- In this video, I'm gonna show you the exact steps
to teach your dog how to sit and stay
regardless of whatever distractions are around.
But I'm also gonna talk about why the sit, stay
exercise may be one of the most important skills
that you work on with your dog in training.
I'm Ken Steepe, this is Funkee Monkee,
welcome back to McCann Dogs.
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In last week's video, I taught you
how to teach your dog to wait in one position
which is one of the most used skills in our household.
But the stay is a little bit more formal
and it's one of the greatest ways
to give your dog clear and concise information.
It's the kind of exercise that's so black and white
to your dog that your dog will be able to learn
it really quickly as long as you're clear
with your expectations.
Now you're gonna begin with your dog
in that sit in start position at your side
which I showed you in a video earlier
but it's a really clear way to begin this exercise
and this stay exercise is always gonna begin
with your dog in this position.
So I'm gonna tell Funkee
to get in and sit.
Yes, good girl and I'll reward her for that
for doing such a great job.
Now the first thing I want you to do
is clearly tell your dog to stay
and you can even flash a hand signal
like a little stop sign for them.
But then I want you to step out front
but be toe to toe.
Make it really easy for your dog to be right
and the best way to do that is by staying nice and close.
Then I can, yes Funkee, and step back,
yes, good stay, good girl.
Now this is a very foundational step
but I want you to rehearse this
many, many times being really close to your dog
and supporting them with your voice
when you're out in front.
Now you need to be a little bit self aware
about this exercise so if you're rewarding your dog
and then you go to tell them to stay,
it's really important that you don't have
any food in your hand.
We don't wanna make this any more difficult
than it already is for your dog in training.
So when I tell Funkee to stay,
I'm gonna have an empty hand, I'll tell her to stay,
then I'll step out in front.
Food distractions, something that we can build on
we'll work towards, but at this point,
we want to make it as easy as possible
for your dog to be right.
Now at this point, your dog might make a couple of mistakes.
They might get up out of that sitting position
or they might move towards you if you've given them
too much room so it's really important
to know what to do if it doesn't go right.
The first thing I'm going to do,
I'm gonna show you in just a moment
that I'll lure Funkee out of position
or I'll make it a little bit too difficult
and then I'll pull her into a standing position
but the first thing I'm going to do
is use my voice.
A simple oops or ah or hey or something
to mark the moment that she makes a mistake.
The next thing I'm going to do is show her how to be right.
I'm gonna take her back to the exact spot
where we started and I'm going to place her in a sit.
So I'll show you now.
Get in, buddy.
Now I wanna use a stay command
'cause it will be easier to get her out.
So now I'm gonna trick Funkee into moving out of position.
Oops!
So all I need to do is bring Funkee back
to exactly where she was.
Remind her to sit.
Place her in that sit
and then before I go anywhere,
I'm gonna remind her to stay again.
Good girl. Now we're gonna make it really easy.
Yes, good girl.
And I'm gonna reward her really soon.
I've had her in that sit placement.
She's thought about it for a couple of moments.
She's maintained that stay.
Let's try it again, stay. And then I'm gonna move out here
just a little farther.
Yes, good girl.
So I've been able to get a couple
of successful repetitions in after
she had made that one mistake.
Good girl.
Now to be clear, make sure you put your dog back
in the position where they started
in the spot where you initially asked them to stay.
The last thing we want is Funkee slowly making her way
towards maybe another distraction.
Maybe there's a toy on the floor and I keep replacing her
in that stay but slowly and surely,
she's making her way towards that stay.
Okay.
So if your dog happens to get out of position,
I want you to replace them exactly where they were,
sit, in that spot where you started.
Now when you started to teach your dog how to stay,
I want you to remove that word from your vocabulary
at any other time other than training.
Something people often do is once they've
had a couple of sessions of learning how to stay,
they'll start using stay in everyday life
when they don't have an opportunity to train through it
if your dog makes a mistake.
So just abandon that word entirely.
Now we taught the wait last week
which is a similar to the stay
but it's really important that you save
this stay command for that special occasion
when you're working on it in these early steps.
You often hear me talk about consistency,
clarity, and fairness when you're training your dog
and the stay is no different than that.
