Teaching ‘Stand’

G

Greenepony

Forums Enthusiast
So Olive’s training is zooming along, but there is a gaping hole that I’m not sure how to address. She is having a hard time with the concept of ‘stand’ or ‘stand up’ (that is, four paws on the ground, not ‘sit pretty’ she got that one just fine)

She seems to love ‘sit’, that’s her default whenever we call or she is not sure what we want. Since she doesn’t understand ‘stand’ she will sit in response to an attempt of “good stand” or ‘stand’ so it’s hard to catch her in the desired behavior. We haven’t tried clicker training yet (DH hates the sound) but if she sits immediately as soon as we say ‘stand’ it would be hard to click at the right time, right?

Any suggestions or thoughts?




(I did a quick search and I didn’t seem to find a previous thread on this, if there is one feel free to point me to it!)
 
Try placing a treat in front of her far enough and high enough that she must stand to reach it. If she is sitting she will have to stand up and almost walk a step to get it.

This worked for us. Shelby still does not like to stand either but she will do anything for a treat.
 
I think I recall from puppy school that with dog in sit position to put my hand under the bell and scoop up while saying stand. Leave a few seconds then treat and reward.

Frankly, my dogs are so badly trained that that's what I still do when I need them to stand. They just don't do it on command. But they will hold the position until I let them go. :o
 
Barb - took me a bit to work out what the 'bell' you put your hand under is (it's been one of those days).

It does depend on where you are standing, but there are a few things you can do. As Barb mentioned - put your hand under the belly as you signal the stand with the other. You can also try putting a treat between your fingers so it pokes through the back of your hand, put it in front of their nose and then pull it forward so they have to stand up to reach it (you can also put your hand under their belly to stop them sitting again).

Stand is really hard to teach, funnily enough, and I think it's easier for dogs to understand the hand signal than the word. Remember to begin with don't say the word 'stand' until she is actually standing and make sure it sounds very different to 'sit'.
 
Thanks everyone for you suggestions so far! We were working on "sic 'em" today (if a friend's cat and the university bears can do it, Olive can, too) but I think we will take another stab at 'stand up' this weekend. She keeps surprising me with how quick she picks up on things (except stand and shake, why so many "s" commands?)

*Caro said:
Stand is really hard to teach, funnily enough, and I think it's easier for dogs to understand the hand signal than the word. Remember to begin with don't say the word 'stand' until she is actually standing and make sure it sounds very different to 'sit'.
Click to expand...

What hand signal would you suggest? 'Up' is an upturned pinched first so I want to do something distinct from that.
 
I teach my dogs to jump up and touch my hand, they naturally land on all 4 feet. Then I add my stay signal and command.
 
I taught stand by starting with a sitting position and then putting my hand on their lower abdomen and saying "stand" and slowly adding pressure upwards until they stood. Every few times I would have to add less and less pressure to the point where they would stand when I would say the word. I've never looked into how trainers teach it though-there's an easier way I'm sure, but mine picked it up in 3 sessions.
 
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