Mama's Monday - Stay, Wait, Come, Walking, Manners at the Table

More obedience training from Pooka's routine! And I'll be making up for the weeks I skipped so you can look forward to a long one today...

Lately we've been working on the advanced stages of sit and settle down (ie without any body language signal of any sort, voice command only - he has FINALLY gotten "settle down" without a hand signal), and I've begun introducing "Wait" in addition to "Stay." Along with "Wait" I've been working on his response to "Come" as well.

I've continued with his polite leash behavior, and the past few weekends begun with his all-important "Manners at the Table."

Stay and Wait

Although they sound like the same thing, these two commands are meant for very different purposes. Stay should be rock-solid for your dog - it means, in short, DO NOT MOVE UNTIL I RETURN. The dog does not need to focus on you, or pay attention to you during a stay. He can look away from you, provided it does not lead to him breaking position. Stays should be relaxing for the dog, because he should know that until you return physically to his side, nothing else will be expected of him apart from not moving. You should never put a dog in a stay, and then release from a distance. That is what wait is for.

To teach stay I put Pooka in a sit, and I stand next to him in heel position. I swing my right hand across my body, palm flat and to his nose. I hold it in front of his nose for a second, and say "STAY" clearly and firmly. Then I start to walk away from him. I keep one eye slightly over my shoulder so I can see if he gets up. The instant he moves I give him his "no no" noise, which is a crisp "eh eh!" and return to reposition him. I repeat all of the above, and again leave him. It can take a while before they get the idea that they are not supposed to come with you. Be patient and consistent. Give them the sound that means "That's not what I was looking for" to them, and reposition, and try again. I start out walking only a few steps away, turning to face him, waiting a heartbeat or two, and then returning to his side. I give him his marker word "yes!" and release with an "Okay!" and a tap on the shoulder...then I bounce forward to encourage him to break the sit with happy energy, and he gets a cookie.

For dogs that are not newfs, and therefore naturally inclined to stay in one place, to begin your dog should be on leash, and you may wish to back away from them, rather than walking with your back to the dog. You may even need a partner to hold the dog and correct the instant it tries to get up while you move away and back. I've never had this trouble with my two newfs - A few repositionings and they had figured out what I wanted.

Gradually I increase the distance I move forward, and the length of time I wait facing him before I return. Once he's solid, I will include a counter-clockwise circle of him in my return back to heel position for formal obedience before his praise and release, and a significant pause when I am back in heel position before the release. If your dog looks at your face during the pause before release while you are in heel position, praise him warmly but quietly so he doesn't get up - you DO want to encourage attention in heel position whenever possible.

Once your dog has a thorough understanding of what stay means, start increasing the difficulty level - one of the most stressful experiences for a dog can be his owner leaving his sight - so put your dog in a stay and then walk out of the room for a few seconds, and then return. Increase the length of time you stay out of sight as your dog gains confidence in you ad himself. I use Nanook's stay at the ice cream parlor when it is just him and I. I tether him with his leash to a completely immovable object (a bolted to the cement bench) right outside the window so I can keep an eye on him, I put him in a sit stay and I go in to buy him his baby cup of vanilla soft serve. Since he would probably build a pyramid for a cup of vanilla soft serve, you can bet his butt does not move while I am ordering and paying - and I like that the window enables me to make sure nothing and no one happens to him. He's a handsome dog after all!

Wait is more fun to teach, because it is a command for which the dog should be in drive the entire time - your puppy should be watching you, and waiting for the release, and wondering what will happen after the release. There are lots of fun games to play with the dog after the release to really encourage energy and attention during the wait.

To train wait, I use my left hand in front of the dog's nose, and a very clearly enunciated, "WAIT." Then I walk away just like during a stay. But I keep just as close an eye on the puppy over my shoulder, and if he looks away from me, I stop moving. As soon as he looks back, I start walking away again. The purpose here is to encourage constant attention during a "wait." A game you can play to encourage attention even while you are walking away requires that your dog enjoy a particular toy or the game tug - while you are walking away, hold the favorite toy in your left hand, hidden. At some point during the walk, with your back to the dog, crouch a little and snap the toy down in your hand with the dog's name and his release word - "Okay Nanook!" He should come galloping to snag the toy, and then his reward is a quick game of tug before you take the toy and start again. The more you play this game, the more attention he will pay to you while you are walking away - because he will never know when you are going to snap the toy and let him come play. But you may want to wait a little while until he has a firm understanding of the rules "wait" before introducing this game, or you might get taken out at the knees while you are walking away, not expecting him!

