- We all have busy lives
and fitting dog training into your life can be a challenge.
Today, in our second episode
of Training In Five Minutes In Five Feet Of Space,
I'm gonna teach Mac, the nine year old Border Collie
who's never had any obedience training,
how to stay.
I'm Steve, this is Mac,
welcome back to McCann Dogs.
Now, this is Mac and you may have seen Mac
in some of our other videos.
Mac spends a lot of time herding sheep
and doing a lot of work that a lot of Border Collies do,
but Mac has never been in an obedience class
and he has never been taught a lot of the foundation stuff
that we're gonna do today.
Today, what I wanna do is spend a little time teaching
your dog how to stay.
It's a very handy skill, to have your dog be able
to hold position while you do something else.
Now, because he doesn't have any understanding of this,
we're gonna take a few minutes
and go back right to the foundation of things.
Because Mac doesn't know any of the foundation,
I need to spend a little time teaching him to sit
at my side.
Having my dog understand that,
holding that position at my side,
is, sort of, step one and you can see he doesn't
really know where to go,
he's just kinda hanging out.
He's a lovable guy.
But I'm gonna use just my leash and a little guidance
to bring him to my side
and then I'm gonna place him in a sit.
Now, what I need him to do is once he is in that sit,
I'm gonna loosen up on me leash and allow him
to make a choice,
and as long as he chooses to hold that sit,
I'm gonna reward him for it.
If he gets up, however, I'm gonna use that leash
to guide him right back.
So, I'm simply gonna bring him into my side,
my right hand comes close to the clip,
I'm gonna say sit and tuck him right into me
then I'm gonna loosen up on that leash
and I'm gonna stand up.
Good boy!
Good job!
So he's getting up.
I'm gonna just repeat those steps
and place him right back in that sit.
He's gonna lie down 'cause he's really not sure
what's going on,
we're just gonna help him.
Sit.
Good sit.
Oops.
So he gets up,
and you'll notice I'm just calmly following through
every time.
Yes!
Good boy!
Excellent boy!
Good job!
You'll notice I didn't say yes
until he actually committed to holding the sit.
Yes, good boy!
And now I'm rewarding him over and over and over again
to let him know he's doing a great job.
Now, you'll notice my leash is loose as I'm doing this.
Our tendency, sometimes, would be to hold those dogs
in the sit.
I wanna give him that slack and the opportunity
to choose to either get up or to hold the sit.
And again, if he were to get up,
you're being a really good boy right now,
I would simply place him right back in that sit.
As long as he's holding the sit though,
I'm gonna continue to "yes" and reward him.
Good boy!
His job is to hold the sit until I give him permission
to get up.
So I'm gonna give him permission now.
I'm actually gonna take a little food,
I'm gonna put it right at his nose and tell him "okay."
Good boy!
And encourage him out of that sit.
Last week, we did these exercises in this little space
with little Hippie Shake, the Toy Poodle.
This week, I've got Mac,
the nine year old Border Collie.
All these exercises can be done in a little bit of time
and a little bit of space, you know?
Like your Lab in the living room
or the Collie in the kitchen,
or your Wolfhound in the washroom.
SD Cruiser, maybe you were right.
Maybe the Wolfhound in the water closet isn't a great idea.
Okay, maybe I need a little bit more space for that dog.
The point is we want you to do these exercises
in times that fit into your day.
In little bits and pieces so that you
and your dog can be successful.
Mac now has a little bit of an understanding
that his job is to hold the sit at my side,
and now I'm going to do this but I'm gonna create
a little bit of distraction for him
to really proOF his understanding.
I've got this really exciting rainbow unicorn toy here
and I'm gonna put it somewhere where he can see it,
and as long as he holds the sit,
I'm gonna continue to reward them.
If he gets up though, I'm simply gonna place him right back
in that sit.
So, here's first step.
I'm gonna bring him to my side.
