Does your dog lack focus, or is over excitable? Then try the exercise below:
Teaching your dog to Stay has many benefits including calming, patience and looking at you!
How to teach Stay
- Find something in your garden that you can use to secure your dog – a heavy bench, or garden stake ,or one of those screw in metal dog tethers
- Put your dogs lead on and secure it so that your dog can’t follow you (place the handle of the lead over your stake for example)
- Simply say to your dog whether sitting, standing or lying down , “Stay” and walk away. DON’T walk backwards as you see in many online videos just walk normally away
- Your dog may try to get up and follow initially and that’s normal. Return to your dog and reward/praise them
- Repeat this exercise a few times and your dog should start to get the message that Stay means Stay.
- You can repeat this with your dog standing, sitting or lying down.
- When your dog is no longer trying to follow you remove the lead from whatever you are using but leave it on and repeat Stay
- Finally take the lead off altogether!
- Practise for 5- 10 mins a day
Next steps would be to increase the time and distance while your dog is on Stay – you will be surprised at how quickly this can calm your dog and get them focused on you!