April 21st, 2011
By Eric Letendre
A lot of people have difficulty with the stay command and it is very easy to teach. The problem is the method the person uses to train this command.
So…
…I am going to share with you the Secret To Teaching The Stay Command.
Ready? Here it is:
“When you teach your dog stay, never try to control your dog. Control what your dog wants.”
That’s it. Now go teach your dog stay.
What’s that?
You want more information? You want me to demonstrate?
The Internet is a beautiful thing isn’t it? I can post a video and you can watch it anywhere in the world that has Internet access. Here is a video demonstrating how to control your dog by controlling what he wants:
Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States and has been training dogs for over 20 years, teaching regular, average, every-day owners all over the world how to get the training results they want as fast as possible. Eric is also the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Improve Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
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Eric Letendre is a professional dog trainer from the United States. For more than 20 years, he has been developing dog training techniques that have worked for dog owners all over the world. Eric operates from a home office or a laptop while traveling and draws on his experience and passion for dog training to show others how to develop a dog that is truly “Man’s Best Friend”.
Eric is the author of numerous reports, the E-Book “101 Ways to Hack Your Dog’s Behavior,” “The Amazing Dog Training Man Book,” and produced and stars in his DVD “Secrets of a Professional Dog Trainer.”
So…I’ve been watching your videos and they’ve been like a drug to me, I just can’t stop watching. In November, I agreed to help a friend by adopting one of her 6 dogs. Her 6 lb little 3 yr old Mama Chee-waa-waa as I like to say. They had concrete flooring and Maizy was allowed to “go” anywhere. They’d tried to work with her, but said she just wouldn’t. Now, I live in an apartment, so this is an important thing to me and my landlord’s carpet right?
As mentioned, I’ve been watching your videos since the day I got her and my little 3 yr old Mama is now housebroken, obeys the “Stay” command (not perfectly, but we’re getting there), walks wonderfully on her leash (I keep her on it because she’s so tiny and there are other, bigger dogs around). I hope to teach her a few tricks and do a litte more as she’s responded to everything you’ve said, just exactly as you said she would…like you predicted every step…even the results from my mistakes.
She’s healthier, perkier and has seemingly come ‘out of her shyness shell’ and with my upcoming move to another apartment in July – I was SO PROUD to be able to tell them she is housebroken!!! THANK YOU, THESE VIDEO HAVE BEEN A G-D SEND!!!!!!
Thank you! Glad the videos have helped you.
Great as always Eric!!! Thanks so much for all the sharing you do.
Thank you!
my dog will do commands such as sit,lay down dance on his back feet and will come back when i call but only if there is no distraction what so ever. i want to be able to walk him off leash but thw minute he goes off leash he runs away after other dogs and will not come back to me no matter how much i run in the opposite direction. I would be great ful for any tips you might have
I did this on my dog two years ago when he was 7 weeks old. I’ve learnt though to give them a separate treat from the one that you place on the ground. My dog would anticipate me picking up that treat and handing it to him. So now I have a treat in my other hand and that’s the one he gets
This is awesome! I can’t wait to go home and try it.
Great videos, but your dogs are too well trained!
It would help if you could find some untrained dogs for the video demonstrations… client’s dogs or shelter dogs, maybe?
Love all your content – always inspirational!!
Thank you!
I like this idea – it’s especially good for small dogs that are hard to reach anyhow (I have a Bichon who apparently has -to judge from tenacity and prey drive- some Westie in her. She’s only got two speeds – overdrive and off. When she’s in position for the stay, we’re fine, although she wiggles and is intensely focused on the treat.
As soon as I start to give her the treat, she gets up. Do we repeat the pulling away and verbal correction until she gets the message to stay sitting and wait for it? Thanks
Yes Dyane. Keep pulling the treat away until your dog stops trying to get it. The second they don’t go for it is when you pick it up and reward for NOT moving. Good luck!
Hi Eric- Love your videos and thanks for sharing your knowledge with us here in Australia! I have a 10 month old yellow Lab who is pretty good at most commands, stay, sit, come and walking off a lead, etc. We live near a river and she loves a morning swim but the river has ducks and as soon as she sees them, she is off swimming after them as they fly away. And she keeps on swimming as they fly upstream or down towards the weir with no regard to my calls. And like Ruth O’Brien above, she does this when any other dogs come around, though she just wants to play. Any ideas? Cheers!
I would practice recalls in the water with a long line on. You need to be able to influence your dog’s behavior and when they don’t respond to your verbal commands you need to set it up so you have some way of controlling them. I know using a long line is a pain but it is necessary to get the results you are looking for. Good luck!
I need a little help with my beagle. I have to use a walker any time we go for a walk. I have her leash tied around my waist. What can I do when she has a scent and starts pulling.
Thank You
Audrey Aydlott
I also thank you for your free dog video’s being disable and on a fixed income.
Hi Audrey, I would highly, highly recommend a Gentle Leader for you. With a Gentle Leader you beagle won’t be able to pull as hard and you’ll have much more control. Here is picture of one: http://amzn.to/dZW6ln
Many thanks Eric.. will give the long line a go.
Cheers!
Is this uTube video removed? I can’t seem to access it but I can access
other videos.
Ummmm…why don’t you demonstrate this with a dog who doesn’t already understand the concept? I’d love to see it with a really over the top, impulse control challenged dog. That might give pet owners a better idea of what they might encounter when teaching this.
Also, you do know that you aren’t the only one to use this technique, right? It’s a good technique and I think it’s nice that you put it up as a free resource, but it’s certainly not revolutionary or radically different from what many other trainers teach.
The verbal marker isn’t really necessary either. The technique works the same whether you mark the mistake or not. Pulling the treat away is key. Once the treat is on the floor, you can place your foot over the top of it when and if the dog moves rather than try to lunge for it before the dog gets to it…that way, you can stand fully upright rather than hunching over.
But again, I think it’s nice that you offer this as a free resource to pet owners.
Thanks for your comments Kim.
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