It is easy to inhibit basic commands in dogs when they are young. Dog trainers and behaviorists insist on providing basic command training at an early age to prevent any difficulty faced by a dog at later years.

“Stay” is probably the most difficult exercise to teach according to many pet owners because many dogs just hate being still! With persistence and short, frequent training sessions your dog can master this exercise.

How to train a dog to stay?

Learning to stay is one of the most difficult yet basic commands that all dogs will know eventually. It can be useful in many situations like if you have a guest coming in and you don't want your dog jumping all over them.

Getting Started

• While being ready to train your dog, keep yourself free in a mood. If you're not feeling well or are too busy, you might not be able to provide the necessary energy to a train your dog.
• Plan on a short training session to avoid fatigue or boredom. Training sessions should only last a few minutes and be spread evenly throughout a week.
• Give Rewards to your dog for positive reinforcement. Training will involve a lot of positive feedback which involves giving your dog its favorite treat.
• Plan on continuing this training for a while before your dog picks up on it because dogs don't speak our language and it’s important for them to learn to associate certain commands with actions.
• Have your dog sit in a comfortable spot. You'll want to start with your dog sitting a good spot.

How do you train to stay command?

Training your dog to stay follows a series of command. You can find multiple commands prompts to train your dogs. One of the easiest and most followed training is as follows;

Continue the “Sit” command for a while before your dog picks up on it

It’s important that your dog learns to associate certain commands with actions because they don’t understand our language. Some dogs are able to pick up faster than others, however, it’s important to remain persistent and patient with your training until your dog gets it.

Have your dog sit in a comfortable spot

Make sure the ground isn't wet, cold, or covered with anything that might make your dog uncomfortable. This may result in training a distracted animal.

Use basic commands

Place your palm out in front of the dog's face while saying 'stay.' The use of the verbal cue and the hand gesture will help your dog associate the commands with the word.

Repeat the word 'stay' a few times before doing anything else so your dog learns the word. Say it in a happy and firm tone to make it assertive to your dog.

Be sure to use these same commands every time you tell your dog to stay. Using multiple signals will confuse them

Take one or two steps back. Keep your hand out and keep saying 'stay' while you do this. Your dog will probably follow you the first few times. When it starts to move from the sitting position, you can correct it with a 'No' or 'ap ap ap' in a firmer tone.

Praise it and offer a reward when it sits back down.

Repeat the step as needed. This first few times will probably be the hardest but persistence will eventually pay. Do not offer a treat when your dog makes a mistake.

Give a treat

Remember to give your dog its favorite treat for following each correct command. Positive reinforcement is the best way to train a dog. They will associate the treat with correct command and will continue to follow each command. Reinforce its obedience with a treat.

Have your dog come to you

Once your dog has become proficient at staying, you can complete the task by having it come to you. Come up with a word, command, or signal that the dog can attend to.

Use a different command for a treat

Whatever word you use to release your dog from the stay, make sure you say it in a different than what you would normally speak. Otherwise, your dog might start expecting a treat every time you say the command.

Increase the distance

When your dog gets proficient at staying start increasing the distance – Go 5 steps back, then 10 and increase the distance. The point is to make sure that the dog stays as long as you continue telling it. Remember to praise the dog and give a treat every time he succeeds.

What is the best dog training method?

There are many dog training methods an animal trainer may use, however, the most used and reliable dog training remains ‘Positive reinforcement.’

Positive reinforcement is one of the recent methods that was popularized by trainers like Dawn Sylvia-Stasiewicz. It theorizes that dogs will repeat good behavior when it is followed by a reward. Bad behavior results in zero treat or reward. The punishment is never physical but the form of removal of rewards, like a toy or treat is taken away. Physical punishment often results in a disobedient pet.

Reward the dog immediately or within seconds. This way the dog will associate the behavior with the reward. Positive reinforcement requires consistency, therefore everyone is in the house must use the same commands and reward system. Start with continuous rewards every time your dog does the right thing. You can gradually move to intermittent rewards as the behavior becomes consistent.

If you’re using an edible treat, it is often easy to overfeed your dog during the training, hence you can use small treats when you are rewarding with food.

How do I get my stubborn dog to listen?

It is often a case when the newly brought dog is stubborn. Sometimes, your own pet can become stubborn. This can be curbed by the positive reinforcement method.

Reward your dog with a highly desirable treat when it behaves. This will help it to associate good behavior with a reward.

You can use alternate positive reinforcement method if your dog isn’t fond of edible treats. You can praise it, offer tug toy, ball, or pet it to make it feel good.

At what age should a dog be fully potty trained?

Animal behaviorist and trainers recommend that you begin house training your puppy when it is between 12 weeks and 16 weeks old. At that point, it has enough control of its bladder and bowel movements to learn to hold it.

It may take 4-6 months for a puppy to be fully house trained. For some, it may take up to a year. Smaller breeds have smaller bladders and higher metabolisms that require them to make frequent bathroom trips.