You might have found to be easy to train your dog with all sorts of commands that ask him to perform a certain action but when it comes to teaching your dog to stay, things can be a bit more complicated. After all, we are asking our dog not to move, not to do anything at all.

So how do we go about teaching our dog to “stay”?

The first thing you need to do is make sure your dog already knows the command “sit”. This way you can starting combining an action you require of him, sitting down, with the passive composure we are trying to get from him. So tell your dog to sit and once he is sitting use the same tone in telling him to “stay”. After a few seconds of staying in his position reward you dog with praise or a treat.

You can help him stay in position by staying close to him and make sure there are no distractions that could get his attention. By using your body language you can ensure he will stay still.

It is very well possible that your dog wont understand what you are asking from him and he will get up. Just go back to the first step and tell him to sit, immediately followed by “stay”. Make sure this time you are not asking him to stay too long so that you can use the praise technique for your dog doing something right, and gradually build up on the amount of time.

Gradually move further away from your dog and ensure that each ‘stay’ lasts a few seconds longer than the last. After mastering the ‘sit and stay’ command, you will be able to then slowly introduce the ‘stay and down’ command, which will mean your dog will lay down when you require him to.