I'm gonna tell him sit.
Loosen up on the leash.
Good boy, good sit!
I'm gonna yes and reward that.
Good sit!
Now, I'm gonna take this toy
and I'm gonna put it down on that table
or chair where he can see it.
Sit.
Good sit.
Yes, good boy!
Good choice, buddy!
Now, he made a great choice there.
He looked at that toy and looked right back at me.
That's exactly the choice I want him to make
and as long as he continues to do that,
I'm gonna reward him.
Now, he's doing a great job
so it's important now we try and proof his understanding
a little bit further.
So I'm gonna release him,
I'm gonna have him sit again
and then I'm gonna move him a little closer to that toy.
Oops buddy, sit.
Good sit, good.
Now you'll notice while I'm talking to you,
that's where he's sort of losing his understanding.
It's important when you're working through these
that you're focused on the dog all the time
for that short period of time.
Yes, good sit.
So I'm gonna do a little reset
and we'll try it a little closer to the toy.
Remember, these exercises are something that you can do
in just a few minutes.
You know, maybe between the time you drop the kids off
at school and head to work,
or even before the kids get up.
They don't take much time or space.
So to make this harder for him,
I'm gonna ask him to get in and sit at my side again
but I'm gonna put the toy on the ground,
a little bit closer to him to help prove his understanding.
So first things first, I'm gonna use my leash
to guide him into my side,
I'm gonna place him in my little sit.
Sit.
Good boy.
Sit.
Now, you'll notice he's leaning on me.
This is a thing that a lot of dogs will do.
I wanna make sure he's sitting entirely on his own
so if he leans on me,
I'm just gonna direct him up and away from me,
put a little bit of slack back in that leash
and help him from there.
Good sit.
So he's leaning again.
I'm just gonna direct him away.
I know he's a very loving guy
and he thinks that's great.
Good boy, good sit.
Yes!
Good boy!
Now, I'm gonna tell him sit.
I'm gonna put this toy down on the ground.
Now, he's shifting already.
No big deal.
I'm gonna keep my criteria really high.
I'm gonna tuck him right back where I want him.
Sit.
Sit, buddy.
And then we'll go from there.
Good sit.
Excellent boy.
Now I'm gonna take my toy,
I'm gonna put it on the ground.
He gets up, I'm gonna tuck him right back to my side
where I want him.
Sit.
Sit, buddy.
You're a banana.
He's being a really floppy puppy right now,
which is great.
I'm not mad at him.
He's only doing this 'cause he doesn't know.
My job is to follow through.
Now, he's sitting nicely on a loose leash.
Now I can start to reward him.
Yes.
Good sit.
Yes.
Good sit, good boy.
What a good puppy dog.
The one thing I wanna highlight,
first things first, he's getting a little wiggly
so I'm just gonna tuck him back.
You may notice every time I feed him,
I'm feeding him in a direction that brings
that focus back to me.
The food comes from up high, down to him
and he's starting to really figure that out
'cause he's looking up at me for the treats.
So instead of giving him that treat,
looking at that distraction or somewhere else,
the treat comes up towards my face
and down to him
to help keep that focus.
And he is doing a great job, a very good job,
but I'm gonna continue to reward.
So for 60 or 90 seconds,
you can practice this kind of exercise
and prove through some of those distractions.
This video, we're going to work on our stays
but I haven't said "Stay" yet, at all.
It's important that I give my dog a solid foundation
in simply a basic behavior in sitting at my side
before I start throwing out another command
and expecting the dog to understand it.
I am now going to start to introduce the word, "Stay."
Now "Stay" to me is very important.
It's very black and white.
It literally means, "Stay right in that spot."
And it also means I'm going to leave you
but I'm going to come back to you,
and that's a really important thing for us to remember
when we're teaching our dogs.
"Stay" always starts with the dog at our side
and it always ends with us returning back to their side.
