Comments on: Dog Training: Part Three of Teaching Your Dog to Sit, Lie Down, and Stay – The Stay http://www.naturaldogblog.com/blog/2007/12/dog-training-part-three-of-teaching-your-dog-to-sit-lie-down-and-stay-the-stay/ harness your dog's prey instinct and have the happiest dog on the block Fri, 02 Jul 2010 20:43:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Marion Justice http://www.naturaldogblog.com/blog/2007/12/dog-training-part-three-of-teaching-your-dog-to-sit-lie-down-and-stay-the-stay/comment-page-1/#comment-1912 Marion Justice Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:53:42 +0000 http://www.naturaldogblog.com/blog/2007/12/dog-training-part-three-of-teaching-your-dog-to-sit-lie-down-and-stay-the-stay/#comment-1912 Thanks for the explanation, Neil. I understand what you mean about fading the box, generalising the stay and reducing criteria when any of the stimuli are changed. Do you find that starting with the box really makes a difference to how well the dog learns the stay as opposed to teaching the stay without the box to start with? I'm just thinking that if you don't use the box in the first place then there's one fewer stimulus to fade or generalise, but perhaps the box provides an 'anchor' for the dog in the initial stages. Thanks for the explanation, Neil. I understand what you mean about fading the box, generalising the stay and reducing criteria when any of the stimuli are changed.

Do you find that starting with the box really makes a difference to how well the dog learns the stay as opposed to teaching the stay without the box to start with? I’m just thinking that if you don’t use the box in the first place then there’s one fewer stimulus to fade or generalise, but perhaps the box provides an ‘anchor’ for the dog in the initial stages.

]]> By: Neil http://www.naturaldogblog.com/blog/2007/12/dog-training-part-three-of-teaching-your-dog-to-sit-lie-down-and-stay-the-stay/comment-page-1/#comment-1909 Neil Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:38:26 +0000 http://www.naturaldogblog.com/blog/2007/12/dog-training-part-three-of-teaching-your-dog-to-sit-lie-down-and-stay-the-stay/#comment-1909 Hi Marion, When a dog can stay while you're circling at a reasonable distance (say something in the 30-50 foot range) that's a good time to start working the down/stay training into play. You might use another raised object instead of the box (a rock, or a park bench) as a transition or to help generalize - or you CAN just use nothing at all. Just remember that a change in circumstances sometimes means that you need to step back your expectations. In other words, if you start using "no box", then you will probably have to start off with smaller distances - don't try to immediately jump into circling at 50 feet. At that point you can also start using a tug object (i.e. play tug-of-war on release) as an alternative to the food. Just make sure you let the dog win! Thanks for your question. Hi Marion,

When a dog can stay while you’re circling at a reasonable distance (say something in the 30-50 foot range) that’s a good time to start working the down/stay training into play.

You might use another raised object instead of the box (a rock, or a park bench) as a transition or to help generalize – or you CAN just use nothing at all. Just remember that a change in circumstances sometimes means that you need to step back your expectations. In other words, if you start using “no box”, then you will probably have to start off with smaller distances – don’t try to immediately jump into circling at 50 feet.

At that point you can also start using a tug object (i.e. play tug-of-war on release) as an alternative to the food. Just make sure you let the dog win!

Thanks for your question.

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