In fact, it's one of the best exercises
to really be clear with your dog.
That's why the stay can only end,
the only time your dog can get up
is when you return back to their side.
So you saw me at the beginning.
I started with Funkee in this position.
I want Funkee to know that the only way this position ends
and her job is over is when I return back to this side.
Now I'm gonna show you in just a moment
how to increase the challenge a little bit
and for some of your dogs, they may be really tempted
to get out of position.
But if they learn at this point
that the only time that they're allowed
to get up and move is when you're backing
at their side, it makes their job a lot easier
and it makes your job as a training much easier too.
Now that you're only using your stay
when you're training it with your dog
so that that word isn't losing value,
you're gonna find that you're able
to increase the challenge a little bit.
And after lots of successful repetitions
in toe to toe with your dog,
we can start to make it a little bit harder.
So I want you to think about the three different challenges
that you can do with your dog choosing one at a time.
The first one I'm gonna talk about is distraction.
So I'm gonna tell Funkee to stay
and then I'm gonna step out in front of her
and I'm just gonna wiggle the leash,
see if she's excited by that.
Yes, good girl.
And then I'm gonna step in and reward her
for not making a mistake.
The second one I want to talk about is distance.
So if we've been toe to toe or maybe you've been
at a foot or two feet away from your dog,
we can challenge her a little bit by going farther away.
So I'm gonna tell Funkee, stay.
Show her that stay sign and I'm gonna go
right out to six feet.
Yes, good girl.
Nice job.
Fine, then I can return back to her side
for that great reward.
Good girly.
And the third one I want to talk about is duration.
So the amount of time that you're spending away
from your dog can be challenging for some dogs
especially in a distracting environment.
So let's tell her to stay and then
I'm gonna step out for a few minute,
out for 10 seconds or 15 seconds without a reward.
Maybe I'll stand out here for 30 seconds.
Now a really important factor in dog training
in general is your timing.
So at any point, if Funkee were to make a mistake,
I need to mark that with my oops
or my ah or a hey or something.
But if she remains in position for these 30 seconds,
I can tell her, yes.
Then I can step in and reward her,
what a good girl, nice job.
So even though you're getting a little farther away
from your dog or maybe you're away from them
for a little bit longer period of time,
you need to maintain that same great dog training timing.
So mark that moment whether it's a mistake
or a great choice and then step in and reward.
Now if you find like you're struggling
with something like distraction and your dog
when you wiggle the leash for example,
I'll show you, Funkee stay.
Maybe this is too much for your dog.
Maybe they get really excited and they get up
and you've got oops and replace them back in position,
if that's the case, just reduce
that distraction a little bit.
The last thing that we wanna be doing
is rehearsing the same thing where maybe
it's a tennis ball, you bounce the tennis ball
and your dog gets up, well you don't wanna bounce
that tennis ball again, maybe you can toss it
in the air, or in this case, a softer wiggle.
Yes, good girl.
And then step in and reward your dog.
When we're talking about distance with our dog,
this is one of the other really important parts
of going back to their side to release them.
So I'm gonna tell Funkee to stay.
Now as I step out here, I can support her with my voice.
Good girl, good stay.
But she's learned even at this point,
that I will not be releasing her from out here.
My stay is a really formal, really definitive exercise
so she won't be released until I step back in.
Yes, what a good girl.
You did such a great job.
And then I can release her when I'm back in at her side.
Okay.
Using the stay command when you're training your dog
is such an important exercise
because it inherently builds in the value
of some impulse control.
Your dog is rewarded when they leave
those tough distraction.
It also really gives them some confidence
because it gives them an opportunity
to choose and if they choose the wrong thing
like getting out of position, you mark it,
and you can replace them, show them how to be right
and then you can reinforce those great choices for your dog.
The big picture of teaching the stay command
can have such a great value on all
of your dog training skills and exercises.
Now if you wanna teach your dog how to wait
so that you can release them remotely
then click that video beside us.
And if this is your first time on the channel,
make sure you hit that subscribe button.
We publish new videos every single week
to help you to have a well-behaved
four-legged family member.
On that note, I'm Ken and this Funkee Monkee.
Hi for training.