So here's what I'm gonna do,
he's starting to get that understanding.
Hi buddy, how are ya?
He thinks this is a great game now.
I'm simply gonna bring him to my side
and I'm gonna have him sit.
Sit.
Good sit.
Now I'm gonna tell him "Stay,"
and all that I'm gonna do right now is turn right
in front of him,
and as long he wants that sit,
I'm gonna praise him and yes, and reward him.
But if he gets up at all, I'm going to quickly place him
back in that sit.
So here's what it looks like.
Stay.
Stop sign signal with no food in my hand,
turn in front of him.
Yes, good stay.
Good.
Stay.
And I can pivot right back beside him.
Good stay.
Now, he shifted a little bit.
I was actually about to reward him.
I wanna be very black and white with him
with my expectation,
so I'm just gonna tuck him back exactly where he started.
That doesn't seem like a big deal
but to your dog, if you give him an inch,
pretty soon they're gonna start to take a mile
so it's important that I put him back exactly
where he was.
Stay.
I'm gonna pivot in front of him.
Yes.
Good stay.
Stay.
Pivot right back beside him.
Yes, good stay.
Good boy.
And I'll try it one more time.
Stay.
Pivot right in front of him.
Yes, good stay.
Now he shifted a little bit that time,
I'm gonna just tuck him right back where I need him.
Stay.
Good stay.
He's shifting again.
And this is gonna happen,
your dog's get interested in other things
and, again, our job is to follow through
each and every time.
Stay.
Good stay.
Stay.
Yes.
Good boy.
Very nice.
And, again, in 30 or 90 seconds,
he's been doing a great job.
Put a little food in his nose, okay,
and I can release him and give him permission to get up.
I use "Okay" as my release word for Mac or any of my dogs
to let them know that the exercise is over,
and that's a really important point when it comes to stays.
Often times, dogs struggle because they're not told
when it's okay to get up.
We spend so much time teaching them
how to hold the position,
it's also important they understand that we're ending
the exercise and giving them permission
to go and do other things.
So even anytime in practicing anything,
whether it be a stationary exercise or something else,
when I wanna let him know it's okay,
the job is done and we can do something else,
I give him that clear "Okay,"
and then he can move.
So part of my five minutes has been spent teaching my dog
what "Stay" means
and Mac here is starting to get it.
He's starting to understand
so I'm gonna start to push him a little bit.
And I'm not gonna push him to the point
where he is unsuccessful,
I'm gonna be smart and I'm gonna add
little teeny distractions in a moment
to help proOF his understanding.
So I'm gonna bring to my side,
I'm gonna tuck him into that sit.
Good boy, buddy.
Sit.
I'm gonna tell him stay
and I'm gonna pivot right in front of him.
First things first, I'm gonna remind him of his job
so I can say yes, reward him for that stay.
And then I'm gonna try a little, tiny distraction.
I'm gonna shake my leash, yes,
and reward.
Good stay.
I'm gonna tap my legs.
Yes, and reward.
Good job.
I might even bounce in place.
Yes, and reward.
I'm doing one teeny little distraction
and as long as he holds position,
which he's doing a great job of,
I'm immediately going to say yes and reward him.
I am not gonna distract until he fails.
Often times, people add too much distraction too soon.
So let's say I shake my leash and tap and jump up and down
and do all sorts of things and he decides
to shift towards me,
this was my fault that he moved, okay?
I added too much distraction.
So I'm gonna guide him right back to where he was.
Sit.
Good try, buddy.
Excellent work.
Now I'll go back to one little distraction.
Yes, and reward.
Good boy.
Again, bounce in place.
Yes, and reward.
Very good job.
Again, after 30 or 40 seconds,
I can remind him stay again,
pivot right back beside him,
excellent job.
Now he's leaning on me again
so I'm just gonna discourage that.
Sit.
Good sit.
Yes, good boy.
And we're done now so I can tell him okay.
