How do I train my puppy to “stay” and “heel” ?

pieces of june: How do I train my puppy to “stay” and “heel” ?
My husband surprised me with a 3 month old chocolate lab a couple weeks ago. We have most of the commands down but am having a hard time with “stay” and “heel”. Any advice ?

Answers and Views:

Answer by jake m
ill be your puppy

Answer by Aly M
Well, the easiest way is to associate the command words “stay” and “heel” with the action without him actually having to do anything. When he’s standing or sitting still, say “stay” and give him a treat. Do this for awhile so he has a chance to learn what you want. Then start having him stay for longer periods of time. Increase the time gradually. Once he seems to have the hang of that, try using the same command when he’s moving calmly. Gradually work up from there as well. Over time, he’ll get it. It will take time and consistency, and don’t do extended training periods or he’ll quickly get bored. The same tricks work for just about any command. Good luck!

Answer by sjt_tn
Labs are quick learners. But this is still a baby and babies teethe. I dog sat a 6 mo lab and he chewed on a bowling ball( no lie). He started at the finger holes, but only manged to get a small piece of it off. And teething babies chew everything.
He sounds like a cutie good luck

Answer by DJL
Ha ha ha, there is no way a three month old puppy has most of the commands down, nothing with reliability, I Promise it is just luck.

How about giving the puppy a little more time to grow up and join an obedience class that will really train the puppy.

Answer by Talia
well start off slow then reward it with treats. If that doesn’t work take it to a trainer

Answer by tantelindar
He’s too little to stay more than 2-3 seconds. He’s a baby; be patient.

One thing that works well for me is that I don’t use the command ‘stay’ at all. When I give the command ‘sit’ I expect the dog to continue to sit until I release her. My Honey’s release command is “at ease!”

So when I was teaching her, it went like this:
“Honey, sit.” she sits, tail thumping on the floor. She starts looking around, so I say, “Good sit! Good girl.”

I don’t say her name because she might come. I repeat the command she knows– ‘sit’ –and I don’t say anything else except praise. Tone is important. It reinforces the original command, sit.

This works pretty well for me and my dogs. Teaching the down-stay is even easier because my foot is on the leash not a foot from her collar; if she tries to sit up, she’ll give herself a collar correction. But I still use “Good down, good girl,” just as with sit.

Heel is always more difficult, but your dog’s a baby. Hold the leash by the end, walk briskly and talk constantly: “C’mon, puppy, walk with me. C’mon, attaboy, yeah very good, c’mon…”

When he wanders away from your side, turn away from him and walk in the other direction, talking constantly. The collar will tug him around and the leash will pull him after you, but you will act as if you had nothing to do with it. “C’mon, pup, we’re going this way, now. Walk up here by me, come on, attaboy.”

He’ll learn to watch you to avoid the collar tug and to earn your praise when he does it right.

All along, whenever he happens to walk alongside as if he knew what “Heel” actually means, say “Good heel! Puppy, heel, good boy!”

Labs are bright. He’ll figure it out.

In a couple of months, when he’s old enough, take him to obedience school. He’ll be the ace. 🙂

Answer by Windansea Beach Boy
I taught my Aussie Shepherd to stay by making it sit whenever I was serving him food. If he lunged for the food, I closed the door on his crate. Pretty quick, he learned that he would eat faster if he waited. I do the same thing at the door … sit, stay. Door closes if he doesn’t. So, I withhold what he wants and make him work for it. Similarly, I follow this pattern on walks. He has to sit and stay at each corner. Make it part of every routine and withhold the reward.

BTW, the AKC trainer who says you can’t reliably train a dog at 3 months must not work at it. My 10-week old puppy can already reliably jump over small obstacles, dance on his hind legs, sit, stay, walk easily on a loose leash, and knows to jump on a box and stay. I have video proof! Aussies are precocious, but I think many puppies are capable of such results. I fully expect he will “unlearn” some behaviors as he grows, but the foundation is there and always returns when the dog gets past the independence stage at about 5-7 months.

For leash work, get him to follow you around during play time without a leash. When he goes past you, turn and go the other direction. Do circles, do figures eights. Make it hard for him to set the course. Pretty soon, he will know to follow. Use praise to reward desirable actions. Do a little work each day. Eventually, if he follows at heel, you let him walk with a leash. Once he is used to the leash, you can pick up his leash as he does the follow routine. Do not pull or let yourself be pulled. Praise him when he is at the heel position with a small treat. He should get that he earns a treat or a pet when he is at your side, not lunging ahead.

Good luck!

Answer by Red Pony
Wait til he’s about 4 mths old then sign up for obedience school. They’ll teach you how to work with your dog to teach him all the basic commands including leash training.

Answer by Donna & Jessie
I wish I knew about Sue Ailby’s free online dog training book when we got our pup! We started it as soon as we found it and she is a great little companion that we can take anywhere and do anything with-agility, flyball, service dog tasks etc.

Here is a link to her great website that teaches you step by step how to teach your dog all the behaviors he needs to be a good companion.

She also has a yahoo discussion group where you can ask questions of other doing the program.

They recently had a fun competition and many videoed their dogs so you can see what the exact behaviors are!

Answer by Belle
Hello,

Here are effective tips to train your dog the stay command:

https://dogtime.com/basic-commands-obedience-stay.html