A quick question for all the professional LAB trainers!!

[T-Bone]

I am having a little trouble trying to get my 13 wk old lab pup to "stay" after given the command to sit. She sits on command but will not stay. I have tried several different methods but have been, for the most part, unsuccessful. Any advice will be helpful. Thanks in advance!!

[mississippi_duc_htr]

Well I'm sure I'll get alot of negitive replies too my way of doing it as usual but,the way I trained the few I have was I made them sit then try to back up a step or 2 and command stay the whole time. Take a step or 2 backwards and if he gets up too follow tell him no in a stern voice (not yelling)take him back to where he was sitting and command sit. Then give the command stay and try backing up a step or 2 again. If he gets up too follow say no in a stern voice and take him back and do it again. Just keep repeating until you can get a step or 2 father each time he will eventually catch on to what you want. Make sure you do this every time you have him out even after he has learned this, to ingrain it in his think cap. Just try not to have any distractions around while doing this. GOOD LUCK!!!!! [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]


By the way I'm not a professional trainer like some of the guys on here. I just know what has worked for me in the past and present with the few dogs I have trained.

[ April 25, 2002: Message edited by: mississippi_duc_htr ]

[MSDuckmen]

Well T-bone I’m no professional but I have had both Master and finished dogs in the AKC and UKC arena.

At 13 weeks the pups attention span is really short and the stay command should only last seconds verses minutes.

Buy the book water dog and read it. You will get a better understanding of how the pup thinks and a simi timeline that will help you to know where you should be at what age.

Another great site for Dog Knowledge is <click For Waterdog Here>

[ April 25, 2002: Message edited by: Duckmen ]

[mississippi_duc_htr]

Dan do you show in land or water or both? Just wondering!Hope you do well in showing.

[MSDuckmen]

MDH
I have not ran a dog in hunting test for several years now. It was a great learning place for the novice to learn about retrievers and that is what I did it for.
Now all I'm interested in is a dog that everyone is proud to have around during hunting season. Top notch steady hunting retriever. competition is not my interest.

Nothing wrong with it if that's your thing and I think it is great for you and your dog. I just don't have the time nor do I want to put my best friend through that stress anymore.

she's content with hunting and that is enough for me. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[mississippi_duc_htr]

No I dont do dogs shows, but I guess it would be a great place too learn alot @ I'm like you if mine will go and get a duck and bring it back, thats about all i ask for in a dog and thats enough for me!...... check your email [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[chance]

Not a professional either. The MDH has the right approach. You must be very consistent with making your puppy go back to the orginal spot and command "Stay". Some folks use the upright hand signal of the traffic cop along with "Stay".
Two people with two long cords can help with this learning ezperience. One keeps the dog from leaving his "place" by holding the pup with the check cord. This is used in conjunction with the command "place" in helping the dog to understand where he is supposed to be. Dobbs training seminar.
13 weeks old is very young to expect a whole lot from your pup. Good tome to start but don't expect the pups attention span to last very long. Keep your training sessions short till you see that he has learned the tasks.

[HARLEY]

Not a proffesional either, but do have a little experiance. 13 weeks is to young to expect a pup to stay put for any amount of time. Constantly working her in a task she simply is not capable of yet will only cause problems down the road. The very basic commands of "sit" and "no" are all I would expect of my dog until about the age of six months. I'm sure someone else will have a different way, but this has worked for me in the past. Good Luck!

[goosebruce]

My take on it...mind you, Im not a professional dog trainer either, but I have stayed in a holiday inn with one a bunch...

Sit means sit, until otherwise commanded. Stay simply confuses the issue. No need to teach another command, and weaken sit. Sit, means sit immedately, until released. Much nicer to say sit, and dog sits, no matter what, than to have to add the stay for it to mean something. Now at 13 weeks you're looking to get the right responce, not rock solid anything. But thats where you start.

