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How to Teach a Dog to Stay

June 23, 2017 by Mary Telesz

Pet CareDogs are remarkable creatures that fill our lives with love and joy. This doesn’t mean, however, that a dog should be the king of the house! Bringing a dog into a home, training it, and looking after it properly involves a lot of time and dedication. The importance of training your dog cannot be underestimated: they are a different species who have much different behavioral patterns to us humans. As a result of this, they need to be trained so that they can learn what is expected of them in the household.

One of the popular things to teach a dog is how to ‘stay’ on command. Here is a step-by-step guide about how to teach a dog to stay, complete with tips and tricks that will help you along the way.

Before You Begin Training…

First and foremost, the method outlined in this training guide is known as ‘dog-friendly’ training. Dog-friendly training simply means that good behavior is rewarded, and bad behavior is discouraged or prevented. Bad behavior is not specifically punished, in other words. Equipment that aims to discipline a dog through fear or intimidation are not included in this method. In other words, shock collars, choke chains, spray or squirt bottles (containing water), and any other innovation that involves a technique that causes the dog to obey out of fear of punishment is not incorporated into dog-friendly training, so discard these items before continuing to read the advice.

It’s Never Too Late

While it is ideal to start training a dog from when they are a puppy, this is not essential. Some dog owners give up on training their dogs, or don’t even try in the first place, if they got them already grown (say, from a shelter). The reality is, any dog of any age who receives consistent instructions, complete with consistent rewards for obeying them, will learn how to obey a command. If you’re serious about improving your dog’s behavior, it’s best to consider professional advice on looking after your pet.

Teach Your Dog to Stay

Teaching a dog to stay is an important command for them to learn for a number of reasons, including their safety. If you are walking your dog without a leash on a road that has regular traffic, training them to stay before crossing the road helps to ensure both their safety and yours.

Pet CareTraining a dog to stay can also help to avoid potentially awkward, or even dangerous, situations with other dogs. If, for example, you live in a neighborhood with a lot of dog-owners, and you like to let your dog out to roam around the front garden freely, teaching them to stay when a stranger is out walking their dog could help avoid potential conflict between the two dogs. Sure, your dog might be a goofball, but if you’ve never seen the other dog before, you cannot possibly know if they have an aggressive nature or love other dogs. These are just two examples of how teaching your dog to stay can help both you and them to enjoy each other’s company without the stress of potential mishaps. Now that some logical reasons for this training method have been referred to, let’s find out how to teach a dog to stay using the step-by-step guide below:

Step One: Familiar Surroundings

Start the training in a place that is familiar, with few distractions around for your dog. This increase the likelihood of earlier success. If you have more than one dog, training can be very difficult because their distract each other. In order to train a dog in a house with multiple dogs, it’s recommended that you train one at a time on their own: you can do this by simply going into a room with the chosen dog and closing the door in order to remove the distraction of the other dogs.

Step Two: Focus

Once in a familiar surrounding free of distractions, make sure to get your dog to focus on you by standing directly in front of them and giving them your full attention. Maintain eye contact and ask your dog to ‘sit’ or ‘lie down’, whichever you prefer. Whichever one you choose, be consistent, because this is the behavior your dog will associate with the ‘stay’ command.

Step Three: Reward and Praise

Before even attempting to command your dog to stay, reward them as normal for their obedience when you commanded them to ‘stay’ or ‘lie down’. In order to encourage effective training, the reward should be just as consistent as the training itself. For example, if your dog learned how to sit by being given one treat as a reward, don’t start giving it two as this will simply confuse them. Thus, this initial ‘sit’ command, even though it’s a precursor for teaching them how to stay, should be rewarded in exactly the same manner as you usually reward the dog. Moreover, anytime you command them to ‘sit’ or ‘lie’ down, whether it’s a standalone command or leading to a ‘stay’ command, they should be rewarded with the same treats every time: no exceptions.

Now that you’ve rewarded the dog in keeping with your normal ‘sit’ or ‘lie down’ reward routine, it’s time to progress to getting them to stay in the position you’ve commanded them to be in.

