How to train stops and waits

[Woodstock]

Hi there, can anyone advise the best way to train "stop" and "wait".  As this is Woodstock's first proper winter (he was 1 in September) want to start to bring a bit more working type of training into his walks.  He's good on the recall, heel and sit and he's starting to retrieve his dummy pheasant in the garden just want to progress a bit further. 

Bx

[Nicola]

I don't teach a separate stop and wait, when I train them both the 'sit' command and the stop whistle mean 'stay there until you're told to move'. There are various methods for teaching the stop whistle but I do it by getting them to sit to a hand signal (and stay sitting until released) and once they can do that I start adding in the whistle and practice until their sit to the whistle is really solid in different locations etc. I phase out the hand signal while whistling during this but I still ensure that they will sit to a hand signal as well because this can be really useful if you're on a shoot and there's 10 people all whistling their dogs at the same time. To get them stopping while on the move I put them on the lead and walk them beside me, every so often I stop while simultaneously blowing the stop whistle. Once this is solid I take the lead off and practice this and then I move on to keeping walking as I blow the whistle, only a few paces to begin with and then I go back and praise the dog. Make sure you watch them so you can get them back where they were and reinforce the command if they try to follow you, you must do this instantly if they keep walking. Once that is solid I move to blowing the whistle while they're moving around off lead - starting off when they're very close so I can reinforce the command with hand signal and voice if necessary and then gradually upping the distance and distractions. This is pretty much the typical gundog method, I used it for both Rodaidh and Caoimhe and they both have rock solid stop whistles no matter how many rabbits or pheasants are running around under their noses.

[Sarah1985]

I cant believe how differently I taught stop and wait    I imagine Nicola's way it better for the stop as a dog bum hitting the floor will halt it instantly. Whereas my method teaches a standing stop which can result in creeping forward  But if your looking for an alternative heres how I did it...

I taught stop using treats. I started by raising my hand above my head with a handfull of treats. With the dog alittle distance away I threw treats randomly around him to either side and behind him. In the beginning the dog will walk towards you between treats (as thats where hes used to being rewarded but after a few goes of being treated at a distance he'll start to stay out there and wait in anticipation of the next treat this is the beginning of a stop as hes seeing your raised arm and is standing still at a distance

Next throw treats a few metres away and give an informal recall. On his way back raise your hand over your head and throw treats again. After a few goes at this he'll associate your raised arm with stopping and waiting for treats. Once hes got this bit sorted you can do it without throwing treats so contantly. treat from the none raised hand, or call him over to recieve the reward.

 Once this is solid start adding the whistle or verbal command. Once they respond to this you can start doing it with the dog at heel or whilest its walking away from you.


Wait I taught the obedience way. With the dog in front of me. Id feed a treat, wait a few seconds and feed another. Then wait abit longer. You keep building on this to get your duration of about a min. Then i add the wait word and hand signal. Then i work on distance so Ill start to move a few steps away before treating and realising him. I also build in things such as breaking eye contact, turning away, running away ect Then build up the level of destraction Throwing toys, enviromental destractions, other dogs ect. I work on each element seperately and if one element gets more difficult I make the others easier for a little while to help him suceed.

[hanandhen]

I taught it with a toy, so different again. We play with the toy, then I pretend to throw it - he bounces off, then as he twigs that I still have it and turns, I hold the toy over my head, take one stride towards him and shout 'sit!' When he does I go to him, praise and throw the toy. Then I introduce the whistle with the hand signal.

[Helen]

I would use Nicola's method - the throwing treats etc only leads to creeping and not a solid stop...

[Woodstock]

Well we've been practising and have achieved some very impressive stops, sits and waits from distance with hand signal and voice back-up!  Although this all went out of the window when he caught a rabbit last weekend    but he did bring it home and when he discovered that we weren't going to take it away from him he was fine.  Thanks everyone for your advice. 
Bx