Usually during a wait I will walk away, turn to face the dog and pause briefly before calling him to me, "Okay Nanook, COME!" Once he is five feet away I introduce an additional game - I'll either take the cookie or toy and throw it to either side behind me, or through my legs, or I'll show it to him and then bring it up my front from my knees to my stomach to lead him into a proper "front" sit. This can be a dangerous game to play with an exuberant newf - sometimes they fail to put the brakes on in time! If I throw the toy or cookie behind me I ALWAYS have him come to my center again afterwards, which I can encourage by running backwards away from him and saying his name happily. He will invariably snag the toy, and then come galloping to me to play. It helps if your dog enjoys playing tug with you because then his first instinct on picking up his toy will be to make you grab it and play with him. Sometimes instead of throwing the toy or cookie or encouraging a sit I'll play with a rope tuggy toy and when he is five feet away and coming I'll snap it down and say "okay, get it!" and play tug with him for a bit exuberantly. All of these games build WORKING DRIVE while on the wait - the dog's desire to hear your command and follow through. I use wait now at the beach - I'll put him in a sit/wait and swim out, and then call him to come rescue me, or I'll put him in a very strong sit/wait (with an eyeball on him because this is hard for him) and throw out a retrieving toy for him to fetch AFTER I release him. Have you ever tried to throw your dog's favorite toy without your dog running after it? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. If you can do that, your dog has a strong wait command! Nanook has around a 75% success rate with that in a comfortable environment. In a new environment, it's still a crap shoot.

Come, or a good recall command, can someday save your dog's life. You can begin training it immediately when your puppy comes home, and keep training it every day for years. Until you are 100% certain that your dog will come to you when you call it, train it on leash or long lead. Start out by gently pulling your puppy in to you with the leash and then giving it a cookie when it reaches you. Always give it the cookie at the center of your body, so that the puppy is centered on your body as well, facing you. If you can, encourage it to sit as part of the recall. Praise and praise and then release and let it go out exploring again. Once it is distracted, gently pull it back in to you with the leash and repeat the cookie and praise bit. After a number of repetitions the puppy should begin turning and walking to you as soon as it feels the slightest tug on the leash - at this point you can introduce the command "come."

When the puppy turns in at the tug, say "Name, Come!" and praise as he comes towards you. cookie and praise etc in the center of your body. This is an easy command to train during potty walks and that sort of thing - while the puppy is exploring smells and his environment you can do a few recalls each walk. I'm sort of a stickler for manners during obedience, so when I call my dogs I ask that they sit down in front of me, facing me and that they not break the sit until I give them a release. This is for their safety really, because it gives me time in some future instance to snap a leash onto them - they aren't going to do a "drive by" recall where they run past me or run up and then run away again. To Nanook, and eventually to Pooka, "Come" means gallop to mama, sit down at her feet facing her and don't move until she says okay. Oh, and cookies and pets, of course. In fact, if you really want a strong recall response, save some especially favored treat for JUST recalls. If your dog will cheerfully do backflips for fried chicken livers, ONLY give chicken livers on recalls.

Wait is a good command to work on "come" from - and Pooka seems to enjoy the games we play, which will also help build a strong recall.

Never, ever, call your dog to you for something he hates. Go and get him instead. Never call your dog to you to scold him. Only call your dog for positive experiences. When you call your dog, and he comes, ALWAYS praise.

Walking is another thing that every dog needs to know how to do politely - and if you're training a newf puppy please believe me it is much easier to do young than when they outweigh you.

I teach my boys three forms of walking with me. The first is a pet heel - They walk next to me on either side, or slightly behind me. Not in front of me, and they are not allowed to sniff things or potty while we are walking. I call this "With Me." I train it mainly by repetition and a little food luring to keep them where I want them. I walk holding the leash behind my back with the hand farthest away from them, and a treat in the hand closest to them at my side. They are told "eh eh" if they try to jump or steal the treat, but when they pay attention to it and walk nicely at my side they are given the cookie and praised. If they try to walk ahead, I give a slight tug on the leash towards me or the side (not backwards) to put them off balance, and they are told "eh eh, with me." Once I am certain the puppy knows how to walk politely next to me during this command, I allow "Free Walk" during which they can potty and sniff and explore on leash. They may not, however, pull on the leash at all. If they try to pull I stop dead, and I do not start walking again until they turn and look at me. That can take a LONG time with a puppy in a highly distracting environment. Be patient and wait them out. Eventually they will remember that you are there, that you are holding the leash, and that you are the reason they are not currently moving. When they make eye contact with you, praise and begin walking again, but stop again the instant they start to pull. If you are consistent, they will learn. The last style of walk I teach them is formal heeling - and let's just say I don't think I'm informed enough to give you guys instruction on this - it is SO HARD!

Manners at the Table are something I started with Nanook young and that he has taught Pooka without any help from me. It was nice to get a free ride on this one the second time around. I love my puppies and I do not want to have to crate them during meals or isolate them - I think like walking, mealtimes are a pack bonding experience for dogs. But I think there is nothing ruder and more unmanaged than the dog under the table nosing everyone's crotches or pawing etc - my mother in law's Pomeranian springs to mind - so when we eat, I make the boys lie down at my feet. They have to remain on their bellies while the meal is in progress. If I feel like it, I might give them a small bite of whatever I'm eating - especially when they are young and have the attention span of a gnat because puppy impatience might pull them to their feet and I do try to set my dogs up for success; but eventually I phase it out so that they only get scraps at the very end of the meal.

A benefit of this is that it makes them good company for dining out at outdoor bistros or cafes!