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STAY! Pipe Dream or Reality?

Discussion in 'Sheltie Training' started by shelties&shoes, Dec 26, 2013.

  1. shelties&shoes

    shelties&shoes Forums Regular

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    Dec 19, 2013
    Tucson, AZ
    Granted I am new at the whole dog thing including training (thank goodness for the internet); I have them sitting, rolling over, playing dead, high fiving etc....but I cannot get my guys to stay to save my life! They are like ADHD Squirrels! I get them to sit but seconds later, they are up again looking for something else to do.

    Imagine posing a couple of toddlers for their Holiday Picture....this was almost as much fun!

    Any training suggestions on how to train my boys to Stay?! They are 6 months and almost 2.

    Thanks
    Kelly
     
  2. Rileys mom

    Rileys mom Forums Enthusiast

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    When teaching stay the obedience trainer had us feed 3-5 treats at varying intervals and then release the dog. Once I could stand by Riley for about a minute I started increasing the distance and began moving around while returning to him to give 3-5 treats. Now he can stay in a down for several minutes, although I do still return to him and give him treats for staying.

    I did the same thing for sit/stay and we are now working on stand/stay.
     
  3. Mom2Melli

    Mom2Melli Forums Enthusiast

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    Are you giving them a "rug" to stay on? That seems to help -- go to rug-sit/down-stay. Other than that, keep at it over and over increasing by even a second at a time. I had a stopwatch and they knew it had something to do with me looking at that device and waited. I have a stay "evil eye" that I used until it stuck too. I thought stay would take forever to learn and now we do a down-stay while I prepare our food dishes and of course for photography. Practice, practice, practice.
     
  4. Silaria

    Silaria Forums Sage

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    Aspinwall, PA
    First thing, the 6 month old isn't going to have the same attention span as the 2 year old so your training sessions with the 6 month old may need to be shorter.

    So, that said, first and foremost, find a super yummy treat the dogs will really be interested in working for. Cheese, turkey hot dogs, etc. are some good examples. The ONLY get these when working on training. Cut them into pieces about the size of a navy bean (basically quarter them and slice about 1/4 inch thick.

    Work with each dog SEPARATELY! Go into a room you can shut the door or put a baby gate across the door.

    Work in SHORT time periods, no more than 10 minutes each. When I was training my dogs, I'd take 10-15 treats and when they were gone we were done. I'd also work on behaviors during the commercials of a TV show I was watching.

    As for your main question, teaching Stay...
    Start small. Put the dog into a sit. Tell them to stay, count to 5 (you may only be able to get to 3 with your 6 month old), tell they Yes (or click if you are using a clicker) and give them a treat. If you can only get to a 3 count with your 2 year old right now, fine... run with it.

    Once the dogs can hold a sit stay in front of you for a 10 count, restart the process. Put the dog in a sit, this time take a single step backward away from them while saying Stay. Count to 5 (or 3) then reward - take a step back to them before you say "Yes" (or click) and give them the treat. Work yourself back up to a 10 count.

    When you get to a 10 count, add another step to your stay.

    Ideally you want at least an 80% success rate before you add a difficulty (in this case adding a step away from them).

    You can use this same process to teach a down stay as well.
     
  5. Tabitha

    Tabitha Forums Enthusiast

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    Lubbock, Texas
    How I taught mine to stay is putting them in a sit, the longer they hold that sit the more treats they get. One treat every 5 seconds, then 10, 20, 30, etc up to a minute, then 1 minute, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. Then once they have a solid sit-stay with me there, I step back a few feet. If they follow they get no treat and it's back to sit-stay-treat with me right there two or three times. Then I try again, and so on. As they get better I take a few more steps back and go further and further. Tip, don't call your dog to you while training to stay, you go to him. He needs to know that he is to STAY and nothing else. But once he has a solid stay from a good disstence you can call him to you.

    I did this with all my dogs. Jody has the most solid stay I've ever seen. I've gone almost two blocks in an open field and he only moved once, I had to call to him to sit back down at about 1 1/2 blocks away and he did. All my dogs have there limits as to how far away I can go from them, F-kap's is just 20 feet and no more.
     
  6. Toffee's Mom

    Toffee's Mom Forums Sage

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    well explained by the others, so I won't repeat, Silaria's bang on
    Only thing I would add is that you actually have to make also sure you reward them IN the position they are in during the stay, not after the release. The release in itself is usually rewarding enough, but you want to reward and treat them in that stationary position to increase the value of that stay to the dog.
     
  7. BarbV

    BarbV Forums Celebrity

    Ditto!

    Lots of treats and extending the length of time each stay, then more treats.

    That being said, a stay in a quiet situation is easy. Getting a stay when the doorbell rings or some other distraction is the hardest of all, and 5 years later, I still have a challenge with the doorbell!
     
  8. Toffee's Mom

    Toffee's Mom Forums Sage

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    here is a lovely Lady
    Emily Larham, aka kikopup... who breaks it down really well and easy to follow

    Just remember shorter and more frequent training sessions are the way to go, no long monster sessions that will frustrate you and your dog :D
    Always end on a positive note

    Regarding what Barb mentions, it goes to show that behaviour HAS to be reinforced and trained in those various circumstances and build up to that stimulus like a doorbell, etc etc
    It's like understanding that you have to train a stay all over again, that's all. Proof for those types of scenarious, it's real fun!!
    I think this video explains it rather well!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksBLKi6lj1s
     
  9. Shelby's mom

    Shelby's mom Forums Enthusiast

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    We did exactly as everyone recommends. We still work daily on down/stay/quiet with distractions. I would say depending on the distraction we can accomplish this 80-90% of the time. She loves to chase reflections so every evening we do the down/stay/quiet when we are cooking dinner and cleaning up (she chases the reflections from the pots and pans). If she listens she is rewarded with whatever veggies we have in the fridge, if she misbehaves she gets nothing. She now will lay on the kitchen floor and not move until released.

    As for the door we always had a designated spot to make her sit and stay until our visitors are in the house. Now as soon as she hears to doorbell she runs there and sits without being told.

    Repetition is the key. Keep working on it and you will get there.
     
  10. SheltieChe

    SheltieChe Forums Sage

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    Chicago
    My book of rules
    What STAY means to you?
    Define criteria for behavior to reward.
    Example. Sit means for me dog has his butt fully on the ground and no paws movement until released. Down means dog is laying down with hips squared until released.
    Define what releases the dog from the position.
    Example. Sit means sit until I give verbal cue ¨free¨ or another cue to perform lets say stand or fetch etc.
    I do not use verbal cue stay because stationary behavior implies ¨stay like this¨ until released.
    Rest of it is simple, nope I am not saying easy:lol:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JrY_zCFr48w
     

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