Step Four: Hold Position

This step acts as a bridge between steps three and five by introducing your dog to the idea of remaining in one spot for a given period of time. Give the normal command of ‘sit’ or ‘lie down’, and extend the time period for the command. If they usually just sit for a few seconds before receiving a treat, try upping the time to ten or fifteen seconds. Reward them when the time is increased significantly and they are obedient. Obviously, you don’t want to stuff your dog full of treats before attempting the actual stay command, so it’s recommended that four or fives time extensions are more than enough before moving to the next stage.

Step Five: Stay

As soon as you start to get into a pattern where the dog seems to fully understand and comply with the idea of remaining in one spot for a longer period of time, use the verbal cue of ‘stay’ and try the same method as before. If they try to come to you, don’t reward or punish them, just start back at the beginning and get them to sit or lie down again.

This part of the process can be frustrating, but the key to dog training is repetition and consistency, so don’t give up.

As soon as they start to get the gist of the stay command, reward them accordingly. If they fail to understand the stay command, try and try again until they do. If your training time is limited due to work or other responsibilities, take a temporary break from training and return to it on another day. Patience is key when it comes to training a dog: that’s for sure.

Essential Tip:

Teaching your dog to stay doesn’t just involve the stay command. You also need to think of a verbal cue that tells the dog that they can now move from the stay position. The cue you choose is entirely up to you: but as with all things training-related, make sure you are consistent and use the same release cue every time.

Filed Under: Pet Care

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Paw Pals specializes in professional dog walking, dog sitting, and pet sitting services. One of our reliable, adult staff members will keep your pet safe, while providing your pet the love and care they need when you are away. Contact us to learn more!

