How to Teach Fido to Sit-stay
Your puppy can already sit on command and you now want to teach him to stay in that position for a certain period of time. The sit stay means that he must stay in that position until you return to him and give him a release command. In competition you would want him to sit straight next to you on your left. You will give him the command, you will leave him walking off with your right foot to a certain point which the judge will decide. Certain other criteria exist depending on the level your dog is at. When the time period is over you would walk back to your dog to stand at his right and give the release command.
In everyday life you would use this command when you take the dog with you to the shop and leave him in a sit stay outside until you come out. And of cause there are many other situations where this exercise comes in very handy.
This is how you will teach your puppy to sit stay:
Let him sit on your left. Take the leash in your left hand close to the collar, pulling his head a little bit upwards. Give the command “sit stay”. Step out with your right foot and stand right in front of your puppy. Stand there just for one or two seconds and then step right back to your start position. If he did not move, then click and treat. Repeat that several times.
Now you can increase the time you stand in front of your puppy to three or five seconds, later to 10 or 20 seconds. Vary the time periods. Do a few shorter ones and then a longer one. If you have increased the time and your puppy moved out of the sit position, just ignore that. Take a short break and start again with shorter periods.
Only when your puppy can reliably stay for a minute with you standing right in front of him, can you start to give one step away from him. Start the whole process again from only one or two seconds. Do not assume that because he can stay for one minute with you right with him, that he will do it with you 20 metres away. He will not. Take it one step at a time and in that way you set your dog up for success. Again remember to keep training sessions short.
About the Author
MS du Toit has been training dogs for ten years. Please visit her Dog Training Site at http://www.dogtrainingtipsforfree.com
2 month pitbull puppy training sit, stay and wait command