Tell a dog to sit, heck hes wanting to do something else. So, proper responce to sit should be rewarded. REAL easy to do. Take a piece of kibble, or small treat in your hand, let dog smell it, and with dog facing you, take your hand over the top of his head, until he has to sit to look that high as your hand goes backwards over his head. Say sit, as he does. Bingo, sit is a GOOD thing. From the very begining, he SITS, thinking of something postive going to happen. Now, he wont sit long, a few seconds after he finishes treat, he'll be rareing to go. So you release him, OK. Ok is a release command, to stop sitting. Teach sit correctly, and dog will sit until commanded to do otherwise, OK, HEEL, HERE, BACK, OVER, all are commanded from a sit postion this dogs entire life, so a sit thats not 100% is a bad liabilty. Wouldnt it be great if your dog heard SIT, and was glad to here it? He will with these steps.
First day pup sits for a few seconds. After a few repetetions, you can get longer. Never pass up a chance for pup to sit, never. Go get pup outta crate, make him SIT, before you open the door. He wants out, he wants out bad. So he SITS. Open door, and pup wants to crash through... wrong. SIT, till you can open door and release him. Finally you can open door, he sits because hes told, and then release him OK, to come out. Hes happy. He sat, and a good thing happened. Time to feed? Got food bowl out, pup knows the drill, hes yapping and jumping, pups always dying to eat. SIT. Huh? Pups thinking, I wanna eat. He will SIT (assuming you've taught it of course). His desire to eat, will overcome him not wanting to sit. Make him sit while you set food bowl down, and when he busts off his sit, pick bowl up. Until he'll sit till you got food bowl on ground, and can stand back up and say OK.

The beatuy of this is you get several times a day, to teach sit. With no effort on your part. Dog gets used to SIT precluding something good. Dog gets used to nothing good happens until he gives in to your commands. And no pressure is needed to get the desired behavior. Pressure will be added later (choke or pinch collars, leads, ecollars, heeling sticks, whutever you choose to use) in formal obedience, but the right behavior is there from start, and the dog already has a working mindset.

At 13 weeks, I had my dog sitting in the kitchen, while I placed peices of dog food behind him, and to the sides, and taught 3 handed casting in kitchen floor. No, it wasnt enough to make him a casting (hand signals) dog, but it certainly made formal 3 handed cast much simpler to teach (my first dog to teach to handle, so if I can do it, so can you).

Everything in your dogs training life comes from the first few months. A dog that has the attitude to work, and a mindset your the boss, and doing what you say is a good thing (not scared to not do it, but actually glad to do it FOR you) makes training fun for both of you. Dogs don't learn when they are scared. They might learn what not to do, but they never learn what to do when scared. And dog training is communication and teaching, not correcting a dog. Build the working attitude you want in your dog now, and set your standards high, and never give up on those standards. travis

[goosebruce]

Harley we where posting at the same time... I gotta disagree with ya a lil bro.

HUSH gets taught the first night. Once hush is understood, it is ALWAYS enforced. No matter what. Soon hush means hush, and noise becomes something other dogs do, not mine.

Kennel starts to get taught when you pick dog up. Open door to crate, say kennel as you put dog in. EVERY time you put dog in, say kennel. Soon, kennel is taught, and a dog will kennel when told from across the room.

With a dog crate trained, and quiet on command, you can now take your puppy anywhere with you.

My next dog I'll collar condtion on SIT, HUSH, & KENNEL at 3 months of age... Watch and see! hehe.

Anyone intrested I'll tell ya how to teach a dog to handel with the sit & kennel commands mastered. travis

[DR.DUCK2000]

I agree that sit should mean sit until given a release such as "ok". Just the way I taught my dog and seems to work well. The key to the whole thing is consistancy of the training and reinforcement(positive and negative).

[chance]

Trav ole boy----methinks you have spent too many nights in a Holiday Inn with the same professional dog trainer. Sit does mean sit but stay has a purpose. It adds to the finality of sit. A lot of professional dog trainers teach this command---not necessarily retriever trainers.

[peewee]

chance you are brave to question a man who has stayed at the Holiday Inn. [img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

[black dog]

I will have to agree with goosebruce and Dr. Duck2000. "Sit" means sit until told otherwise. You should have only one single word command for what you want your dog to do. This will cause less confusion for you and your dog.

[Shoot'em in the Mouth]

My dogs are welcome at every hunting camp I have been to. Buy Water Dog, and read it, then read it again. I have 2 yellows, male female, AKC/UKC, dog competition is not my interest. Haveing a hunter, a companion, and a dog that will listen to you is..