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Taylor Smith
Taylor Smith
21:22 03 Oct 21
I never worry when Mary and team take care of my dog!
Michæl Silva
Michæl Silva
21:38 01 Jul 22
Mary at Paw Pals Pet Sitting is the greatest! She has helped me train my pooch Chico how play nice with other dogs and for that I am extremely grateful! A+A+A+A+A+A
Kwi Kim
Kwi Kim
22:37 17 Jun 22
I hired Paw Pals based on my sister’s referral. Meet & greet was very thorough and detailed. I was surprised that my finicky cat came to check the sitter out. Subsequently, a sitter watched my cat over several separate visits, and it was clear through the visit reports that my cat loved the sitter. All the visits were completed having followed my directions & with professionalism.I would highly recommend Paw Pals to anyone who’s looking for a dependable, personable, & professional sitter.
Joseph Walter
Joseph Walter
19:55 13 Jun 22
Paw Pals provided a large number of photos of our pets along with a personalized message on how our pets were doing with every single visit. I would highly recommend using Paw Pals, we'll be continuing to use them whenever we go on vacation.
Ashley Manning
Ashley Manning
09:50 11 Jun 22
Highly recommend as pet sitters!Initially, a sitter from the company will visit the house to meet the pets and learn where everything is. Tatiana took careful notes and we got her some spare keys.While we are away, Paw Pals sends sitters to come and look after our boys. They feed them, scoop litter, bring in mail and packages, and they will even manage trash, recycling, blinds and lights so that everything is comfortable for our kitties. Each time they check in, we receive an email message with updates and pictures, which is so comforting when we are on the road.Also, if you don’t let Paw Pals know when you are home, they assume something has happened and will continue to care for your babies. If something were to happen, I know they would be okay.Five stars for Paw Pals!
Brian Wood
Brian Wood
04:08 22 May 22
We have used Paw Pals for a number of years now and would highly recommend to anyone looking for help with their pets. Great communication from owner Mary and flexibility to make adjustments in schedule as life changes over time. Have had a consistent set of walkers who have gotten to know our pup and the various walking routes around our neighborhood quite well.
Lesley Bush
Lesley Bush
13:58 18 Mar 22
We can't rave enough about Paw Pals. They took care of our 18 year old Cat and 20 year old Chinchilla while we were away and when our flight got cancelled, they were so accommodating and available last minute for an extra day. We worked with Jen to coordinate visits from Miko and Danny. I loved the pictures and updates on how our Lil geriatric guys were doing. Thanks a million, Paw Pals!! Our special pets were so well cared for.
Sebastian Barnes
Sebastian Barnes
01:06 17 Jan 22
I have used Paw Pals for several trips over the last few months, and they have been phenomenal every time! Mary is extremely kind and responsive, and she makes sure that my cat and dog have the care that they need every time I am out of town. All of the pet sitters that I've had have been incredibly sweet to my pets, and they treat them like their own! Will gladly continue using Paw Pals every time I need a sitter.
Julie Shildt
Julie Shildt
17:45 14 Nov 21
It has been a pleasure doing business with paw pals. We have used this company for several trips we have taken over the past 6 months. They have been wonderful caretakers for our 2 cats. Anytime there is ever a question they don't hesitate to give us a call and they leave the best notes and pictures in the emailed report of each visit. We are so glad have found such a great company.
Andrea Hall
Andrea Hall
22:45 03 Oct 20
I wasn't sure about hiring a new doggie walker service... after all they are our kiddos... my babies were in great hands and I felt relaxed having them in their care. Thank you for everything!
Katie McCune
Katie McCune
19:19 15 Jul 21
I honestly cannot recommend Mary and her whole crew enough! We started using Mary originally about 7 years ago to stop by occasionally when our Aussie Lana was younger. Over the next couple years Lana stayed with Mary and her family for a couple weekends when we went on vacation. When we moved to our new house in Manassas, Lana stayed with Sam, who lives in Manassas, overnight for moving day, and did great. Right before the pandemic, we adopted our second Aussie, Goose, and Mary recommended a fantastic trainer for him.We now have weekly walks for the dogs, and they love all of their walkers! Trevor, Paul, Hazel, Sofie, and probably a couple others have helped Goose get used to more people, and have helped my husband and me when our schedules are crazy.Paw Pals is our go-to for any help with our dogs, so I highly recommend them!
Alexandra Hill
Alexandra Hill
22:43 23 May 21
I was a nervous mommy to leave my cats with a sitter service for the first time. Paw Pals went above and beyond to care for my cats and ease a nervous mommy. I already made a reservation to use them again!
Cindy Welgoss
Cindy Welgoss
13:12 27 Nov 20
We have been using Paw Pals for several years, and through a variety of pets that we have loved. Mary and her team have always been *exceptional* in every way. They are professional, courteous, and truly love our fur family! Mary herself is an organized and stellar administrator of her pet care business, keeping detailed records of our pet’s needs, scheduled pet visits, payments, and balance due easy to keep track of as the pet owner. The pet caretaking team is reliable and trustworthy. When our dogs see any of their Paw Pal friends, they get SO excited to see them! Follow up comments are left via text to keep the pet owner informed of the visit and how the pets are faring. Paw Pals has allowed our family the peace of mind to leave our pets at home, for work, weekend getaways and longer times away when necessary, where they are the most comfortable and familiar. We are grateful to Mary and her team for giving us the ability to enjoy pet ownership without feeling tied down. The responsibility of having pets comes with the need to keep them safe and comfortable at all times, and Mary and her team affords us this when our family has to be away.
Dr Tammy Cashion
Dr Tammy Cashion
21:11 12 Mar 19
We have used Paw pals pet sitting on multiple occasions for our bunnies while we are away. Many pet sitters are not interested in small pets however; Mary and her team, are amazing and we trust her implicitly! We are very happy with the outstanding service we have received from her team including texts and photos of our pets when we are out of town. They always go the extra mile and we highly recommend them!
Kristin Conrad
Kristin Conrad
16:00 16 Nov 19
We are so grateful we found Mary and her team at Paw Pals. They are exceptionally responsive, amazingly organized and detail-oriented.We have such peace of mind when we travel knowing our home and pets are so well cared for. Paw Pals is the best pet sitting service we’ve used, and we’re so happy we found them.
Katie Russell
Katie Russell
15:01 17 May 20
Paw Pals is fantastic! I have had a great experience with Mary! Compassionate, professional, responsive, and prompt! Thank you!
Phillip Evans
Phillip Evans
14:38 11 Jul 20
When we adopted our new dog in January, Paw Pals agreed to walk her and give her some outside time so she wasn't in the crate all day. She loved her dog walker and you could see her excitement every time the walker showed up. We moved out of the area but would recommend Paw Pals to anyone needing someone to care for their pets.
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