Teaching Stay to Pup

[CBeaty]

My choc lab is 3 months old. He has sit down really well. I am now working on stay without saying it. I am using the "traffic stop" hand signal while having treats in my other hand. I can't get him to stay if I do the traffic signal hand sign. I have used treats and gradually increased the period between delivery followed by a release with "ok". But I can't back up without him "breaking". If I do the traffic stop hand signal he breaks even quicker.

Tonight I tried putting him on leash with choke chain. He went right to sit. After a couple of failed attempts followed by a quick correction with the leash/collar back to sit I was able to back away.

Should I continue to do this on lead? Something is nagging me that this isn't right for the long run.

How can I get him to do this off lead in a controlled environments.

This is a pure bred lab puppy from Dakota Cajun Roux so he's not dumb

[limiman12]

When ever he "breaks" take him back to where he was and put him on that spot and repeat SIT. When he breaks a quick "NO" return to the spot and SIT repitition..... three months is pretty young to be worried about to much "formal OB" though. enjoy him as a puppy for a while....

[Richard Halstead]

in my yard I have the well casing about a foot above the ground and when I was teaching stay to a dog first I had it sitting. Then I had rope as a lead doing a remote sit and as I circled the dog the casing was hooked in the line so as I backed away I could reinforce stay. This was years before I had a collar for corrections.

[Eddie Sullivan]

Why teach stay? If they are sitting they are staying. One less command your dog has to deal with. Reinforce sit as he gets older.
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AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS (ALS) FORUMS

[metalone67]

Why teach stay? If they are sitting they are staying. One less command your dog has to deal with. Reinforce sit as he gets older.

Agree with this 100% sit means stay there until told other wise. In an eailer post I aree with that 100% also. If the pup breaks take back to spot and repeat. At 3mnths old the have the attention span of a soap dish so don't be to hard for now. I do walking sits at heel, while I walk I will command sit blow whistle and if they don't sit I would take a few steps back and make them sit then repeat. Let them be a puppy for awhile.

[TN_LAB]

Try stepping behind and/or to the side of the dog.

Also think about using a stick to poke him on the chest as you step away.

[CBeaty]

Just want to clarify. I am not trying to teach an extended stay. Simply trying to get him to hold in the sit position for 2-5 seconds and then move (release) when I say "ok". After doing the leash last night I did it this am without and was able to back away 4 steps in progressive order with a treat in between and was very successful. It's all I am trying to accomplish right now is the sit and release

[ricejumper]

Tonight I tried putting him on leash with choke chain. He went right to sit. After a couple of failed attempts followed by a quick correction with the leash/collar back to sit I was able to back away.

WAY, WAY too early for a choke chain and quick corrections. Let a pup be a pup...Give him a few month to grow. Use positive reinforcement to enforce commands instead of negative.

[CBeaty]

WAY, WAY too early for a choke chain and quick corrections. Let a pup be a pup...Give him a few month to grow. Use positive reinforcement to enforce commands instead of negative.

Thank you all for the responses as this board is a tremendous resource with wonderful people. This being my first attempt at this kind of training for a lab my vocabulary probably lacks the clarity needed. When I "corrected" him I walked him on the lead back to the original sit position, said sit, he hesitated for a minute and I tightened the lead and he sat. Having done formal OB with my last lab I know what a true correction is and I shouldn't have used that word.

For the most part we train for 10-15 mins total a day in 2 sessions. All I focus on is sit, here, kennel and down. All done with praise and treats. First 3 are awesome, down is coming along, and just trying to teach a short release. Other than that I plan to add heeling on the leash and stick with the above for the next several months so we have a good solid foundation.

The rest of the time we spend occassionally throwing fun bumpers, and then riding in the truck with dad to go explore the big world. He's been in 4 different lakes more than once, in the ocean and on the beach, lots of different people and dogs and generally showing him as many new things as I can

[John Paske]

I would also suggest that you may want to follow a training program. I am on my first pup who is 7 months old, so I have been where you are recently. The best thing I did was get with a programl There are a couple of good ones for puppies that I have used. Sound Beginnings and the Hillmann DVD. The Hillmann DVD really focuses on sit(steadyness) and shows the day to day progress.

The other thing that really helped me was joining a club/training group. Most of the people are very helpful and willing to show you how to do things first hand.