cant get stay!?

[Krisdt]

Loki is doing really well with his training getting most things really quickly however we cant seem to get 'stay' has anyone got any tips on how to teach this?

[Max X 2]

How have you tried to teach it so far?

[CarolineL]

oooh ooh I know this one *puts hand in air!!*

Thanks to some help from sarahp and a clicker Hurley and I can now do this properly  however as Max says it is probably best that you describe what you are doing at the moment and go from there...

[Krisdt]

I have been sitting him then stepping back a little whilst saying stay but as soon as I step away he just walks towards me

[sportsmonki]

Have you tried setting him up by your left leg, and then leaning, building up to stepping to the side?  Instead of in front of him?  He might think he is doing a puppy recall?

[CarolineL]

ok - I've googled the stay command because someone out there on the interweb will probably put it better than I can. I have chosen the method that is most similar to the one that I have used....

1 - Find a quiet place inside or outside the home where you and your dog can relax and concentrate on the task.

2 - Have your dog sit in front of you.

3 - Place your palm near his face for emphasis and give the stay command. This looks exactly the same as if you were signaling for another person to “stop” – but instead you say the word “stay”.  (I have found it is really good to have a hand signal to help your dog understand what you want him/her to do - as they learn hand signals quicker than voice commands)

4 - At this stage your dog hasn’t learnt anything to do with the stay technique, but once you give the signal, wait and see how long he stays in its current position. Once the dog has stayed in his current position for a few seconds, click and reward him.

5 - Repeat step 4 about 5 times but wait longer each time before praising your dog. You may want to start with two seconds and gradually increase up until ten seconds.

6 - If your dog moves, don’t praise your dog or give him a treat. After a few attempts, your dog should start to realize that while it’s not moving that he gets a treat.

hope that helps....

[Millomite]

I have been sitting him then stepping back a little whilst saying stay but as soon as I step away he just walks towards me

Pick him up, put him back where you told him to sit and repeat the command. Do not leave it too long until you go back and make a fuss of him at first

[lor]

We started doing Wait and Stay by having one person hold her lightly by the collar while the other backed away slowly - we said the command while she was held and then said "come on" and released her.  It didn't take long for her to understand and to not be held.  
Although she understands what is required of her she sometimes chooses not to obey the command but we keep reinforcing it!!

[Cob-Web]

I have been sitting him then stepping back a little whilst saying stay but as soon as I step away he just walks towards me

At the moment, he doesn't know what the word means - and if you use it as he steps towards you, you are inadvertantly teaching him to move forward when you say "stay"!!

Try teaching the behaviour first (I use a clicker, and begin by rewarding one step away for one second and build up from there) - and then introduce the command, once the behaviour is reliable - the dog will associate the word you use with the action that they are doing at the time - so if you use the word stay when he is moving, he will continue to move towards you when you say it !!

[Krisdt]

thank you all 
Our puppy class instructor gave us 3 things to  master over the holidays and this is the only one we are really struggling with. In class he does all the harder stuff (weave etc) but not the easy things that he does first time at home (like sit, lie down)  the instructo rgave us the challenge to become the best in class (she is a family friend who has known me since I was 5) and we are nearly there (saying that the rest in the class are much more boisterous and dont get as much training at home, we do at least 2 sessions at home a day)

[Max X 2]

We were taught pretty much as CarolineL has said.

The palm of your hand meaning Stay!  Build up the distance gradually, in time you will be able to turn your back on him, but keep your palm there & repeat stay.  Max picked this up farily quickly & now I still practice it on the park & I can even "run" away from him now without him following & run behind him too - although he does shuffle round so he can still see me.  When I have stopped running around like a nutter I reinforce the command - both verbal & the palm of my hand until I'm ready for him to come to me.  Where he gets a treat!  Good Luck.  It's a command that is priceless!

[Colin]

At training we were told not to treat at the end of a stay as effectively you are rewarding them for breaking the 'stay', also not to call the dog to you but to move alongside the dog and guide him/her away calmly, maybe giving a pat on the head before you do so. I know there is very little difference between a 'wait' and a 'stay' but they are generally used as two different commands - we'd call the dog and treat for a 'wait' but not for a 'stay'. Confusing I know. 

[AnnieM]

At our training class, we were told the diference between wait and stay is that wait means wait until I give you another command, such as heel, or get on.  Stay means stay where I put you until I physically release you, we have to touch the dog and say finish before they can move.  Only when we have done this do they get a treat.  We did it with them on the lead, restricting the movement each time they tried to get up, gradually building up to moving away from them on a lose lead and then removing the lead.  My two are really good at this now and I can go out of the room and come back in and they are still where I put them.     
Good luck, with it and enjoy your homework. 

[Danni n Betty]

I dont actually use the 'stay' command with Betty.
I'd put her in a sit, down or stand and make sure she knows these words and the hand signals to go with them first.
Then I'd repeat the command and slowly step backwards, repeating the word and doing the hand movement each time I step further away.
If she moves go staight to her and put her back in the same place, dont say anything else, just the command(sit, down, stand) and start again.
Build it up, going further each time, then try walking back towards her, again repeating the command, and straight past her to the other side.
I love practising this with Betty, I'll try and 'catch her out' by running towrds her, then straight past, but putting in a command, to test her sad arent I

[PennyB]

At training we were told not to treat at the end of a stay as effectively you are rewarding them for breaking the 'stay', also not to call the dog to you but to move alongside the dog and guide him/her away calmly, maybe giving a pat on the head before you do so. I know there is very little difference between a 'wait' and a 'stay' but they are generally used as two different commands - we'd call the dog and treat for a 'wait' but not for a 'stay'. Confusing I know. 

Yes I was always told this --- we had to stand back by their side for a few moments then gently praise them.

We did the stay by having dog by our side on the left then stepping round to the front of them with a hand movement thats basically firmly showing them the palm outstretched with fingers facing up (bit like a 'stop' sign the police use) and using the command stay. If they moved then they had to be quickly moved back without eye contact. Its the best thing mine can do and was practised a lot