the whole picture, just a glimpse.  It is not a complete picture of the step-by-step.  Take from this the general principles, not necessarily the "how to."

-- Sit Stay won't keep your dog from jumping on people when he's free and not under command...

But since we've been discussing jumping up on people or not being polite on leash when greeting people, I thought I'd show you a bit about how I train my dogs to hold still. 

So that is how I start...and from there add more distance or time or distraction (but never all three at once).  The point of this video is the principle that you start small.  Teaching stay starts with teaching to stay a very short time with you nearby.  This is true whether you teach with a regular collar, choke chain, clicker, treats, or nothing.  You have to be sure the dog fully understands what you want from him and gradually expand to longer times, longer distances from you.



And that is how I progress to people interaction (while under command).  I think that with continued people interaction under command (transitioning to off leash obedience too) over time a dog starts to make that the go to behavior chosen.

This is Boca doing kind of what I described above.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Rosco is such a love. I adore Boca's tail when the "stranger" comes to pet him. So sweet! 

[Joanna, Zoe & Bender]

Oh this is very helpful!  All I could do is stare at Rosco during the entire time you were talking!  He's a doll!  Boca is such a happy girl i love it!

[Adina P]

What was it that was helpful to you?  Was there something in particular that it helped to see or hear explained?

[Adina P]

And everyone should do talks with a gorgeous goldilocks/blond hunk next to them to keep the focus of themselves ;-)

[Carol and Banjo]

These are wonderful, easy to follow training videos Adina.   And so enjoyable to watch....Rosco is a rock star!    He's so darned cute!

[Gail and Bailey]

Thanks for making the video, Adina.  I am motivated to work more with Bailey after watching it.  She still has trouble staying seated while being greeted.   I had been doing the "sit stay" before greeting when we were out but I believe I was rushing it too much.  I will return to "baby steps" and have people walk by like you demonstrated and work up to the quick pet on the head before working on a full on greeting.  Like so many others we get complacent and do not do enough practice on a daily basis.  Thanks for the motivation to "get serious" again! 

[Star and Goldie]

This is AWESOME!! Thanks for posting this. I saw 3 posts recently about looking for advice on jumpy dogs. I decided to follow each of them to try and follow all the discussions at one time but this post sums it all up! PERFECT! We are currently working on our greeting skills. That can be very exhausting.

[Star and Goldie]

Adina, how did you train them to sit whenever you stop walking? That is something my trainer hasn't approached yet. Is that more intermediate and obedience and not something typically covered in the puppy classes? I'm watching your dogs and thinking to myself 'Goldie will never be able to do that' haha but I'd love to get those commands down to be in control.

[Adina P]

I taught "Heel" -- once my dogs could heel in a straight line for a distance, I started to place them in a sit when I stopped. There's some specific footwork involved so you always stop on the same foot and since I use a choke chain I used a little upward pressure/pull on the leash along with some specific pressure on the back end to 'mold' the dog into a sit every time I stopped. It was important to teach exactly what I wanted (straight sit [not butt angled out, etc], lined up to heel position) so when it came time for doggy to do it on her own she knew the RIGHT way. I didn't use the word sit until she started melting into the position as I placed her. I'd walk 15 feet of heeling and then place. Walk 15 feet (or so) of heeling and then place. It was important that I only stopped when she was in correct heel position so I didn't mess up what I was trying to teach.

I didn't add the command until I was sure she was understanding the physical movement I was after. Then I would continue to place her while giving the command (since she knew the movement). Then after a test of readiness I'd give the command and prepare to either correct or praise.

Then when she started to beat me to it (doing it before I asked) I knew she was ready for responsibility. So I'd prepare to stop, and wait to see if she'd do it without command and then praise or correct as needed.

This is to the best of my memory. Don't hold me to precise details, I always consult my sources before I work any dog to refresh myself: http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum2/topics/david-dikemans-command

[Star and Goldie]

Wow thanks! This is super helpful. I don't think I'm bad at training by any means but often times I read how great some of y'all are and I just feel like there is no way in the world I can accomplish this. Haha. But I'm willing to work at it! Hopefully my trainer (who I'm still not 100% sold on) can help us get through some of these tough ones.

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

It is also important to always start walking on your left foot with them at your left side.. That way your pup will see your left foot moving and start to follow.

When you step in front of your dog to teach stay, step off on your right foot and turn around to face them.  That way your dog will be trained to stay when you step away with your right foot and heel when you step away with your left foot...

Hope that makes sense

[Star and Goldie]

Ok I think I'm losing faith in my trainer. I'm learning more on DK then working with her. We are just finishing up our 8 wk puppy class and already did stay. None of this stuff was covered. Am I expecting too much too soon or do you think this should've been a part of the puppy basics (or is it more advanced)?