If your dog is starting to really understand this
and starting to understand that they can stay
in the face of those distractions,
we're now gonna make it harder.
We're gonna start to add a little bit of distance.
And adding distance can be a real challenge for some dogs
because we tend to make some mistakes
that encourage them to break position.
I'm gonna talk you through those right now.
So here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna have Mac sit at our side again
like we've talked about.
Sit.
Good sit.
I'm gonna give him that stay command,
that stop sign signal with no food in my hand.
I'm gonna pivot in front of him
and as long as he's doing a good job,
I wanna start on some success.
So I'm gonna say yes,
I'm gonna give him a little treat.
I'm gonna remind him "Stay" and I'm gonna take one step back
and as long as he holds position...
Okay.
This is perfect.
He shifted forward towards me
and this is common, what happens,
as soon as we start to add distance.
If he shifts forward, no big deal
but what I'm gonna do is just quickly direct him back
to where he was to start.
Sit.
Good sit.
Now I'm gonna take that big step that I took back
and I'm gonna split it in half.
Hey, leave it.
That's it.
Good boy.
Yes, good boy.
I'm gonna remind him "Sit" and I'm gonna take
a half a step back.
Yes.
I'm gonna say yes
but I'm gonna go back to him before I reach for food.
That's really critical with dogs.
If I was to be far away from him,
pull out some food and lean it in towards him,
he's probably gonna come up and get it from me
so I need to really help him.
Now, I'm gonna try that again.
I'm gonna tell him "Stay," take that half-step back.
Whoops!
So he shifted.
So I'm just gonna shift him right back to
where he needs to be.
This tells me he's not ready for too much distance yet.
So I'm gonna stay a little closer right now
to help him be successful.
Stay.
Yes, good stay.
Good.
Stay.
I'm gonna need a couple of successful repetitions,
holding still,
now I'm gonna try and add a little distance again.
Stay.
Yes, good stay.
I'm gonna go back to him,
reach for my food and reward,
stay.
Take that half-step again.
Whoops.
So he shifted, no big deal.
I'm gonna take a little step back,
place him right back where I want him.
Stay.
Good stay.
Yes, good stay.
Good boy.
Stay.
Yes.
Good stay.
I am adding little baby bits of distance for him
to be successful.
It's my job to make him right
and I'm doing what this dog needs to do that.
Stay.
Yes.
Good stay.
Excellent boy.
Good.
Stay.
Yes.
Good stay.
So you'll notice with each step,
I'm going a little but further back
but I'm not always gonna move away.
I might tell him stay and stay a little closer
to really make him think that it doesn't matter
where I am,
his job is to hold that position.
Yes.
Good boy.
Very nice.
And I'm gonna end the exercise now
'cause he's done a great job.
So I'm gonna remind him, "Stay."
I'm gonna pivot right back beside him.
Yes.
Good stay.
Good job, buddy.
And, again, now I'm ready to end the exercise.
I'm gonna take a little food to help him
and just tell him "Okay."
Hey, good boy buddy.
Good work.
I had to stay pretty close to Mac in this little session
to help him be successful.
You know, in your house,
maybe you can from the dishwasher to the sink.
If they're being successful, then by all means,
move to the edge of that five foot space,
really build on that distance.
But if they're struggling with it,
stay closer to them.
One of the best things about training in small spaces
for short periods of time is it really helps my timing
in dog training.
We know dogs learn within a second
and if I'm only two or three or four feet away from him,
if he happens to make a mistake,
when he does,
I can quickly within that second,
try to get him back into that position.
It really helps them understand what their job is
at that moment.
We know everyone has busy lives
and the point of this video series is to help you fit
your dog training into five minutes in five feet of space
to help both you and your dog be successful.
If you haven't seen our first video,
click that card right there.
If this is your first time on the channel,
make sure you click that Subscribe button.
And with that, I'm Steve,
this is Mac,
happy training.