| H.O.T. Dog Club Training Articles |
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Dogs Are Kids Too! ~ Stays -- Part 2 |
| by George Anna Bobo |
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| My baby "Robin"
(my German Shorthaired Pointer baby) had been ill for several weeks, but eventually, she
fully recovered. During that time she spent three days at the vet’s attached to
IV’s, had several blood tests, a joint tap, physical exams and on and on. At one
point, during the worse part of her illness, the vet asked to perform a liver biopsy. By
this time she was very weak, very sick and I was very scared to put her under anesthesia.
I asked him if he could do the procedure with a local. He said it was possible but rarely
done because most dogs would move and carry on. I assured him that all he had to do was
put her on the operating table, pet her and talk to her in a soothing tone and tell her to
"Stay". He did and she stayed throughout the procedure. I
don’t know if Robin’s years of dog training saved her life, but I do know that
it helped a bad situation from getting worse. I often tell my students that the two most important words in a dog’s vocabulary is "Come" and "Stay". In both cases, they need to be words that the dog likes to hear and feels good about. One of the problems that I frequently see is the inability of the dog to maintain the "stay". In many cases the cause can be traced to the extension of time or distance too quickly. When the dog breaks a stay, we tend to give a "correction" and put the dog back in the stay in the same place and for the same time period. If the dog breaks again, we repeat the process again, and again, and again. By the end of the third or fourth "correction", the dog is confused and both you and the dog are extremely frustrated. Trainers that are sensitive to positive handling techniques recommend reducing the difficulty and making the exercise easier so the dog is successful. Don’t let the dog make the mistake more than twice because chances are the dog will break again and again. Work up to the stay time slowly. Strive for "wins". If the dog breaks the stay, shorten the time and/or shorten the distance from the dog. The goal is for the dog to "win" and successfully stay until you release him and praise him for a good job. If necessary, go back "toe to toe", give the "stay" command, and count to "three" before releasing. By simplifying the exercise, you should get a successful stay. After praising, break off the training session until another day. Training the "Stay" can be an enjoyable exercise for both you and your dog so long as you strive for the "win" and not the "correction". |
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